twitter for every green party activist
TRANSCRIPT
Twitter for every Green Party activist
Chris Henderson (@ChrisHendUK)External Comms OfficerHaringey Green Party (@HaringeyGreens)
Green Party Autumn Conference (#gpconf)Aston University, BirminghamMonday 8th September 2014
Outline● What is Twitter?● Why use Twitter?● Differences to Facebook● Doubts and downsides● Getting started:
● Following other users● Linking your Twitter to your other media
● Basic Twitter concepts/shorthand● Your first tweet● Mentions, replies, hashtags, retweets, direct messages● Adding images and weblinks to tweets● Tips for maximum tweeting impact● Getting more followers● Keeping on top of the response you get● Ways of doing Twitter in a hurry
What is Twitter?
• A microblogging service that enables its users to publish short messages, up to 140 characters in length, on a personalised news feed
blogblɒɡ/noun1.a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis.
What is Twitter?
• Can use the Twitter website, one of various ‘apps’ or SMS to post
• Twitter provides ‘updates’ of posts by users you are following
• Lists of followers and followees make it easy to find communities of interest
• Immediacy and intensity of discussion – tool for personal updates among a community of interest
• Synergises with other digital channels, e.g. YouTube and blogs
Why use Twitter?
• 15 million UK users• Particularly suited to political/activism use• Joining the ‘digital conversation’ – influential for many• Expressing your own views… unobtrusively!• Spreading things you think are important• Engage with both people known to you and strangers
• Particularly reaches the younger generation – least likely to be engaged with conventional media (TV news, newsletters through doors, as well as newspapers)
• Users choose what they want to see – 'news feed' an eclectic mix that isn't sectionalised like a newspaper or broadcast bulletin
• Engaging people where they are – no intrusion
Why use Twitter? (2)
● Easier/quicker to post regularly compared to a blog/website
● Don't need activists or a budget to get your messages out
● Set your own personal agenda
● No journalist filter
● Appearing in touch with modern world, helping dispel negative stereotypes of Greens
● Engaging and energising existing supporters
Differences between Twitter and Facebook
● Twitter is just micro-blogging – no 'Farmville', calendar etc here!
● Twitter is fundamentally public – you do not have control over who 'follows' you (e.g. opposing parties)
● 'High volume' is generally OK on Twitter, even optimal
● More 'professionally' geared?
Doubts and downsides
● Poorly judged tweets can cause trouble!!
● What if I'm not that good/confident at it?
● Posting does take time... But doesn't have to take significant time
● How do you reach 'real people' and not just other Green activists?
Getting started
● Choose username on the next screen with care● shorter = better (e.g. @NatalieBen)
● Are you going to use your Twitter account exclusively for Green activism?
● If so – could put ‘Green’ in your username (e.g. @GreenJeanMEP, @GreenJennyJones)
● Type the name of someone on Twitter you want to follow into the search box
● Hopefully their profile will come up in search results while you type (name in bold with their picture and Twitter username)
● Click to go to their profile page then click…
Following other Twitter users
Following other Twitter users (2)You can find more people to follow by looking at other people’s follow lists
How to link your Facebook to your Twitter
Can also easily set up an automatic Twitter ‘sidebar’ on main blogging platforms –just Google for instructions
Basic Twitter concepts/shorthandTwitter is intentionally minimalist and bitesizeA few symbols/abbreviations to get used to…But it only takes a few minutes to get your head around them!!
● 'Tweet' = a post to Twitter (max 140 chars)
● @ prefaces every username on Twitter – e.g. @NatalieBen, @GreenJennyJones
Your first tweetTwo places to type your tweet:• The ‘Compose new tweet…’ box on left-hand side of homepage
• OR from any screen in Twitter, click the ‘quill’ button in top-right hand corner
Your first tweet (2)
Your first tweeting challenge:
Keeping your tweet within 140 characters!
