Making the most out of Twitter and writing

messages that matter Melissa De Witte @melissadewitte @UCSCSocSci

!mdewitte@ucsc.edu#UCSCtweets

Today we’re going to…

• Talk about the importance of a mission and strategy

• Talk about the importance of goals

• Talk about presenting your niche/ expertise

• Talk practical stuff

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The question I get the most: what is the point?

• Working for a public university, I celebrate the public interest. I want to maintain transparency, trust and inclusivity in the work I do.

• I want to build public awareness; I want to use online media to foster discussion with our public; and I want to engage and educate citizens on what we do.

• Social media is a discovery tool. It helps me reach new audiences or introduce new ideas

• Social media can create community

• Plus MUCH more

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Seriously, what IS the point? #justsaying

• What’s the point is actually a very good question, and is something you should ask yourself every time you want to send a message: what is the point of this Tweet?

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Defining your personal goals• Defining your goals can help you strategize how

you use social media effectively. What are your goals, generally? Some ideas/ things I have heard:

• Change industries

• Secure an awesome speaking engagement

• Get more people to read/ connect with my research and work

• Be interviewed in the news like NPR/ New York Times

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Defining your goals

• Take a moment to think about 3 or 5 things you hope to accomplish over the next 6 to 12 months, and even beyond.

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Defining your niche• Balance goals with specific and tangible things

you are known for:

• Carving a niche can help narrow down what you share over social media

• Think of 3 or 4 things you are - or want to be -known for. Use these 3 or 4 things as your baseline.

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Your Tweet should…• Show your follower “what the point is” if they click your link. Show

them what they will receive:

• for example: a new finding or fact

• Offer some karma; show compassion. Be relatable, timely. Think how you can contribute to a conversation (again, what’s the point?).

• Your Tweet should reflect an element of your goals, niche and/or mission.

• In sum: there is an art form to the perfect Tweet, but find your own, unique voice.

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Using your goals and niche to your advantage

• Let’s think about how you can use social media as a tool to reach your goals.

• But remember: ask not what Twitter can do for you, but what you can do for Twitter (your followers). Face it: likable people get liked (or in Twitter’s case: followed)

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Would I read this? • When Tweeting, I ask myself the following

questions:

• Would I want to read this?

• Would I click this?

• Would I Retweet this?

• If the answer is NO… Don’t Tweet it!

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Twitter Ideas• Tweets should spark conversation, thinking, engagement! Ask open ended

questions.

• Use one of the 5 Ws or H: what, why, when, where, who, how.

• Use transitional words or phrases: e.g.: despite, although, instead, since, but, before (there are 200 to choose from)

• If you are RTing an article, share a meaningful quote or question from the piece.

• Offer a comment or question to the content you are sharing.

• Think about the community and audience you are trying to reach.

• Use images

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Ideas

Useful Reading

• HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter http://mashable.com/2008/11/10/twitter-community/

• Transitional Deviceshttps://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/02/

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Need Inspiration?• See how other academics are using Twitter. I’ve

created three lists you might find of interest.Academics Tweeting, UCSC Academics Tweeting and UC Academics Tweeting: https://twitter.com/melissadewitte/lists

• Read social media blogs and websites like Mashable and Social Media Club.

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THANK YOU! !

Email and Tweet me your questions, videos of cats, whatever!

!

Melissa De Witte @melissadewitte @UCSCSocSci

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mdewitte@ucsc.edu

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