1. Twitter: Hype vs. Reality
August 15th, 2009
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2. Tonight’s Trainers
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Matt Blizek
Night School Host
@dfatraining
Jen Nedau
Air America
www.jennedeau.com
@humanfolly
Adam Green
PCCC
www.boldprogressives.com
@adamgreenonline

3. What is Social Media
What does Social Media Offer?
 Organizational efficiencies
 Reduced transaction costs
 Free advertising
 Owning the brand on multiple platforms
 Engaging new consumers
 Two-way conversation
Social Media is relevant because:
 Social Media is great for getting out the message
 Reaches people where they are at
 Interest based vs. friend based
 A new way to communicate
Questions?
nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
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4. Social Media Stats
Check out Marta Kagan’s: What the F**K is Social Media: One Year Later
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5. Questions?
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Connecting to the Viral Loop of
Information
Visual
Content
Image credit: Brian Solis & @Jess3

6. et al. – et alias “and others”
i.e. – id est “that is”
e.g. – exempli gratia “for example”
Twitter is a natural extension of the way we
speak.
Questions?
nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
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7. Tweeting Basics
Tweet: The result of posting to Twitter
RT: The result of reposting someone else’s tweet
H/T: Hat-tip, give credit where it’s due
@ Message: A response or a message to a specific handle. When used at
the beginning, it can be found under the replies tab (a sort of public
“inbox”)
DM: Direct Message, can send only to those following you (goes into your
private Direct Message “inbox”)
Hashtag: The # sign is used to denote a major topic (like
tagging/categorizing on a blog)
Popular progressive hashtags: #p2 #topprog #rebelleft #woc #fem2
Questions?
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8. “Hi, my name is Jen. And I’m addicted
to Twitter.” What about you?
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9. Questions?
Email:
nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
Twitter: #dfans
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10. Personal vs. Professional
• Know thyself.
• Know thy brand.
• The personal is
professional.
my
passion
my job
my interest
Questions?
nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
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11. Set Up A Profile. What’s Missing?
Twitter Checklist:
 Short, interesting bio
 Icon & background image
 Link out to your website
 Use @Replies
 Use Bitly.com to track clicks
 Follow people back
 Use a real name
Questions?
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12. Slowly making progress…
Denial Surprise Acceptance Addiction
It takes about three months to get someone on 100% board
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13. Measuring Your Brand
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14. Questions?
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www.search.twitter.com
Or use search on
Tweetdeck 

15. Questions?
nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
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How do I FIND
Followers?
Photo credit: Caroline Middlebrook
How do I get
people to follow
me?

16. Online Tools for Twitter
• Tweetdeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com)
• Twhirl (http://www.twhirl.org/)
• Digsby (http://www.digsby.com/)
Questions?
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17. Questions?
Email:
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18. Thank you for listening!
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18

19. TWITTER
AS AN ORGANIZING
TOOL
What’s it good for?
Adam Green Twitter: @AdamGreenOnline

20. Getting people to take action?

21. PCCC/DFA: Vote for our
target

24. Twitter goes wild

25. Twitter Impact
330 clicks
25 sign ups
7.5% conversion

26. Blog Impact
CROOKS AND LIARS
2300 clicks
1141 sign-ups
49% conversion
OPEN LEFT
135 clicks
46 sign-ups
24% conversion
FLASHBACK: Twitter: 330 clicks, 25 sign ups, 7.5%
conversion

27. Forrest The Fellow’s Impact
Posted voting link in comment sections of
Daily Kos, FireDogLake, and
CrooksAndLiars
84 clicks
34 sign-ups
40% conversion
FLASHBACK: Twitter: 330 clicks, 25 sign ups,
7.5% conversion

28. Auto-Email’s Impact
1355 clicks
312 actions
23% conversion
FLASHBACK: Twitter: 330 clicks, 25 sign
ups, 7.5% conversion

29. Conversion analysis
Twitter: 7.5% conversion
Crooks and Liars blog: 49% conversion
OpenLeft blog: 24% conversion
Forrest’s blog comments: 40% conversion
Auto-email: 23% conversion
Initial DFA email: 65% conversion
Initial PCCC email: 73% conversion

30. WHY?

31. WHY?
My guess: Theory of change

32. SO…WHAT’S TWITTER
GOOD FOR?

33. Conference Communication

34. Sharing Links – No Other
Action
Huffington Post:
Twitter is 1 of their top 5 link
referrals.

35. Communicating with reporters
who follow you
POLITICO REPORTER:
“I use Twitter to gather info -- polling
numbers, breaking news, links to smart
analysis... That info comes from all sorts
of folks, in politics full-time or just
intense observers.”

36. Communicating with reporters
who follow you
JAKE TAPPER, ABC:
“I get interesting stuff from following
some interesting thinkers on the L and
R on twitter”

37. Communicating DIRECTLY with
reporters
POLITICO REPORTER:
“My suggestion would be to @ a journo when
u see or hear something they may not know.
Be civil. Don't demand. But say: "hey
'reporter's name' did u see this new poll in the
va gov race?" Often, we haven't. So it's a
great way to highlight info and get it directly to
reporters.”

38. Communicating DIRECTLY with
reporters
JAKE TAPPER, ABC:
“People send me stuff at
@jaketapper…Sharing stories, studies, and
thoughtful critiques is in my view infinitely
more constructive for political advocates of
any stripe than using twitter/the internet as a
way to vent and insult.”

39. Communicating DIRECTLY with
reporters
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC:
“Regularly I tweet out my guests, ask for
questions. Get several interesting ones
back.”

40. Communicating DIRECTLY with
reporters
AMY SCHATZ, WSJ:
“I use Twitter to provide links to my
stories but also to answer reader
questions. I only check it a few times a
day so it’s not a great way to get in
touch if its urgent, but I do try to
respond to folks who ask questions.”

41. Reporters may find you
AMY SCHATZ, WSJ:
“I use Tweetdeck so I can keyword search
stuff I cover (like FCC and "broadband
stimulus") and I've found sources that way.
I've also found its been a useful tool to let me
see what people are doing or saying about
the stuff I cover.”

42. EXPERIMENTATION
Twitter Petitions

43. Twitter Petitions

44. “Deal breaker”

45. EXPERIMENTATION
Twitter Fundraising

46. BIG things to ask when
doing Twitter activism
• Is there a strategy?
• Are there tangible metrics for success?
• Opportunity cost?
• Is clicking enough? OR Is theory of
change evident?
• Is there mutually reinforcing activism?

47. Thank you.
Any questions?
Adam Green Twitter: @AdamGreenOnline