Getting Started With Twitter
Note: Completing this process should take about 1-2 hours.
(Technically signing up takes about 5 minutes, but were assuming you want to do more than just sign up, taking an hour or two helps the Twitter language sit in, completing these steps is a great start)
Sign Up For Twitter
Click here to create a Twitter Account Its ok to use your personal or professional email account
Confirm Your Account
Twitter will send an email to verify you signed up Find the email to make sure it didnt go in your spam inbox Click the link they send in the email to verify your account (better to get it out of the way early or theyll keep bugging you about it)
Choosing A Username
Try to make your username as short as possible Simplicity is key, just try to make it something thats easy for others to remember Avoid using an underscore_ Its also ok to use your real name If your name is hard to spell, consider using the first few letters or initials Consider your first name and then adding credentials or something about your city: Examples: SandyMSW, BobDC, JenCA, ChrisMD
Account Settings
Designate preferences, there are some tips below
Tweet Privacy
Twitters greatest value comes from its openness. Most people do not use professional Twitter accounts with the privacy settings at Protect my Tweets
Public Professionalism
That being said, its important to remember that its a very public space, a general guideline is to Tweet things that are appropriate conversation topics on a professional phone call if you had never met someone before
questions? tweet us @goBeMoRe
more Account Settings
Notifications
When youre just getting started with Twitter, it may be a good idea to leave the boxes checked for email notifications As you become active on Twitter these notifications can become unnecessary Example: If someone sends you a direct message, it may be good to get an email about that so you can appropriately reply. Once youre more active on Twitter (at a minimum of 10minutes every day) You will see that direct message from within Twitter so it may not be necessary to also have an email notification. Another benefit to notifications is for letting professional team members or supervisors know about small accomplishments on Twitter, for example if someone you admire follows you back, or ReTweets one of your Tweets, if you get an email about it, you can then forward it to your supervisor so they can see the local news station or university passed along something you said.
Profile
A picture of your face is helpful for when you meet other professionals in real life This also identifies you as a real person and will increase the likelihood that others will follow you (so it is important to have a photo up) A square image shows up best on Twitter Often people will take a screen shot of their face from a larger picture since the picture on Twitter is so small Location: city and state is appropriate Web: Link to your professional bio or LinkedIn account Bio: (remember you only have 160 characters) a couple of fun things about yourself and something about your professional focus. If you say the specific organization that you work for its important to add TAMO, meaning Tweets Are My Own to articulate that something that you tweet is not reflective of your employer Its ok to say Twitter Newbie in your bio, this helps others know that your account is new, not inactive, it may increase the chance that someone will follow you back You can always come back and edit your bio as you get to know the space, but having something there about yourself is important in helping build your audience
now what?
Getting Started
A trick is to start by following 3-5 interesting organizations and people, then look at who they are following, chances are, there will be more interesting organizations and people Find 30 interesting organizations and people that are interesting and follow them Dont worry too much about who youre following, you can always Unfollow Its a good idea though to stick to a higher percentage of professional follows, in other words, journalists and professionally relevant people over Britney Spears. (some fun accounts are ok, the more professionally relevant people and organizations, the easier it will be to send professionally relevant tweets) Consider skipping a follow of that one friend that uses inappropriate language (because everyone can see who you follow) questions? tweet us @goBeMoRe
What To Tweet
Many people worry about what do I say? Its a good idea to start with, what are other people saying as a way to get to know the space ReTweet things that are interesting to you Start with the 30 people you follow, click on Home at the top of your page Your Timeline of what the people you are following are tweeting will be there When you see a headline thats interesting to you, scroll your mouse over the tweet and the option ReTweet will appear, click ReTweet (also known as RT) Twitter will ask are you sure and to say yes, click the presented ReTweet box Repeat this ten times so you have completed ten ReTweets So where do all these go? Click Profile up at the top Youll now see the list of things youve ReTweeted, take some time to click the links in those headlines and read the articles, if it turns out you dont like the article, just scroll over and click Undo ReTweet and it will go away
Why Tweet If No One Is Following?
Everyone starts with zero followers and right now it might be nice that people arent paying attention while youre getting to know the Twitter language As you continue to participate on Twitter people will follow you In the beginning, there will be some spammers following you, how can you tell if theyre spammers? They usually have unprofessional pictures and often tweet the same message over and over again, or they send a tweet with someones username and just a link and nothing else If theyre following you, its no big deal, you can just ignore them, there is no need to try to block them unless they are sending you a lot of messages that are annoying
More Tweeting & Following
Thats right, try to send a minimum of 25-40 Tweets (all ReTweets are ok!) Remember its simply things that are interesting to you This will help your account look active as you start to branch out and follow new people and increase the likelihood that they will follow you back Find 70 more people and organizations to follow. Yes, 70 :) and no this doesnt have to take 4 hours. Start with some of the interesting people youve found already and again check who theyre following, click follow to those that have interesting bios
Are We Done Yet?
Click Profile Your stats should read 40 Tweets, Following 100, and those are the things you can control, well keep seeing the Followers and Listed numbers grow with time (and consistent Twitter Activity) Heres a link to the Twitter Help Center as an added resource
Ok Now Youre Done (for today)
ok, youre on Twitter! A minimum commitment of 3-5 tweets per day for about 10 minutes a day is recommended to help your account be considered active and for the language to sink in.
questions? tweet us @goBeMoRe