Monday, March 9th, 2009...11:58 pm
You’re on Twitter, now what
A good friend e-mailed me today: “I’m on Twitter….now what??” She recently started a blog about spas (think mud baths and seaweed wraps), and she’s hoping to use Twitter to let the world know about it. (Into spas, follow @CNYspagirl).
My friend isn’t a journalist. But her question was so basic, yet so typical of what so many people — journalists included — wonder about they first log onto Twitter: “I’m here. What the heck do I do?”
This blog is for journalists making the leap into new media, but the tips I compiled for her seem to fit anyone — including journalists — so I’ll share them. (I’ve tweaked them a bit from my hastily written e-mail to my friend, but the gist is the same.) Also be sure to read my tips for journalists new to Twitter.
Step one: Get followers: Twitter is only of value to promote blog traffic if you have a sizable number of followers, preferably interested in your niche topic. (So in her case, people who like to go to spas or read about spas.)
- Search keywords: What word or words sum up what your blog is about? Search for those words at search.twitter.com to find people to follow who are interested in the same topics that your write about. (She could search for spa or spas, for example.)
- Follow people: My rule is I follow anyone, except those who haven’t filled out their Twitter profile or who have never tweeted or who look like spammers or porn. (Check the Web site link in the bio.)
- Check followers of people who follow you: When I started on Twitter, I’d check the followers of everyone I followed to see if anyone else looked worth following. I don’t do that for everyone now because I’d be overwhelmed, but it’s a good way to wrack up followers at first.
- Follow people you don’t know: It’s fine to just follow friends if all you want to do with Twitter is converse with people you already know. But if you want to draw readers to your blog, you need to branch out to people who are interested in your blog because they like the topic, not just because they like you.
- Follow back: When a person follows you, you’ll get an e-mail alert. Follow the person back unless he or see seems like a spammer, porn, etc. (see above.)
- Tweet your blog posts: But don’t just say “New blog post.” Explain it: “Just blogged about man who shot wife, killed self” and include a link to that post (not to your main blog URL.) You want to make it as easy as possible for readers to find your post.
- Tweet about other things: If all you do is tweet your blog, you come across as a person saying “look at me; look at me.” Tweet other people’s blog posts or stories that you find interesting. (A good way to do that is to say “Reading …” and give a summary of the post, and, of course, a link.)
- Tweet general observations: Yes, tweet what you’re having for lunch — just not every day. Tweeting is small talk; people need to get to know you. Despite what naysayers say, I get more response when I tweet something inane, like I just bought a pair of UGGs then from more serious tweets.
- Retweet other people’s post that you admire: Retweeting pays off. If you do it; others may retweet your posts. Plus you’re providing more value to your followers.
I'm Gina Masullo Chen, a 20-year veteran newspaper journalist who is a Ph.D. candidate in mass communications. I want to see journalism survive. I believe news organizations need to embrace new media, change their thinking, improve their content and innovate. Read more about me 
8 Comments
March 10th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Good advice all around. I prefer people who talk about their daily lives (within reason) as well as provide interesting information/links. People who only RT or post links, and do so in great quantity, end up unfollowed very quickly.
I think Twitter is a great medium for student writers … it’s practical application of the greatest bit of writing advice, ‘Omit needless words’ from ‘Elements of Style.’ We can all stand to do more with less, after all.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:02 am
TimN.
Yes … just posting links gets old. Seems like a machine or the dreaded twitterfeed.
Like your idea about Twitter helping people be brief. It sure does force one to think about the value of each word.
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:15 pm
[...] trying to converse with like-minded people about topics they share in common. (Be sure to read my Twitter primer if you’re new to [...]
May 26th, 2009 at 8:51 am
BTW when people first join Twitter, they should tweet complete their profile and tweet something substantial right away. That way, if they follow me, I have something to read as I decide to follow them back. If you’re following dozens or hundreds of people and have not tweeted anything (or an extremely low volume of tweets), what are you adding to the conversation?
June 18th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
[...] you. You’ll also want to friend or follow people interested in your topic. Here are ways to find liked-minded people to follow on Twitter. I’d also suggest putting a Twitter badge on your blog that displays your tweets [...]
August 4th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
[...] bring up a more famous guy with that surname. (If you’re new to Twitter, be sure to read my list of tips.) – Gina Follow me on [...]
February 6th, 2010 at 11:30 am
[...] You’re on Twitter, now what?! ur bloggen Save the Media [...]
August 1st, 2010 at 11:04 pm
What role will academia play in the realization of the journalist/social media relationship? As more and more journalism and communications programs embrace social media tools and networks, the maturation that you discuss will eliminate the confusion that Ben mentioned above.
Thanks for links — reading them now.
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