New on Twitter? Tips and Hints

by Laurel Papworth on October 13, 2008 · 46 comments

*pats on head* so cute, with their little anxious yet eager faces. Will anyone talk to them? Will they make new friends? Will they make an ass of themselves?

Anyway some tips – you might want to do these step by step. I wrote them that way:

  1. What is Twitter: Twitter is a place for testimonials (status updates about themselves “I am shopping”). No response required.
  2. What is Twitter: Twitter is a place for distribution of information (links to others “here’s a cool blog post http://tinyurl.com”) – also automated bots e.g. @ABCNews
  3. What is Twitter: Twitter is the place for conversation (send replies to others “@silkcharm that was a wonderful tweet!) Heh.
    reputation-trust1
  4. Fill in your profile. BEFORE you offer friendship. We judge whether to follow you back based on your location, your avatar, your bio, and the first few tweets you do. (more info on Twitter Reputation management)
  5. Add only a few people at first – add friends that will listen. How did you find out about Twitter? Add that person, then tell them (@silkcharm I read your blog post now I’m on Twitter! yay!) we’ll message you back and applaud your bravery. Well, I will anyway.
  6. Once you’ve messaged a few times – not ads, not links to your blog, read TwitterAgency as it has been set up to explain “How Not To Be Crap On Twitter”
    THEN start to add strangers -but please don’t DM (direct message) or open tweet them to say thanks if they add you back. That’s just downright creepy – we aren’t in a relationship yet, we are ‘just in a bar’ together.
  7. Search (click Find Friends at top of Twitter page) and put in your keywords. “Social Media” will return a tonne of ‘consultants’. “World of Warcraft” will give you a list of the coolest people on Twitter. Or at least, in my opinion. Add people that have your hobbies as well as your industry. That will keep you engaged and entertained. And we like people who are immersed better than observers.
  8. Bookmark Summize – or Search – once you’ve done a search on your Twitter name. It will show up everyone who is talking about you. For example: @silkcharm at the beginning of a sentence is a reply to me, but @silkcharm in the middle is usually about me. The bookmark lets you check in quickly and see who’s talking about you.
  9. Block with gay abandon. You really don’t want to ‘follow’ spammers. And watch for people who add you (so you add them) then drop you and then rinse repeat – tres annoying. But remember, some are newbies too, that accidentally spam (see BigPondTeam) and don’t mean to. They’ll get better. :) In fact, BigPondTeam are now answering customer service questions in Twitter rather than spamming an email form. Much better. Don’t be too harsh on other newbies.
  10. Join in with discussions and so on, games (Sunday Twitter Karaoke is proving to be … excruciating), rituals like the US elections, events like earthquakes, and individual tweets.
  11. Link to your own blog posts about 1 in 4links. Yes Twitter is an awesome distribution mechanism once you have the numbers, but not if you turn into a spam-bot. The other 3 links (not yours) should be entertaining, informative or humorous.
  12. Humour. This one will trip the corporates every time. Link to risky sites, link to contentious sites such as http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/ – voting in the US elections for the rest of us. If you don’t have humour or an opinion, we won’t find you very interesting. You can only join the discussion if you have something to say – publishing press releases ain’t gonna cut it.
  13. Figure out who the Leaders are for your interests – if they respond to you a few times, others will see it and you’ll get some followers that add you. But see the point above – if you don’t have humour or something to say, they won’t get into conversation with you. Twinfluence will help you – from @RossDawson via @TrevorCook
  14. Ask questions – interesting ones – people on Twitter are social and like to help. Making statements sounds like pronouncements and are ignored. Even if you know the answer – or want a good ol’ argument – phrasing as a question lets you start a discussion.
  15. Let go. Once you get above a hundred or so (ok, ok, 150 if you follow the Dunbar number theory – ask @mpesce for more information) you can’t follow everything. Use the DMs and Replies and Summize and hash-tags.
  16. Hashtags are keywords that you place # in front of. For example when we discuss a conference we are at, we use #wds08 for webdirections 2008 conference. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out the contractions, but it does make it easier to trace a keyword that everyone is using. Summize – or Search – makes the #hashtag a clickable (searchable) keyword)
  17. Accept that unlike blogs (content) and Facebook (distribution) networks, Twitter is a synchronous (real time) stream. If you go on holidays for a week, when you come back, the conversation has moved on. You’ve got little chance of having the people remember what you were all talking about. Step in, step out, at will. Or as your new Twitter addiction will allow. Heh.
  18. This is not the medium for personal committed conversations. Oh yes you will have them but remember people have real lives too. If they get up and take the dog for a walk, in the middle of a discussion, don’t take it personally. Don’t expect a reply to your comments and responses. Don’t demand personal attention on direct messages (DMs) – this is a group chat with strangers in a cafe or a bar, not a dinner party with intimates where you can ask for indepth answers. Though sometimes you will be suprised, you can’t expect it.
  19. Mobile doesn’t work well in Australia – but you can still SMS in your tweets. You just can’t get SMS back. Well there are some services – someone will mention them in the comments (I forget now). Also look at iPhone apps etc. But I wanted this to be about pure Twitter starter’s guide. Not all the resources applications and ecosystem websites and services.

