An
Introductory Guide for College Students
101
@AdamBritten
Published August 17, 2011
Table of Contents
Introduction: 1
Is this guide for you?: 1
Introduction to the author: 2
Brief history of Twitter: 2
General overview of Twitter: 3
What Twitter can do for you: 3
Breakdown of Twitter elements: 4
Building a community: 8
Twitter in your job search: 9
Twittequette: 10
One step further: Tweetchats: 11
Appendices: 12
Brief note of clarification – any word that appears in italics is defined in the glossary located in the appendices.
I
ntroduction
T
The home
page of Twitter.com
Is this guide for you?
Twitter appeals to a vast user base. A company spokesperson said that as of January 1, 2011 the website had nearly 200 million registered accounts. In particular, Twitter has been embraced by many colleges & universities and has proved itself as a useful tool for students. Professors across the country and around the world are beginning to utilize Twitter in the classroom. Companies are actively using Twitter as a means of recruiting talented applicants, especially for internships and entry-level jobs. By learning to use Twitter, students can create one-on-one relationships with companies who may just be hiring.
Twitter allows students to stand out during the application process. However, this is not a system that yields quick results. Joining Twitter, sending out a few tweets here and there, and then expecting a response from a potential employer is unrealistic. Companies are looking for people with a demonstrated skill to market themselves, and an established Twitter account is much more impressive than a new one. This guide is intended for students just entering the arena. If you don't have a Twitter account yet, or you recently signed up, this guide is for you. If you are more experienced with the platform, there may be a few tips in here that will help you out as well.
Introduction to the author
My name is @AdamBritten, and I'm a huge Twitter advocate. I joined the network almost two years ago, and I remember tweeting things like:
Help me, I don't understand this.
I'm eating a grilled cheese sandwich.
How do I change the background on my profile?
Watching The Office.
I distinctly remember promising myself that I would try Twitter for three months before giving up on it. I would tweet casually, but never really saw what the big deal was about. I was of the mentality that nothing I had to say was “tweetworthy” or that I “didn't care about what people were eating or what they are watching on TV.”
Flash forward two years and more than 8,000 tweets: I'm officially addicted. I’ve worked as a Social Media Intern for American Eagle Outfitters Inc., and Syracuse University. I discovered both job opportunities through Twitter. This is when I really started to understand the power of the network.
While I probably use Twitter more than the average student, I still have questions about the platform. It's a fast paced and constantly changing environment, there is always something new to learn.
Brief history of Twitter
The first
tweet ever sent was sent March 21, 2006. Written by creator Jack
Dorsey, it read “just setting up my twttr.” The company, then
known as twittr, launched July 15, 2006. After changing its name to
Twitter, the company was first brought into the spotlight in March
2007 during the South by Southwest Interactive Conference, a popular
conference about new media. During the multi-day conference popular
among techies and bloggers, the number of tweets per day rose from
around 20,000 to over 60,000. By January 29, 2009, Twitter had
become the third most popular social networking site. Currently, the
site has over 200 million registered accounts.
T
witter
garnered interest by being introduced into pop culture by an active
group of celebrity users. Lady GaGa, Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber
and Ellen DeGeneres rank among the 10 most popular Twitter accounts.
Many Twitter users utilize the site to always be “in-the-know”
about their favorite celebrities.
This “in-the-know” concept became a clear direction for Twitter. The company announced via its blog on November 19, 2009, that it was changing the question users answered with their tweets from “what are you doing?” to “what's going on?” This marked a clear shift in the focus for Twitter, in an effort to be considered an information network. News organizations flocked to Twitter because it was the quickest way to break a story. The platform crashed on June 25, 2009, after the death of Michael Jackson. Over 100,000 tweets per hour containing the singer's name were posted. The first tweet from space was sent January 22, 2010. The network is also regarded as a key resource for Egyptian activists during their 2011 Revolution. One protestor cited Twitter as being the tool used to coordinate efforts during the uprising.
Twitter is currently the ninth most visited site on the internet, according to web information company Alexa. It is available for use in seven different languages, and the company is planning on pushing for a larger international presence. The company is currently valued at 7 billion dollars.
