Welcome to Twitter. You’ve decided to join the quickly growing world of micro-blogging. Approximately 1 billion blog posts have been written on how to Twitter well.
This is neither my attempt to improve upon nor regurgitate them. This is simply the part that I distill to my college students, and I can point them here for a refresher.
(Look at Mashable for perhaps the best overall Twitter advice I’ve seen.)
Dear college student: At first you won’t quite get Twitter, and you probably won’t like it. Just accept that and move on. It’s one of the most powerful ways to meaningfully connect with awesome people. You’ll get there. Trust me.
But Twitter can help you get a job. That alone makes it worth acquiring the taste!
You’re an Adult Now
The first step is picking your username. Be an adult. It’s OK that you picked your AOL screen name when you were 11, but I don’t want to be tweeting to @lovespuppiesanddiasies.
Don’t tweet anything that you would not say to your mother or boss. (I read this somewhere. If it’s familiar, please tell me so I can properly attribute).
This isn’t LinkedIn. You don’t have to wear a tie. But leave the pictures of you doing a keg stand on Facebook (actually they shouldn’t be there, but I know they are, so I’ll deal). You can be a little bit witty. But think before you tweet.
A College Student Friendly Bio
Here are some tips that will encourage people to follow you back. There are a lot of get-rich-quick types that we all hope to avoid.
Use your real name. If you’re paranoid, then stay off Twitter. If you’re on, then be open.
Use a real picture. The default picture screams “newbie” and will decrease reciprocal following. Also, you’re not cool enough for a silly graphic. Tina Fey is. You’re not. Show us your face or stay home. Oh, and have clothes on in the picture.
Use a real location. You don’t live on the “Earth” or “here.” Don’t be cute. Be descriptive. In addition to my personal pet peeves, this helps potential employers know where you are. But don’t put the name of your apartment complex like so many of you do on Facebook. A terrible idea.
Write a professional bio. Tell people you’re a student. Tell them what university, and spell it out. UT around here is Texas at Austin. In the south, it’s Tennessee at Knoxville. Tell them your major. You can also mention something about yourself, but I strongly suggests it not be politics or religion.
You’re not a guru of anything. So just stop. And unless I’m going to see you on my television this Sunday asking for money for your church, you’re not an evangelist either. Please. These kinds of superlatives are silly and cheapen you. Just say “no.”
I’d like for you to have a Web site, but that’s a discussion for another day. Don’t simply link to your Facebook bio if there’s anything on your profile that you wouldn’t show in front of the class. Rule of thumb: If a link leads in any way to photos of you throwing up after consuming too much alcohol, omit it!
And don’t protect your updates. This is huge! If you want to be private, stay off of Twitter.
We’re Not in High School Any More
Don’t count just to count. Raw followers mean nothing. You tell me how many you want, and I can tell you how to get them. Foolish. Don’t do it.
Look for quality people. Look for professionals in your field. Look for professors in your field because they’re likely to tweet things relevant to college students.
It’s not “creeping” to look at who I follow. Check it out. Follow the good ones.
Add a few media outlets. Never hurts to get news.
When in doubt, ask yourself: “Does this person add value to my network?” If the answer isn’t at least, “probably,” move on.
When to Follow Back
I don’t suggest that you follow back affiliate marketers. Maybe you need some vitamins, but I don’t.
I don’t know what a life coach is, but I don’t want one (no offense intended to the 12 who follow me).
If someone wants to help you get rich quickly, ask them to please move along.
Numbers don’t mean everything, but they mean something. If someone is following thousands and being followed by only hundreds, go with the herd. They smelled something foul, so trust them. It’s like “Ask the Audience” on Who wants to be a Millionaire.
Unless it’s a friend or a brand new student, beware of 1 update. Also beware of 20,000. They will wear you out.
If the photo is of a petite Asian woman in a bikini, please click “block”.
Know Your Tweets
This is very rudimentary, but you need to know it. Otherwise you can embarrass yourself quickly.
The simplest tweet is the update. You say something to the world. I tweeted this yesterday:
The comma, especially, baffles young people. Sentence fragments and comma splices outnumber proper use.
Just me to the world. Simple.
The second simplest tweet is the reply. I want to reply to something someone said. If I click the little curvy “reply” arrow on Twitter, it will start my tweet with the @ symbol and that person’s username.
In addition to letting them know you’re talking about them, it has some other functions that you’ll learn later. Today I said:
@bchambers Just Google TweetDeck. You’ll have to install Adobe Air first. Both are free and Google’able.
Sometimes you think what someone said is so awesome that you want to share it with your network. So you retweet it. You copy their tweet and their username, and you add an RT to the very front with an @ before their name. Today I retweeted:
RT @shannonpaul: 5 PR Tips to Survive 2009 – http://tinyurl.com/9aefu2
The Direct Message is reserved for private messages between only you and the recipient. An important caveat is that you can send someone a DM only if they’re following you. It does not matter if you’re following them.
