And by “old” of course I mean “experienced”. Even if you’ve been using Twitter for ages, there are tips, tricks and cool new functionalities to familiarise yourself with, to get the most out of it. Best of all they’re easy and accessible.
Earlier this week I met Jen Leo, a Silicon Valley transplant now here in the UK, and she suggested a solution to the problem of tweeting all my messages and RTs at once: Hootsuite.com. This social media dashboard – among other things – allows you to schedule tweets throughout the day rather than bombarding your followers all at once. Just sign up online.
These days it doesn’t take long to update the look of your Twitter page, streamline your favourite Tweeters and brush up on evolving etiquette. For example:
– if you want something RT’ed, make it 120 characters so there is enough room for the RT and even a note
– Follow back people who follow you. It’s nice and social media gurus recommend it
– It’s a conversation… Follow up and thank people for RTing and mentioning you
Find a buffet of Twitter tips on this page on Alltop, including the top 5 steps after you join Twitter, 5 ways to guarantee you won’t be followed back and more.
And good advice for using Twitter doesn’t have to involve technology. Last week, the social media expert at PRCo told me his analog strategy for making the most of it: he restricts himself to logging on once in the morning and once at the end of the day.That way he can catch up, connect, read and retweet, without Twitter taking over his day.
What are your tips and advice for using Twitter? Do you tweet via Twitter, Tweetdeck, or other dashboard? Tell us how you use it.
Picture by Rosaura Ochoa
About Jennifer Howze
Jennifer Howze is the Creative Director and co-founder of BritMums. She blogs about family travel at Jenography.net, tweets at @JHowze and Instagrams at @JHowze. Previously, she wrote the Alpha Mummy blog at The Times and as a journalist has contributed to The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, Budget Travel, CNN.com, Allure, SELF and Premiere, among others. She won The Maggie Award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for a health article in Seventeen magazine.
Greenwellys
Tuesday 5th of October 2010
Hi all, I agree with Lizzy_o, Seesmic is great for the iPhone too and can help aggregate Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn too. One of the issues with social media is pulling all accounts together effectively and Seesmic really helps with this. I've posted some more Twitter Tips on the 'Twitter Ettiquette' discussion on the BMB Group: http://britishmummybloggers.ning.com/forum/topics/twitter-etiquette?page=3&commentId=2494047%3AComment%3A69409&x=1#2494047Comment69409 Hope these help. I'm reading your other tips with interest. Michelle
Nickie@Typecast
Monday 20th of September 2010
SnapTu is a good application for accessing social media, email and RSS Readers. I've written a number of blog posts on the use of Twitter and how it is growing in popularity. http://typecast2000.blogspot.com/2010/02/online-social-networking-does-it-work.html I also rewrote an old email "joke" to promote the use of Twitter: http://typecast2000.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-many-twitterers-does-it-take-to.html
Jennifer Howze
Sunday 19th of September 2010
@Lizzy_o Thanks for the Android phone tip and you're right about mum bloggers. I've found the community very supportive.
Lizzy_o
Sunday 19th of September 2010
It took me a little while to find a suitable 'dashboard' for use with my Android phone that I could also use on my desktop. Seesmic ended up being the way forward for me. I haven't been using Twitter long, but I got to my first 100 followers this weekend (yay!)- think that pro actively following people who interested me is the most successful activity I have taken part in - then looking at who they're following and following some of them and so on and so on. I've found that tweeting mummy-bloggers are very kind, following back and encouraging conversation! @Lizzy_o
Jennifer Howze
Friday 17th of September 2010
I am sooo envious.