G
eneral
overview of Twitter
T
The
Twitter interface
What Twitter can do for you
Twitter is an effective way of keeping current with your friends, classmates and acquaintances. Through quick updates, friends can always be updates about each others' lives. Users can easily share links, pictures and videos with each other.
Many
professors are also utilizing Twitter within the classroom. Syracuse
University offers a course called Social Media in the Enterprise (IST
486,) better known as #RotoloClass. This class, taught by Anthony
Rotolo, shows students how to properly use various social media
platforms. The class actively encourages students to use their
laptops and cell phones during lectures so that they may post updates
to Twitter. Inside the classroom, one screen is always actively
projecting the tweets so that they can be discussed in person.
Outside the classroom, onlookers can observe the class, give their
own interpretation and ask their own questions. 
Other professors at Syracuse are integrating the platform into their classroom experience as well. Marketing Professor Gerald Edmonds uses Twitter during his Marketing Research classes taught at the Whitman School of Management. Edmonds asks students to post their thoughts about the course material, and he posts answers to student questions during his office hours and throughout the week.
#RotoloClass
students watch a guest speaker on Skype (Photo
courtesy of Anthony Rotolo)
Professors aside, students can use the network to enhance the academic process on their own. It is common for students to make comments about their classes and tag them using hashtags like #WRT307 or #EEE457. Before exams can be a popular time for students to post questions they have while they are studying, and other students (and even professors) can search for these questions and provide the answers.
Outside of the classroom, Twitter is a sophisticated means of approaching a job search. Several companies (especially ones hiring for internships & entry-level positions) use Twitter to post job listings as soon as they are announced. Accounts like @DisneyCPInterns post specifically about corporate recruitment at universities. Some companies just have one central account for job-posting notifications, like @StarbucksJobs & @MTVNetworksJobs. Additionally, several resources for college students looking for internships have adopted Twitter as a primary means of communication, including @Internships & @YouTern. When using Twitter as a means of advancing your professional career, it is important to remember that Twitter by nature is a public space. Unless you have strict privacy controls in place, everything you write is visible to anyone. Take caution before posting pictures from a party or tweeting anything that could be considered inappropriate. A section about Twitter manners appears later in this guide.
Breakdown of Twitter elements
Posting a tweet has a lot more to it than some people would think. Yes, you can be perfectly content only tweeting things like “Craving McDonald's.” However, most people will probably find you annoying and write you off. If you learn to effectively use Twitter, you can gain a full sense of how much the platform goes beyond just being like the “Facebook status update.”
Getting started
The first step in using Twitter is to create an account. This can be done by visiting Twitter.com and clicking on the yellow “sign up” bar. The next page will ask for some basic information. The “username” you enter will become your handle, which is the name that people will see on your page. Don't worry, you can change this all later if you decide to. Next, you'll be able to link your Twitter account to a cell phone number. There are many smart phone apps that allow you to use Twitter on the go, or you can elect to text updates to Twitter, which will then be posted on your profile. Entering a cell phone number is not required to open an account, but it enhances the experience.
@ Mentions
Any tweet that is posted directly into the main input box will be seen by all of your followers. There is a way of directing tweets to specific people, though. If you include an @ symbol followed by a person's Twitter handle, then that tweet will go into a special separate feed for the user. The person does not need to be following you in order to see this tweet. This feed falls under the “@Mentions” toolbar under the input box. If any of your followers also follow the person you tweeted at, then they will see the tweet too. If you put an @ symbol and the person's name in the middle of the tweet, then everyone who follows you will see that tweet.
This tweet will only
be seen by Alyssa and the followers we have in common.
This tweet will be
seen by Owl City and all of my followers.
P
ictures
and videos
W Clicking
the link or either of the
buttons in
the top right corner opens this:
Videos behave in a similar manner. Third-party platforms like twitvid allow uploads to directly be shared in Twitter, and even YouTube links will play videos directly within the Twitter site.
Links
Twitter is popularly used to share links to content that people think their followers will find relevant. Many sites (especially news sources and blogs) now feature the ability to tweet a link to the site without even leaving the page.