Sending DM’s is kind of clunky in the Twitter Web interface. So you can also send one by putting a capital D (not DM!) in front of their username with a space and no @. So for instance, last night I saw someone from Ohio State and wrote:
D redacted Just saw your bio. Go Bucks! [Their name is not really "redacted"]
Finally, there are times when you want to keep track of a multi-party conversation. This is done with the hashtag. This allows you to use Twitter’s search function to keep track of the conversation.
For instance, @PRsarahevans organized #PRadvice as a forum for advice about PR careers, etc. You should check it out. But I was able to follow the conversation using search and the hashtag. During that conversation, I said:
The comma, especially, baffles young people. Sentence fragments and comma splices outnumber proper use. #PRadvice
Be really careful with Direct Messages when you’re new. A small slip, and you broadcast a private thought to the world.
Above All Else, Add Value
Twitter is about conversations. Try to add to the conversation. Have something to say. Ask a meaningful question.
You’ll never get to know anyone by being a Twitter wallflower. Talk. But add value.
Don’t scam people, and don’t ask someone you’ve never met for an internship. Get to know people. This is about a real network with real contacts. Not some tool.
Last But Not Least
I’m certainly not the Twitter expert. Nor am I a guru. And I’m certainly not an evangelist. Many readers will be more well versed than I am in Twitter. What would you tell a college student? You can even build your Twitter network by leaving a comment since you can leave your linked Twitter username right in the comment.
Photo credit: tanakawho on Flickr
I'm a cognitive scientist and communication scholar who manages a psychophysiology lab at Texas Tech. I teach courses about the cognitive processing of media messages and research methods.
{ 11 trackbacks }
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
There’s a key element you’re missing, Sam, that every college student entering Twitter should realize:
Tweets, like blog posts (and blog comments, like this one) are indexed on search engines. So, don’t send any Twitter messages that you wouldn’t want your mother, your employer, or your who knows who to read either now or in the future.
Once online, always online.
Welcome to Twitter.
Ari Herzog’s last blog post..Why I Challenge You to Think Like Me
Thanks, Ari. You are right that this cannot be emphasized enough. Once your tweet, it’s permanent on some server somewhere.
Even if you delete it immediately, it still exists. You’ll notice that your number of updates goes up by one when you delete rather than down.
And a tweet that a friend of mine deleted while my computer was turned off (saw it on the CrackBerry) still showed up when I turned of TweetDeck.
Sam, this is an important post. College students transitioning to the workforce need to understand the changing landscape of communications and how to best utilize various channels to their advantage, vs. hurting themselves with inappropriate information. I offered some other tips that may help in a recent post on my site:
Brandon Uttley’s last blog post..Take Small Steps To Succeed
Thanks, Brandon. Your blog looks great. I strongly suggest that any student reading these comments should go check it out. I saw several relevant and interesting posts.
I wish I had read this post before I started tweeting. I caught on after a while, and have gained invaluable insight into social media and marketing through twitter, but it took me some time to figure it all out. For any student reading this, I can tell you from my own experience that one of the best things about twitter is the advice and help I have received from people far more experienced than I am. The twitter community is more than willing to help guide you through the process, as long as you are using the platform properly. Good luck to you all. I hope to see your tweets soon.
Jennifer Larson’s last blog post..Subscribe to Comments
Great post. Another tip is that students can make connections via twitter and learn what someone’s thinking that they’d never be able to find otherwise. For example, the CIO of the City of Seattle is on twitter….for my students who want to work in E-Gov or Gov 2.0 etc., knowing what he’s tweeting is an invaluable advantage when looking at a career in this area. So for career purposes, networking, etc., it can almost be like mind-reading a future employer.
Heather Krasna’s last blog post..Why do networking?
Jennifer — You are absolutely right. It seems as if Twitter has a slightly steeper learning curve. It’s a little but more difficult to get started. Once you get the basics, however, the conversations are great. @jnicole4 is one of the pros, now.
Heather — Thanks for addressing that point. One of the best uses of Twitter, in my opinion, is to get a feel for the day-to-day lives of people in different job functions. See what their lives are like. Would you like it?
You make a good point about writing a professional bio. I think for most people the hardest part of writing a professional bio is choosing what to put in and what to leave out. Because after all, a bio is supposed to be short. But most of us have done lots of different things in our work careers.
p.s. I like what you’ve done with the Thesis theme.
It is also important that college students join Twitter now and build a network before they need it. If they are graduating in May, January is the perfect time for Twitter. They can gain insight into social media and learn to use its basic tools in a professional manner as they are exploring options for the future. Joining Twitter after graduation will delay its benefits.