A few tips:• Find shorter synonyms• Use ‘+’ or ‘&’ instead of ‘and’• Lose non-essential pronouns/articles – e.g. ‘the’, ‘that’, ‘I’• Substitute numbers for words
If still stuck, Twitter is not the place for language snobs…!!• Use common abbreviations – e.g. ‘w/’ for ‘with’, ‘btw’• Lose vowels from words – e.g. ‘text’ -> ‘txt’
Basic Twitter concepts: Mentions●'Mention' – Putting someone else's username (with the @) in your tweet
● The person you ‘mention’ will get a notification● ‘Mentions’ are “clickable links”:
● If a follower of yours clicks on one of the names, they will automatically go to that person’s Twitter page.● This will give them the opportunity to follow that person● Do you want to do this for opponents? Usually better to use a hashtag instead of a ‘mention’ for opponents
Basic Twitter concepts: Replies
●'Reply' – Putting their username at the start of the tweet (still public but only people who follow both of you will see the tweet in their feed)
● Reply automatically to a specific tweet by clicking the backwards-pointing arrow underneath
# is used at the start of a “Hashtag”- e.g. #VoteGreen2015, #gpconf, #Haringey, #SevenSisters
Clicking on a hashtag shows you all recent tweets (by anyone) with the same hashtag
Using a hashtag therefore 'tags' your tweet as being part of the public conversation on a particular subject
Basic Twitter concepts: Hashtags
● Etiquette: Maximum of 2 hashtags per tweet
● #Hashtags can be a #useful #tool, but this is #toomany in a #single #tweet. #annoying #overwhelming
● Type your intended hashtag into search box first…● Check it’s the “right” one (e.g. #gpconf vs#gpconf2014)● Check it isn’t being used for something else somewhere else in the world!!
Hashtags (2)
Retweet [sometimes denoted with RT] – re-posting someone else's tweetTwo-click process with the ‘recycle’-like button underneath every tweet
Retweeting
Adding a weblink to your tweet
In Twitter, simply copy and paste the weblink from your browser into the Twitter text entry box
OR many websites provide a button for you to automatically share without having to be logged into Twitter
Adding a weblink to your tweet (2)
• Weblinks get automatically ‘abbreviated’ but take up ~23 characters of your tweet’s 140-character limit
• Worth thinking about differentiating tweets which share someone else’s opinion from tweets expressing your own opinion… eg:
Adding an image to your tweet
Two methods:• Direct from your smartphone – you should see (or easily find) this ‘Share’ icon directly when looking at photos you’ve taken on your smartphone… Select Twitter from the available options, add some covering text to your tweet and post• On Twitter itself: Simply click the camera icon directly underneath the text entry box, and upload your image
• Adding a photo takes up 23 characters of your 140-character allocation!• Good idea to tweet graphics as well as photos
Tips for maximum tweeting impact
Twitter is highly geared towards immediacy:
• If something is happening that morning, tweet about it in the morning – don’t wait till the evening!!
• If you are taking photos on your smartphone, can you take a moment to tweet them straight away??
• Graphics and photos are popular – visual impact
• Using hashtags increases the reach of your tweet• Use hashtags for the name of your local area
Tips for maximum tweeting impact (2)
Optimising your profile
• Work on your pithy 'bio‘ – 160 characters max!! Make it eye-catching and interesting
• People thinking of following you may read your bio to see if they have reason to follow you
• Also add a good photo of yourself (or Green Party logo for your local group)… and a suitable ‘header photo’
• To create your bio, go back to Settings -> Profile
Optimising your profile
Direct messagesYou can also send one-to-one direct messages (‘DMs’) to someone on Twitter:
• DMs are also limited to 140 characters each!!• You are likely to get some spam, and some Twitter users dislike DMs… • But it can sometimes be easier to DM on Twitter than to search (in vain?) for a direct email address
Twibbons
• Search for ‘Green Party twibbon 2015’ on Google
Organising the people you follow: Lists
● If you're following lots of people, it can get hard to sift through all the tweets
● For easy reference, you can organise some of the people you follow into a list
● To add someone to a list, go to their profile then click the ‘cog’ icon -> ‘Add or remove from lists’
• In the pop-up that follows, you can choose to create a new list or add the person to one you’ve already created
• Once you have your list(s), click on the ‘cog’ icon from the top toolbar then ‘Lists’
Keeping on top of the response you get
● From the very top toolbar, at the left:
How to get more followers
• Publish your Twitter username in other media:• In your email signature• On your blog• At the bottom of articles you write
• Follow lots of people: some of them will follow you back (especially true of activists!)• Post interesting tweets – you will get retweeted – many new people will see your retweets and some will follow you• Engage with others (including community groups):
• Reply to others’ tweets• ‘Favourite’ good tweets from other users• Retweet their best content
• Be an interesting, active person/group in the real world!!
Ways of doing Twitter in a hurry
• Reasonable to use Twitter mostly to ‘retweet’ others:• Find some one-off time to build lists of the people/groups you are most interested in – saves time trawling through masses of less salient tweets• Use the ‘Tweet’ button to share content from other websites (news/comment pieces etc) without even going into Twitter
• Download the Twitter app for your smartphone!!• Use travelling time, waiting time etc to tweet
• By retweeting others, over time you will get a “feel” for how to tweet and may become more confident composing original tweets of your own
Questions?
‘Mention’ or DM me on Twitter with your question – @ChrisHendUK