By clicking on the Twitter button here, pulled from an article on CNN.com, a pre-written tweet containing the articles title and a link will open up, and all you'll need to do is click “Tweet.” Some users prefer to write their own tag that goes with a link. If you want to share the link yourself, a common courtesy in Twitter is to use a link shortener like bit.ly or tiny.url. These sites allow you to enter a link, and then they provide you with a link using fewer characters. This makes the tweet look simpler, and gives you more characters to comment about the link. Twitter recently added automatic link shortening to tweets, but you can still do it the old fashioned way if you want.
Retweeting
A common practice on Twitter is to retweet someone. This means that you are taking the tweet they posted and sharing it with your followers. There are two ways of doing this.
The first way is to copy and paste the tweet into another tweet and then add RT and @Whoever. This allows you to add your own comment to the tweet, which most users do by adding text before the RT. Some users prefer to add their comment after the tweet, so they will write “// my own comment.”
The second way is to click “retweet” directly on the tweet. (This option will appear if your cursor is hovering the tweet.) This method doesn't allow you to edit the tweet, and it will appear as if it came directly from the original sender. Instead of seeing your avatar and handle, they will see the info of the person who originally wrote the tweet.
↑The first method
↓ The second method
Direct messages
Direct messages (DMs) are considered the e-mail of Twitter. If you need to have a private conversation with one of your followers, this is the best method. These are also useful if you need to have an extended conversation with somebody and you don't want the tweets to flood your followers' feeds (which they appreciate. On the main Twitter site, these can be seen by pressing the Messages button in the upper toolbar. DMs are limited to 140 characters. One other thing to note is that in order to have a conversation via DM, both participants must be mutually following each other. You can only DM somebody who is following you, and people can only DM you if you are following them.
Lists
Lists allow for better sorting of people you follow. People create lists like “classmates” or “colleagues” to allow them to only see the tweets by a specific group of people at any time. Users can also go to any page and see any lists that person has created.
Who to follow
This function (located on the top toolbar) presents a list generated by Twitter of suggestions for people to follow. Twitter makes these recommendations “based on who you follow and more.” From this page, you can also browse by interest in order to find people who tweet about specific topics. These include categories like Art & Design, Travel, Politics, Entertainment, etc. Also on this page is the “find friends” feature which allows you to enter your Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail & MSN, AOL or LinkedIn username and search for contacts on these networks who also use Twitter.
Searches
Twitter has a search bar (located above the input box) that allows for users to search for anything within a tweet (most commonly used to search for specific accounts, hashtags or key words.) After performing a search, you can filter by “tweets with links,” “tweets near you” or “people” if you are searching for someone's account. If there is a search that you want to frequently monitor, click the “save this search” button after performing a search. This will store the results of the search into the “searches” menu on your main page. At any time, you can access this page and see an updated list of tweets containing that search variable.
Third party clients
A good bulk of Twitter users utilize the Twitter.com site directly in order to read & write messages. However, several other clients have been developed. The best thing to do is try some out and see how you are most comfortable browsing Twitter. Some make everything simpler and more user-friendly, and some open up a plethora of other menus, allowing for complete maximization of how many things you can see at once. Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are the most well-known of these services. Macintosh users can choose to download the Twitter app directly onto their computer's dashboard.
Settings
T
Avatar ↑
Bio ↑
The design feature under settings allows users to change their background as well as color scheme. Many third party applications are also available to customize your profile. Twitter is partnered with Themeleon, and there is a direct link to their application from the 'design' tab. Here, you can modify the colors of your profile as well as choose a background image. The connections feature shows all of the third party applications that you have given permission to access your Twitter. You can choose to revoke access from this menu.
Under the account tab on the settings page, there is an option called “protect my tweets.” This setting is the main privacy control on Twitter. If you check this box, only people who you allow will be able to see your tweets. People would submit a “follow request” and you will have the option to either approve or deny the request. If your tweets are protected, they also will not appear when people search hashtags or keywords.
Building a community
It's not what you know, it's who you know. This saying applies strongly to the world of social media. After all, “social” is the first word. You can be tweeting the most valuable of content, but if nobody is aware of it, what good does it do? Establishing a strong group of followers is probably the most important part of Twitter, but is frequently considered the most difficult. One piece of advice here: there is an urge to stop tweeting when you can't seem to accumulate a herd of followers. Don't give up.
