LIASA Pre-Conference Workshop 2014 on getting started on Twitter. Presented by Ingrid Thomson and Jeremiah Pietersen

1. Tweet! Tweet! Getting
started on Twitter
Presenters:
Ingrid Thomson @ingridthomson
Jeremiah Pietersen @Jermy_Pee
#liasa2014
Image: http://mashable.com/2014/03/27/billboard-twitter-real-time-music-chart/

2. Outline of Workshop
• INTRODUCTIONS
• PART 1: Twitter 101 – What is twitter, lingo,
anatomy of a tweet, navigating Twitter
• PART 2: Getting you started - Account Set-up
• PART 3: Twitter 102 - Useful Tips for Tweets,
Lists, Tools, Conference Tweeting,
• PART 4: A Surprise!

3. What is Twitter?
• Twitter is a social network which allows users to
exchange public messages of 140 characters or less,
known as Tweets.
• It’s easy to tweet, via devices such as :

4. • Tweets can be text-based
• Or contain multimedia such as images or videos or
online links

5. So how does Twitter
work?
• Twitter is a conversation in a 140 characters.
• You tweet - your tweets are seen by other Twitter users who
follow you.
• You see the tweets of others whom you follow.
• 271 million active users (worldwide) are tweeting regularly
• 9,4 million active users in South Africa *
* SA Media Landscape 2014 Report

6. Reasons people say they
can’t
• You can’t say anything in 140 characters
• Who wants to hear about my breakfast?
• What a waste of time !
• I don’t have time to Tweet
• I don’t know anyone who tweets, so why should
I?
• I tried it once, but I didn’t see the point

7. So what do people tweet?
• Business news
• Observations about life
• Interesting things to read
• New blog posts
• Inspiring thoughts
• Professional News
• Workaday life details
• Business issues and challenges
• Family life details

8. Good reasons to Tweet
• Personal - Professional vs Individual
• Corporate - Branding/Commerce
• Connecting with your peers
• Keeping up to date - with the news,
• Share what you are doing
• Get real-time information and more specific information
• Passions and hobbies
• Interesting links – pictures, videos
• Ask questions
• Doesn’t mean that you would be friends with celebrities, but
you can follow them (@TrevorNoah anyone? )
• Takeaways from professional learning

9. Your Twitter Goals?
• For business communication (if you are tweeting as an
organisation - to build community with your users,
vendors etc )
• Build your personal brand
• For keeping in touch with your peers or to keep an eye
on your competitors
• To market the organisation – reaching out tto the
community
• To drive traffic to your website or blog
Any other ideas?

10. http://www.peterdaviespr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/copy-of-twitter1-500x373.jpg

11. Anatomy of a Tweet
Reply:
Click to reply to
a tweet
More:
Use this to embed
tweet in a website,
or to report or block
a user
Favourite:
Click to store tweet
in your list of
favourite tweets
Retweeted by:
appears when
someone has
retweeted the tweet
User name
User handle
Time of tweet
Retweet:
Sends tweet to
followers

12. Navigating Desktop
Twitter

14. The Lingo
• Not twittering,
• HT hat-tip
• Tweet
• Mention
• Reply
• Retweet
• Favourite
• #hashtags
• Follow
• Follower
• Trends
• Direct Messages

15. #hashtags
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA

16. Follow or be followed
• Follow users and organisations that will add value to
your Twitter feed
• Users interact on Twitter by means of following one
another
• Follow count does not necessarily mean you have a
wide reach
• Retweets expand reach and draws more followers
• #teamfollowback

17. WORKSHOP
• Set up your account
• Sign up
• Profile – background, bio, photo,
URL, location
• Settings
• Following/Followers
• Your First Tweet

18. Getting Started -
Workshop
• Sign up for a twitter account at http://www.twitter.com
• Choose a Twitter handle
• Profile settings : Upload a profile image and write a bio
(160 characters). Profile pic needs to be in jpg, gif or
PNG. Max size is 700KB. Dimensions 81 px by 81 px.
• Header image: Dimensions 520 px by 260 px
• Can customise the background of the profile page.