Barbra — Great point. Twitter forces your bio to be short. So make each word count. I have some characters to “give,” but I’ve said all of the relevant stuff.
Jeff — This is perhaps THE key point. I’m giving a lot of presentations in classes about Twitter during the next couple of weeks, and I am going to insert your point at the very front of the discussion. Thanks!
Thanks for the advice on Twitter. I think you made a lot of really great points and I hope that more students find use to your blog as well. If you have any advice on creating and updating a useful blog, let me know. I look forward to seeing your posts.
Kristen. Aha! Great idea. Blogging 101 for College Students post coming soon!
Great tips here! As you said, adding value to the conversation is the most important (and most effective) thing to do.
I think Twitter is a MAJOR resource for college students looking to connect with people in “the real world.” It will help them realize that there is no “real world”.
Great advice, Sam. I have my students on Twitter this quarter and passed this link along to them. Hope all is well. Cheers!
Natalie Boyne’s last blog post..Limiting your flaps
Thanks for the great post. You have introduced a lot of good tips that I need to start adhereing to! I’m definitely going to pass this information along. Cheers!
I’m new to twitter recently and just recently created an account for a college class. Before I created my account I knew twitter was used for constant updates of sports teams or celebrities. I did not know it had educational value before I created my account and started reading more about twitter. I recently learned twitter can be used in your future and help you greatly in your job. The great thing about twitter is that you are able to connect with people that you previously could not talk to. For example for educational purposes a student can follow a company ceo and gain insight to how his job is. For personal reasons twitter can be fun to follow sports teams and gain knowledge that is not released anywhere else. Some things I just found out about twitter was that every post or update can be found somewhere on the internet. I liked twitter right away because there are no hiding things and it is very professional. The point of twitter is to read other peoples updates, so there is no reason to block your updates. What I will do very soon is look for people in my major which is golf enterprise management and add them. I think twitter will help my career if I use it properly.
This was posted on Twitter by a PR professor I had last semester. Fortunately, I am following her because she provides me with information like this that I will be sharing with the world I reach (via twitter)!!
Thanks for sharing, Kendrick and Heather.
Glad to see Twitter is making it into more classrooms!
My advice to college students and recent grads.
1) Have a unique and recognizable point of view (which eventually will become part of your personal brand, when you get past your early 20s and become who you are). Your tweets should reflect that point of view.
2) Check your ego at your Facebook profile. I just heard a 21-y-o say he got off twitter because he didn’t immediately have enough followers and therefore didn’t find it rewarding. That’s one of the saddest things I’ve heard. Sometimes it’s okay to just listen and learn, and add what you can when it’s worthwhile.
3) Be curious. You are at the perfect age to explore (although I think every age is the perfect age). Try random topic searches and learn something new. Follow up on the existing trends, and see if you can predict or create some new ones.
4) Dig deeper. If you find someone worth following on Twitter, see if they have a blog or other website you can follow. I have discovered some of the most useful and/or entertaining leads as a result of people I discovered through random topic searches.
I would definitely agree about the picture, the name, too few tweets, and not following too many people too quickly. People won’t follow you back. Aim for quality.
Thinks of 20 key words about you and the type of job you want and find a way to mention those words in your posts in a meaningful way.
I would also add that students need to think through what type of job they want and think past that job to their career. If they come to a job with social media experience and a good online reputation they will be more valuable to their employer.
The three top ‘rules’ for social media apply here as elsewhere: authenticity, generosity and trustworthiness.
Be authentic, it’s good to have a voice/opinion that you create online. Consider these sites as a chance to build an online portfolio of your work to show who you are, what interests you and what you can bring to an employer.
Be generous; share information, retweet and add thoughtful comments to others. Listen in and then participate in Tweetchats with thought leaders in your industry.
Look for the leading bloggers in your industry. Then follow them on Twitter and notice what hashtags (#) they mention for meetings or online chats. You will learn a lot and find other great people to follow. Check out tweetchat.com and What the Hashtag (wthashtag.com) for other hashtags.
Trust is a very important part of social media. People need to know they can trust you and that you are who you say you are. It can take a while to build a good reputation online and very little to destroy it.
Find an RSS feed, such as Google Reader, Feedburer, Lazyfeed or other service to help you find interesting things to post. However, resist the temptation to blast people with updates. Quality counts.
I find it a struggle to get college student to understand the true purpose of Twitter and how you need to treat it and other social networking sites professionally. At my blog, LifeNotion, and being a college student I offer tips that are beneficial for college students. Struggle is for me to attract them and practice things like Twitter.
Twitter seems to be nothing but a joke to them. But, I do know of some friends that use Twitter and say they find it a very useful tool. It is all how you use things and your complete mindset on them.