Before signing out permanently, give your own tweets a read. Make sure you see the value in everything you post. Instead of simply tweeting about the little things that happen in your day, consider another approach. Twitter is an elegantly designed newsfeed that allows for easy sharing of other things on the internet. While you're surfing the web, tweet out links or pictures of the things you find interesting. (Make sure to shorten your links!) Chances are there are other people out there who find the same things interesting, and you will likely gain more followers simply based on the fact that you are now posting things relevant to more people. However, not all tweets need to contain a link to another source. If you are doing something significant one day, it is generally acceptable to tweet about it. People care what you are doing, just not every little thing.
Aside from posting more clickable content, there are other ways to build more followers. Tweetchats, scheduled discussions about a specific topic, are popular for finding new people with similar interests. This guide contains a further explanation of Tweetchats later on.
The best way to gain new followers, or at least make people aware of your Twitter presence, is to follow more people. Some consider it a polite gesture to follow-back anyone that follows them. This is not necessary by any means, but you will probably gain more followers simply from increasing the number of people you follow.
Along
these lines, analyze who you follow. If you are only following
stores, celebrities and news organizations, chances are you will get
tweeted at or followed back very rarely. While Twitter is a great
way to star-gaze 
or
have access to deals, it can get boring if you are never actually
talking to someone. Ask your friends, colleagues and anyone you know
if they are on Twitter. While the platform isn't as popular as
Facebook, you'll be surprised at how many people have an active
profile.
Twitter in your job search
A frequent goal of students using Twitter is to gain a competitive advantage when applying for internships or post-grad work. If you want to use Twitter to advance your professional exposure by any means, then start by doing the following.
Make a list of companies you want to work for.
Follow the official Twitters for these companies.
Generally, typing “Company name Twitter” into Google is the best way to find a company's official Twitter. The platform has their own search function, but this sometimes presents too many imitation accounts and it can be difficult to find the official one.
Sometimes, companies will not have an official Twitter. DO NOT stop here.
Search for Twitter accounts for employees of these companies.
If the companies have an official Twitter, a good place to start is to look at who they are following. More than likely, the first few (or few hundred, depending on the company size) will be filled with employees. People usually list who they work for in their Twitter bio, so you should be able to see relatively easily if you found a current employee.
Many CEOs are signing up for Twitter as a means of connecting directly with their customers, so you can find them on Twitter and then check who they are following.
Otherwise, browse the companies website for some sort of listing of employees or contact listings. Anyone's name you can find is a good one to check to see if they have a Twitter. Once you have found one employee, you can usually find many more.
W
henever you have something to say to any of them, don't be afraid to speak up! If they ask a question, feel free to tweet them an answer. If they post something about their company that you find interesting, tweet them your response.
This is a great way to start building a relationship with companies you want to work for. By following employees of a company, or even the hiring manager of you can find him/her, you have the ability to contact them directly whenever you have a question. After you submit an application, tweet at people from the company that you applied and would love to be considered. They will applaud your initiative. Even if they don't respond, they've at least seen your name. They may not be the ones making a hiring decision, but they might be able to pass your name along.
Twittequette
Just like any other form of communication, a certain set of generally accepted norms have been created by the Twitter user base. Commonly referred to as “Twittequette,” certain habits have been labeled “proper” and other ones “annoying.” Here are the top five rules of Twittequette, according to Blogtrepreneur.com:
Be willing to engage and follow other people.
Don't chat.
Twitter is public. Duh.
Take a break.
Go easy on self promotion.
If I could add my own rules, I'd suggest the following:
Do not “auto-DM” your followers.
Some programs allow you to set up a service where any time you gain a new follower, they get an automatic direct message that you set up to say something like “Hello, thanks for following me!” These are the bane of existence for any experienced Twitter user. Avoid them at all costs.
Do not tweet mundane, boring details.
Most people don't care what you're eating, what you think of the weather or what thirteen quotes you think are the best from this week's episode of Glee. Limit these kind of tweets.
Do not ask people to follow you.
There are some people that follow back everyone that follows them, but this isn't a standard practice. If you follow someone and they do not immediately follow you back, instead of directly asking them to follow you, consider entering into a conversation with them and hopefully they will find you interesting enough to follow.
Follow whoever you want to, even if you don't know them personally.
