Wish you could get more from your time on social media? Is that especially true on Twitter? Well, have I got a post for you. 7 Ways to Get More from Twitter Lists as a way to get a lot more from Twitter: Lists are probably the most under-appreciated, most-useful feature of Twitter. They are a way to manage the "firehose" of tweets come from large numbers of people you follow. Lists are best organized around your interests (this could mean the industry you work in, family and friends or even competitors). When you open a list you only see tweets from those people. It is important to remember that Twitter lists can be public (visible to anyone and searchable on Google) or private (visible only to you). Some resources for more information on lists:
Use Advanced Search: Use the Twitter Search window at the top right of the page and once you have results look to the left for the “Advanced Search” tab. In Advanced Search Twitter allows users to search by different arrangements of words, excluded words, hashtags, type of language, from certain accounts, mentioning certain accounts, near a certain place and/or within a date range. There is also some modest sentiment analysis that allows searching by positive or negative mentions. The best aspect of search in Twitter is that you can save your searches and re-run them when you want.
Twitter also allows embedding searches (which Twitter calls Timelines) so they can be displayed on a website or at a conference, for example. How to embed a timeline Join a Twitter chat: These are an under-utilized aspect of Twitter. They are a discussion held via Twitter where everyone follows the same hashtag at an agreed-upon time. They are great way to learn in any field you’re interested in and to connect with new, relevant followers. The company Gnosis has compiled a very useful resource: Twitter Chat List By Day of Week Follow a relevant hashtag: One of the best ways to network (whether it’s at a conference or some other event or even in your day-to-day life) is to follow a hashtag and to engage in conversation using that hashtag. For more see Twitter’s own Using hashtags on Twitter. Pinning a tweet: If you have a tweet you’d like more people to see or to be associated with you for a longer period of time you can pin it to the top of your Twitter profile (meaning it stays there until you unpin it). For example if you have a tweet about a new blog post or a tweet about how your business is offering a special deal then it can stay at the top of your profile where it is more likely to be seen. For more, see: How to Pin Tweets to Twitter Profile Page. Use tweet sorting: Visitors to any profile can choose which timeline to view: a basic Twitter stream (the default), tweets and replies or a stream of only photos and videos. This is useful to see how engaged a Twittter user may be. Optimize your Twitter profile: Do such basic things as ensure your bio has all of the critical information and keywords you would want related to you in the 160-character space. Use the same avatar (preferably showing your face) as you use on other social profiles. Choose a large background image that says something about you. For more, see Kevan Lee’s 5 Tips to Optimize Your Twitter Profile. This is not a complete list, but I hope it's a good start. What other things would you like to know about Twitter? Related posts: 13 Very Useful Twitter Infographics 9 Surprising Things You Can Do With Twitter Twetiquette: 10 basics for Twitter politeness
Twitter has exploded as a social media platform in the past two years. It is a key part of many organization’s social media strategy.
And yet there are still many who are unsure if Twitter is for them. If you are on the fence or haven’t given the platform serious thought why not consider? Twitter: 1. Is the best news feed: If you’re following a few reputable sources of news you’ll quickly learn that more often than not you’ll hear about the news first on Twitter. Over time you’ll also pick up other good sources of news and before you know it you’ll be as dependent on Twitter for news as any of your more traditional sources. You do need to be smart and remain skeptical of unlikely sounding news until it is confirmed by multiple sources, but nevertheless for timely news Twitter is hard to beat. You can find some of the most popular news sources on Twitter here: The top 25 most viral news sources. 2. Is a great learning tool: The University of Twitter, if you like. By following people who share good content that is relevant to you, your career and/or your stage of life you get a constant stream of useful information. And, best of all, it comes to you in manageable 140-character bursts – if you want more, you click the link. This article might help: Choosing Who To Follow On Twitter. 3. Allows complete control of what you see: You only see content from people you choose to follow. You can block any people who follow you and you don’t want to be associated with. And best of all it is completely transparent therefore although there are spammers they are few and far between (and often shut down in minutes if not hours). If someone does send you an "@" message (public message directed at you and you don’t like what they are saying and/or didn’t ask for it) you can tag them as a spammer and block them. There are also numerous ways to organize your Twitter stream from tools such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite – see 10 Twitter Tools Used by Social Media Experts – to simpler approaches such as Twitter lists. 4. Makes better connections than other social media: You follow people who share interesting content and that is often material retweeted (RT) from someone they follow. This way you can check out new Twitter profiles and find interesting people to connect with on Twitter.