19. TWITTER 102
http://cdn.techpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/itsop3-500x402.jpg

20. Do this …
• Create an informative profile - Be easy to find
• Tweet regularly - Observation ; a link with a comment;
a video; Even photos or insights; Tweet someone
• Think before you tweet
• Learn the lingo
• Engage with your followers/community
• Do a Shout Out to followers who Mention You
• Do ask advice - ask your followers questions

21. Some more tips
• Only tweet about your library one time in four....
• Analyse your tweets
• If something is important, tweet it four times
• Use hashtags
• Ask questions
• Get retweeted and your network will grow
• Put your Twitter handle everywhere
• Use Bitly to shorten URLS https://bitly.com/shorten/

22. Don’t do this … it only
annoys
• #Don’t #overuse #hashtags
• Don’t auto-tweet (too much)
• Don’t protect your account
• Don’t be negative or share spoilers
• Don’t use poor grammar or spelling
• Don’t overtweet
• Don’t repeat yourself
• DON’T SHOUT - WRITE YOUR TWEETS IN CAPITAL
LETTERS

23. Some examples of tweets

24. I have a little list!
WHY?
• Lists are groups of Twitter accounts
• Curated group of Twitter users
• Create your own or
• Subscribe to lists created by others
• Lists are for reading tweets only

26. Adding someone to a list

27. Our Favourite Tools
• Hootsuite
• Tweetdeck
• Tweetstats
• Favstar
• Storify

29. Tweetdeck

33. Conference Tweeting
Our conference hashtag is
#liasa2014

34. Reasons to Tweet from
Conference
• For those not able to attend. If you're the only
person from your work attending, your
colleagues could follow your tweets and still feel
involved in sharing knowledge.
• For presenters too, Twitter can provide useful
feedback on sessions by highlighting the key
points that attendees tweeted about.
• Meet up with fellow Twitter users at conference –
extending your professional network

35. Tips for Conference
Tweeting
• Three basic types of tweets during an academic
conference:
o Live tweeting a session / paper
o Continuing a discussion after a session / paper
finishes
o Asking for / giving advice about sessions / papers
worth attending
Add value! If you're live tweeting, don't just report
verbatim - add opinion or questions or counter
examples.

36. Tips for Tweeting
conference
• Knowledge: each tweet should be a piece of knowledge; a fact,
a joke, an opinion.
• U - Useful: each piece of Knowledge should be useful to your
audience, not just useful to you
• D - Desirable: each piece of Knowledge should be desirable; it
should have something which sets it apart from all the other
merely "useful" tweets
• O - Open: be open and honest about who you are and which
organisation you represent
• S - Shareable: your Knowledge should be shareable; things
you'd be happy having attributed to you and which you want to
be passed around.

37. Tips for Tweeting from a
Conference
• Learn who the presenters are + find their handles
• Tweets need to be short, accurate and include the hashtag (need to
have room to RT + Comment)
• Can try to write-up pre-build tweets based on abstracts
• Tweet with pictures
• Tweet professionally
• Strive for context. Sound-bites don’t help those following the
conference from afar.

38. More Tips ….
• For the purpose of archiving, please include the conference hashtag in your
tweets.
• Respect those who do not wish to have their presentation tweeted.
• Cite the source of your tweets; give the speaker credit.
• But also avoid flooding your followers with tweets; hit the high points
• Avoid negative comments; be critical, not unconstructive.
• Retweet relevant or useful posts.
• Sit near the back of the room so others aren’t distracted by your
typing/texting

40. And now…
Battledecks!
Volunteers?

41. Rules
• Each contestant will present on Twitter: best practices
• There are three sets of five slides each
• You have 12 seconds to complete each slide

47. Time’s up!
Get ready next contestant

53. Time’s up!
Get ready next contestant

59. Time’s up!

60. http://padlet.com/jeremiah_
pieter/liasatwitter