Not sure what else to add, but as my toast (apricot raisin toast) is cooked, you’ll have to figure it out yourselves. Add stuff in comments or on your blog, let me know, and I’ll add/link here. I think the coffee is done too *waves* Oh, and hire people from the TwitterAgency – over 100 Twitter folk who give tips and hints on all things Twitter.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Bookmark This:
  • email
  • Add to favorites
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • LinkedIn
  • TwitThis
  • Technorati
  • Digg
  • Live
  • Google Bookmarks
  • NewsVine
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • MySpace
  • Slashdot
  • Netvibes

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related posts

{ 10 trackbacks }

Film: Ashton Kutcher on Qik and Twitter | Laurel Papworth- Social Network Strategy
January 17, 2009 at 4:21 pm
AIMIA Social Media (Bandwagon) Awards | Laurel Papworth- Social Network Strategy
January 22, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Your Story : How We Play the Game of Life » What is Twitter?
March 13, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Top Locations | Twitter Grader (Retweet This!) | TwURLed News (beta)
April 7, 2009 at 5:06 am
@SilkCharm - Laurel Papworth | Sydney | Twitter Directory - Twitter Search
April 25, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Twitter Tips Ultimate Guide | Using social media to guide and help you connect to social networks: Twitter, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, YouTube using social media
August 20, 2009 at 10:05 pm
翻译练习:Twitter的贴士:终极指南
August 23, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Everything you ever wanted to know about Twitter | Charles Curle Design
November 21, 2009 at 1:06 am
La madre de todas las listas de aplicaciones Twitter « ENRIQUE SAAVEDRA
January 31, 2010 at 11:58 am
La madre de todas las listas de aplicaciones Twitter (Parte 3) « ENRIQUE SAAVEDRA
January 31, 2010 at 12:23 pm

{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Anonymous October 13, 2008 at 3:40 pm

my pet peeve: people who link to their blog, receive nice words about their blog, and then open tweet thanks to the people who complimented the blog. so annoying. i get it. your blog is FANTASTIC.

Reply

2 Laurel Papworth October 13, 2008 at 4:02 pm

I wish you had left your Twitter name Anonymous – I wanted to tweet a thank you to you for a great comment on my FANTASTIC blog. *snickers*

Reply

3 kristinalford October 13, 2008 at 4:07 pm

Nice one. And so concise – especially compared to this 48-page Introduction to Twitter brochure I found yesterday http://en.calameo.com/read/0000000257624143a2b57.

After all, it’s only 140 characters!!