Whereas on Facebook it is considered impolite to friend someone who you don't know personally, this is a common practice on Twitter. The platform is designed so that people with similar interests can find each other and converse without actually knowing each other in real life. Feel free to follow people that interest you, and even tweet at them from time to time. Who knows, maybe somebody you meet on Twitter will turn into a real life friend.
One step further: Tweetchats
Tweetchats are an excellent way to bring groups together with common interests they can discuss via Twitter. These chats generally “meet” at an assigned time, usually for an hour once a week or once a month. Chats will usually have an assigned moderator, and sometimes there will be an established set of questions. Other chats use a more “free-for-all” approach. A popular tool for participating in Tweetchats is the appropriately named Tweetchat.com. This site allows users to follow a constantly refreshing stream of a particular hashtag, and any tweet they post on the page will automatically contain that hashtag. A word of caution: Tweetchats move extremely quickly and are often considered something appropriate for more experienced Twitter users. Below is a table presenting some popular Tweetchats.
|
Chat Name |
Topic |
Assigned Time (EST) |
|
#blogchat |
Blogging |
Sundays at 9pm |
|
#cmgrchat |
Community Management |
Wednesdays at 2pm |
|
#internchat |
Internships |
Every other Tuesday at 7pm |
|
#pr20chat |
Public Relations & Social Media |
Tuesdays at 8pm |
Appendices
Other social networks of interest
Twitter is obviously just one of the many social networks available. All social networks have some overlap. Because of this, many Twitters will direct their followers to profiles on other networks, and even ask to connect with their followers on these platforms. Below is a brief overview of the popular applications referenced by the Twitter community.
|
Network |
Function |
|
|
Users create personal pages and become “friends” with other users, allowing for the sharing of messages, “wall posts” and pictures. |
|
|
Business-oriented site that allows users to connect with colleagues & classmates past & present. |
|
Tumblr |
Microblogging site that allows for the posting of text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio. |
|
Foursquare |
Location-based service that allows users to “check-in” to venues and see where there friends are (and have been.) |
|
|
Photo sharing platform available on iPhones. |
Special thanks
Thank you to Molly Vorheis, the WRT 307 professor who originally inspired this project.
Thank you to Alyssa Henry, Rachel Dentinger, and Alyssa Stone for their help with reviewing.
Twitter glossary
@ Mention: A tweet with @username anywhere within the field will be sent to that user, appearing under their “mention” column.
Avatar: The picture that appears next to all of your tweets.
Blog: Short for web log. An interactive site where the author will post regular commentary about a specific topic. Readers can generally comment on posts.
Community Manager: An employee of a company responsible for the company's presence on social networks.
DM: Short for direct message. A private message sent specifically to one twitter user which cannot be seen by anyone else. Also limited to 140 characters.
#FF or #FollowFriday: A very common hashtag that will undoubtedly appear in your stream on Friday. People recommend a select group of Twitter accounts every week that they think other people should follow.
Handle: A person's username.
Hashtag: Any word with the “#” symbol in front of it. Users will typically add a hashtag to whatever the subject of the tweet is that they are writing. Ex: Did anyone see last night's episode of #ModernFamily? Hashtags allow tweets to be searchable by anyone. Users wishing to talk about Modern Family could search for the hashtag to find all recent tweets mentioning the show. Hashtags are also used as a means of facilitating Tweetchats.
Link Shortener: A website such as bit.ly or tiny.url that condense a longer URL into one with fewer characters.
Lists: Organized pages created by users to showcase different groupings of Twitter users. Common lists can be: classmates, friends, colleagues, etc.
Microblog: A very short blog. Twitter is the best example of a Microblog.
Promoted Tweet: A tweet paid for by a sponsoring brand.
RT: Short for retweet. Shows that a person is re-posting a tweet originally written by another user. Sometimes, the re-poster will add their own view of the tweet either at the beginning or end of the tweet. Ex: Such a great album. My favorite track is number four. RT @Lisa151 Just bought Need You Now by Lady Antebellum.
Trending Topic: The phrases appearing most in tweets from a particular geographic region.
Verified Account: A service offered by Twitter to show that celebrity accounts were an official representative of that person. Now used for companies, schools and other institutions.