Tech Tuesday: How I use my social media-Twitter part 1

(c) Twitter, Inc.

I rarely post a series on this blog.  Most of the series I do are on my other blogs, such as an organization series.  This year, I will be doing a lot of them on all of my blogs.  For this series, I will be talking about social media, and I thought I would address how I use them, and any pointers I have for you.  I am not an expert on the subject, yet, but I have been on them enough to know the ends and outs of navigating them.

First up is Twitter.  Unless you have living somewhere void of the internet, or interwebs as I heard one person say, Twitter is a Social Media Platform (SMP), which allows:

·         140-characters in a post

·         #hashtags.  They started this fun, but confusing system.

·         @usernames.  Mine is @tricia721

·         Followers: 2,000-no exceptions to the rule. (Actually it is 1,818 people with an overage of 182 people to follow, giving an actual number of 2,001, which I have topped too many times.)

·         Lists: unlimited users in each list.  You do not have to follow the user in the list.  Great way to follow someone without jeopardizing your 2,001 followers

·         If you want to get a Millennial’s attention, please use this service.  It is like texting. 

·         Best times to tweet- Monday to Friday for Business to Business (B2B) and Wednesday to Sunday for Business to Customer (B2C); 5pm for retweets, 12pm and 6pm for fresh tweets.  This is according to Neil Patel on QuickSprout.com. It does not mean that you cannot post during the rest of the day or night, these are the times that you can have the most readership and traffic on your tweet.

First things first, tweak your list…

I had this account since 2008, so in Social Media life, it is old.  Twitter has changed.  I used to think that it was a joke to type everything within 140 characters.  I still think so, because I am a long winded person. Not bad for an introvert.   You should see my Facebook status posts.  It is one of the reasons why I have blogs.  OK, so I am an introvert with extrovert tendencies.  (Hmm, maybe there is a blog post in there somewhere)

Anyway, back to twitter…I have maxed out my followers 3-4 times since I got the account, and it is nearing the 2,000 follower mark again.  One day, I will separate my business and personal accounts, for right now, they are combined.  I have found out some truths about Twitter….

1.      They are not going to change that 140-character limit.

2.      They are not changing the 2,000 follower rule.  They say it is embedded in Twitter’s Algorithm.

3.      If your account looks like that you have mostly business followers, and mines is about 50/50, they will push Twitter for Business on you.  

Looks like Twitter’s CEO has been talking to Mark Zuckerberg again.   So, how to you keep your lists fresh and updated.

·         Do follow people in your area of expertise, your interests, and your passion. 

·         If you do have a combo account (mixture of personal and business follows), make lists.  In fact, make lists anyway.  I am learning the hard way.

·         Your friends are not on Twitter.  I found that out when I did a poll.  When I say friends, I am talking about those people who you see in the flesh, not some random person who says, Follow me. This is different from my fact statement, “Millennials use Twitter”.

·         This is my pet peeve…Do not follow for a follow.  What is that?  Say that you like what I had to say.  You retweet, and you may actually start following me.  If I do not respond with a follow back or do not get to my twitter account within 24 hours, do not unfollow me.  Everyone has reasons for not watching their twitter account every second of the day.  People are busy doing other things, and just because one person has plenty of time to kill on their twitter account, that does not mean that another person does not.  In my case, I use my account for linking purposes.  It is linked to my Facebook account, my YouTube account, my LinkedIn account, my blogs, and my Pinterest account for starters.  Very seldom do I actually post on my Twitter account.

Second of all, Hashtags are your friends…

Hashtags matter, and they matter a lot with Twitter.  After all, they started the system.  Please do not have this:  #IamSoSickOfThis.  That is Facebook’s version of the hashtag system.  To twitter, hash tagging a sentence is so passé, in fact, it has been said that Facebook ruined the hashtag system.   Use the hashtag system this way: #oneword, as in #Longaberger, or #twowords, as in #LifeMatters. No more than three words, as in #AllLifeMatters. 

Some final words:

·         Shorten all links

·         Do not follow someone just to get more follows.  Show interest in what that follower has to say.

·         Retweeting is your friend, but do not over retweet. 

·         Share new and original tweets

·         Use three or less words for hashtags.

·         Create lists of people to follow

·         Remember you can only follow 2,001 people.   

Tomorrow, I will show you a tip on how to best use twitter from my standpoint, and use it effectively.