One of the biggest differences between Facebook and Twitter is that the former is closed (you have to be friends with others to chat) and on the latter you don’t. I’m connected to people around the world – many of whom I feel I know quite well although our only interactions for several years now have been via Twitter. When traveling I try to meet these people in real life and it is always a rewarding experience. Here are some tips on how to grow your Twitter presence. 5. Makes you a better writer: Before you dismiss this too quickly, think about this: In Twitter you need to say something of value in 140 characters or less – a lot less if you’re going to include a URL and leave room for others to retweet your message. This forces you to think about word choices (as well as teaching you a lexicon of creative abbreviations). This might be helpful: The Art of Writing Great Twitter Headlines. 6. Builds communities of interest: Joining a regular tweetchat on a topic you care about will get you in front of others and a chance to find more interesting people to follow. A tweetchat is when people follow a given hashtag (#smgrchat, a social media community manager chat, for example) at a given time each week or month. Someone moderates by posing questions and anyone can jump in with their answers or their own questions. This is a great professional development opportunity. To find a chat on a topic you care about: List of Tweetchats By Day of Week. One big reason NOT to join Twitter If you’re only interested in connecting with family and friends you should stick to Facebook. Everything on Twitter is public unless you protect your tweets. If you protect your tweets you won’t get many followers (Who wants to follow a hidden account?), so really, what’s the point? So, are you convinced? Will you join Twitter now? Related posts: Twetiquette: 10 basics for Twitter politeness Twitter "Expert" or Twitter "Twit"? 10 Tips for Better Business Tweeting
It’s a new year and it’s time for social media types to be more conscientious about their social outposts. As part of a focus on social media strategy this is the fourth in a series about Facebook.
If you have followed this series then you’re ready to double-check that you’re done.
A Final Checklist
• Changed Facebook to Timeline Yes No
• Checked each month and each year’s postings to hide anything inappropriate Yes No
• Checked my Privacy Settings Yes No
• Sorted my Friends into the appropriate Lists Yes No
• Took a look at my Profile as others see it Yes No
No? If you want to do this visit your profile and go to "View As …" at the top.
Those with Timeline should first click the wheel next to "Activity Log." Enter the name of a close friend, a co-worker or a random acquaintance to make sure no one is seeing too much. Click "public" to see how everyone else sees it.
A Final Warning
Facebook makes changes … a lot! In the past it has added functions and reset privacy settings without making any kind of announcement. So maybe it’s time to set up a regular reminder – monthly, quarterly or, at the very least, annually – to go through this kind of checkup.
As is true on all social media you should use these networks with a "buyer beware attitude." If you’re uncomfortable about something you have three choices, ignore it, turn it off or abandon that social network.
Yes, that last choice is one I’ve made with several social networks in recent years and one I have come very close to making with Facebook. Good luck.
Was this post helpful? Will you check your Facebook settings more regularly in the future?
It’s a new year and it’s time for social media types to be more conscientious about their social outposts. As part of a focus on social media strategy this is the third in a series about Facebook.
Consider Using the Lists Function
Do you really want to share everything with everyone you’re connected to on Facebook? Probably not.
You can start your control of who sees what in two ways.
First you can go to Lists (on the left side of your home page – where you may have to click on the “More” to see it).
Facebook automatically adds some of your friends to lists and suggests dozens of others.
Next, look at "Close Friends." Again, Facebook adds some friends and suggests others.
Then there is a "Family" list where you can choose the people you’d want to share more with. In this case, those you’re adding will be told, so if you don’t want that known, create a new list rather use the one Facebook set up. To do that, click Lists and then Create List.
The thing with Lists: Some people are in multiple groups, others in none. The lists make it easier to share posts with only a subset of Facebook friends or see only posts from specific groups.
Facebook also has a "Restricted" list where you dump those you don’t want to share much with. Facebook promises not to reveal who gets added.
The second way to manage lists is more time-intensive, but can be done any time you’re on Facebook.
When viewing your feed you simply have your cursor hover over a name. This causes a popup mini-profile of that person including a Friends button. Hover over that button and a drop-down menu will give you the option of adding the person to a list or unfriending them.
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