Reply

4 classymarketing October 13, 2008 at 7:55 pm

Great post Laurel – so very true! I’ll be sure to forward this onto twitter newbies that I know :)

Reply

5 Lance October 13, 2008 at 7:57 pm

Hey Laurel, great post, I had to add follow you on Twitter! I’m a bit new but looking to learn more. I found your site via problogger.

Reply

6 Anonymous October 13, 2008 at 8:11 pm

I have a Nokia N95 mobile and I use the free FRING client which has builtin twitter client. If you have a data plan in Australia, thats just as good a way to send tweets in ;)

Reply

7 Allison Miller August 18, 2009 at 4:48 pm

I use ‘tweet60′ as a Twitter app on my N95 – much easier to follow than Fring as it includes ‘avatars’, but you have to manually update.
.-= Allison Miller´s last blog ..theother66: "New on Twitter? Tips and Hints" – thx @SilkCharm – http://snurl.com/qfh29 =-.

Reply   More from author

8 Serendipity IT Ltd October 13, 2008 at 8:49 pm

If you want to follow all the same people as someone else, or if you want to move from one twitter account to another there is the Serendipity IT Ltd Twitter User Importer here : http://blog.serendipityit.co.nz/2008/10/twitter-user-importer-simple-web-tool.html

Reply

9 Serendipity IT Ltd October 13, 2008 at 8:52 pm

Sorry – that link was to our blog post about the twitter user importer tool, this is the link to the actual tool. http://serendipityit.co.nz/twitteruserimporter/

Reply

10 Ross October 13, 2008 at 9:06 pm

Thanks for the pats on head. My little anxious yet eager face has a smile on it. Very helpful for us newbies.

Reply

11 Robyn - Chique*Life October 14, 2008 at 4:38 am

Hi Laurel – this is a great and concise overview. Problogger done good in introducing an interesting voice to the conversation! I’ll be referring all the “Twitter – what?!” comments to read this post.

Reply

12 Laurel Papworth October 14, 2008 at 4:50 am

Yay! :)
I love the little newbies. ;)

Reply

13 Katie Harris October 15, 2008 at 2:19 am

Great post!

These tips and hints will help people get the most out of Twitter. Should be compulsory reading for new Tweetors/Tweets-to-be!

Reply

14 kerrib October 15, 2008 at 3:15 am

As a relative newbie to the twitterverse this post is a perfect snack size guide to the do’s and dont’show. Thanks for encouraging peoples to be nice to us n00bies :)

Reply

15 @rebeccaforever October 15, 2008 at 9:54 am

nice overview. What about a glossary of Twitterisms… the @ convention, FTW, RT, etc?

@rebecceforever

Reply

16 Anonymous October 20, 2008 at 8:46 pm

I’ve been using Twitter for a couple of months now but I still learnt stuff. Thanks.

Reply

17 Laurel Papworth October 20, 2008 at 9:25 pm

Thanks guys :)

@rebeccaforever working on it :)

Reply

18 Internet Marketing Agency October 23, 2008 at 3:06 am

Well explained! I wish i read this earlier to help explain to clients.

Reply

19 Rick - eNova Communications January 19, 2009 at 8:54 am

For a year I have known I should be using Twitter… For the past six months I have used it intermittently. In the past 3 months I have experimented with it specifically… but unsuccessfully in terms of results.
But now armed with some ideas I had not thought off I will give it a serious go.

Reply   More from author

20 Karen Billard March 16, 2009 at 12:59 pm

I am giving a talk to artists interested in social media, and I will be referring them to your blog as a good resource. Thanks, Laurel

Reply   More from author

21 Mark David Moran April 27, 2009 at 2:55 pm

Nice post Laurel. I wish I had this when I first started in twitterland.

I came to you via Problogger and I like what I see…

Cheers, Mark

Mark David Moran’s last blog post..Focus or die

Reply   More from author

22 Anup Batra May 3, 2009 at 7:40 pm

I love twitter.
You have depicted the social media profile to trust cycle extremely well.
I write a blog on http://www.searchenginerankings.com.au/seo-blog and would love to get your ideas on how to add punch to my blogginhg!

Reply   More from author

23 Una Coleman May 17, 2009 at 10:40 pm

Great article Lauara.
I’m helping candidate in local Irish elections with his campaign. Do you have any blog, white paper on how new independent candidate to politics can build a profile using new social networking tools?
many thanks

Reply   More from author

24 wisebuddha May 29, 2009 at 8:35 pm

Thanks for the info. Seems to be a lot of rules and hierarchies in place. How did that happen and is that necessarily a good thing I wonder particularly if it stops people simply diving in. If you are polite and have something to contribute does it matter?

wisebuddha’s last blog post..Time for a break

Reply   More from author

25 Search Engine Optimisation Melbourne June 22, 2009 at 2:10 pm

I think Twitter is great way of communication. You described it really well.

Reply   More from author

26 Herb Hunter September 13, 2009 at 4:55 pm

Great Post Laurel!!!
Thank you very much for the helpful tips for twitter. I love your site and will keep and eye on your tweets. Now I’m going to look around some more at your site.
Thanks Laurel!!!
.-= Herb Hunter´s last blog ..Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Get Started with a Home Based Business =-.

Reply   More from author

27 Family Matters October 13, 2009 at 4:07 pm

Laurel, this post gave me a real boost to dive into Twitter.

One of the best things I’ve found since “taking the plunge” is HootSuite (http://hootsuite.com/), which is like TweetDeck in the browser that allows scheduled tweets. It’s a real time saver once it’s configured.

Another site I use is TweetLater (now called SocialOomph), which allows automatic DMs to followers, scheduled tweets and follower vetting.

Reply   More from author

28 farbige kontaktlinsen October 21, 2009 at 3:15 am

With these great twitter tips I should be able to improve my business.

Reply   More from author

29 Penny Sharpe November 3, 2009 at 8:26 pm

Wise words for all of us – not just beginners – thanks

Reply   More from author

30 Paul November 5, 2009 at 4:54 pm

The perfectly patronising tone of your opening sentence is most appropriate.
.-= Paul´s last blog ..different senses, different shoes =-.

Reply   More from author

31 Laurel Papworth November 5, 2009 at 8:51 pm

Thankyou I try :P

Reply

32 Todd 'tojosan' Jordan December 13, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Great post. Love the details about ‘What is Twitter”.
These posts never get old to me though I’ve written my own as well. Folks new to Twitter need this sort of kick start and those that think they’re experts need it as well.

Reply   More from author

33 Kryshla December 15, 2009 at 8:37 pm

Hi Laurel,

I saw your presentation at the PCO conference today and was blown away. I am working with team members currently to write a social media strategy and have so much to take back to them now, your blog included. Thanks so much!

Reply

34 Kevin January 9, 2010 at 6:22 am

Hey Laurel,
Enjoyed this post very much. I’ve bookmarked it so that I can share it with my friends who are new to Twitter. Very useful information. I am taking a graduate class on Emerging Media and the Market this Spring and I have an idea that this post will be a great reference for my class. I look forward to reading more and following your tweets.

Have a Good Day!
Kevin

Reply   More from author

35 Webguy January 13, 2010 at 11:41 pm

Hello Laurel,

For the first time i am here. Nice to see your blog and post all appreciated. :)

Reply   More from author

36 Lindsay January 16, 2010 at 5:15 pm

Nice post for us n00bs. ;) I’ve been on the web long enough that I didn’t find Twitter too confusing, but I had to look up the hashmarks to get them fully. I still forget to use them, but it makes sense to add them when you’re talking about a subject, but don’t actually use subject-name in your meager 140 characters. You still want to show up on Twitterfall or whatever for searches on that topic (if you want to be found anyway). :)

Reply   More from author

Leave a Comment

Additional comments powered by BackType

Previous post:

Next post: