Around the Twitter World in 60 Minutes March 16, 2010

1. Around the Twitter World in 60 Minutes March 16, 2010 Sponsored by Audio is only available by calling this number: Conference Call: 800-950-1454; Access Code: 6339392

2. Using ReadyTalk • Chat & raise hand • Mute = *6, Unmute = *7 • If you lose your internet connection, reconnect using the link emailed to you. • If you lose your phone connection, re-dial the phone number and re-join. • ReadyTalk support: 800-843-9166

3. You are being recorded… • This seminar will be available on the TechSoup website along with past webinar presentations: • www.techsoup.org/go/webinars • You will receive a link to this presentation, material and links. • After the webinar, you can ask follow-up questions in the Emerging Tech Forum: • tinyurl.com/y8vw9gz • Twitter hashtags: #techsoup

4. Around the Twitter World in 60 Minutes Presenter:Allen Gunn, Executive Director Aspiration Sponsored by

5. Today’s Speakers Allen Gunn (Gunner) Aspiration Kami Griffiths TechSoup Assisting with chat questions: Kevin Lo & Elliot Harmon, TechSoup and Matt Garcia, Aspiration All presentation content is Creative Commons licensed :)

6. Who is this webinar for? This is an overview of essential facts and best practices regarding Twitter Focus is on organizational accounts “Stuff we wish we'd known at the start” Most valuable to folks starting out on Twitter, or those with accounts that want to learn how to better use it. Less valuable for Twitter “power users”, though we welcome your feedback

7. What is Twitter and how is it used? Twitter is a messaging platform hosted at twitter.com Often referred to as “micro-blogging” Severely over-hyped, but often useful Users “Tweet”140-character messages using a browser, cellphone or app. Other users “Follow” tweeters of interest, and see others' tweets in real time as they are posted

8. What’s the big deal about Twitter? Twitter is a new way to engage your online networks and keep allies updated on your work Lighter-weight, more instant than email Social network features propagate tweets Mobile support can reach new audiences 3rd parties can extend the platform Unique, incremental step in online comms It is not The Revolution.

9. What’s the big deal about Twitter? Common follow-on questions Is Twitter going to be around in a 2 years? Probably Do we need both Facebook and Twitter? Likely, it depends on who you target Will Twitter replace email? Nope, it complements it Is Twitter useful for our nonprofit? Ask again in 55 minutes :^)

10. A brandy new Twitter home page

11. Customizing your Twitter account How can you make it your own? Supply a URL and short biography Upload a profile image (your “icon”) Select a theme and/or background image to better brand your page Link your account with your mobile phone Add geographic location to your tweets Change your privacy settings

12. Essential Twitter Nouns • Username: your Twitter identity • http://twitter.com/aspirationtech • Tweet: a single Twitter status update • Follower: user who gets your tweets • List: collection of Twitter accounts which can be followed as a whole • Trend: A commonly tweeted keyword over the past hour, day or week

13. Essential Twitter verbs Tweet: post a status update to be seen by all your followers Follow: add another Twitter user the list of users whose updates you receive Retweet: post a tweet from someone else for your followers to see Direct message: send a private tweet to a specific user

14. How do we get followers? Tweet good stuff :^) Timely announcements Program updates Action alerts Existential musings Retweet others and hope they reciprocate in kind Twitter is an “attention economy” Barter is the norm

15. Advertise on all web pages

16. Advertise in your email newsletter

17. Add to email signatures • Add to signatures

18. How do we get staff to Tweet? Integrate Twitter into organizational workflow. Encourage tweets about: Event announcements Press releases New staff and staff recognition Programmatic wins Web updates, blog posts, eNewsletters News, news, news about allies, allies, allies

19. How do we get staff to Tweet well? Have Twitter guidelines Establish a consistent organizational voice Snarking about old milk in staff room refrigerator is not a good public tweet Follow and study others Note what you like about others' tweets Trust your gut, use common sense It's a brave new world, but it's not brain surgery, rocket science or pastry cheffing

20. How can we scale our Twitter use? Start out using Twitter as a simple announcement service As followers grow, engage other users as time permits Respond to direct communications Thank people for retweeting & mentions As your following becomes interactive, do intentional engagement Action alerts, surveys, petitions, questions...

21. What else should we know? Frequency of tweeting It's okay to tweet once a day or several times a week, just keep it real and sincere Pay attention to your follower count Visibility of Tweets Tweets are public by default Treat them as permanent public record Direct messages are private You can “protect” your tweets, but...

22. Who should own the account? A nonprofit's Twitter account should be owned by the organization Contact email should be something like twitter@aspirationtech.org Forwards to one or more staff members Don't use a specific staff address Don't use a non-work email address Plan for different staff managing the Twitter account over time

23. What is “URL Shortening”? One of the most useful things you can do in Twitter is share or publicize links But with a limit of 140 characters, URL's can take up the whole tweet, or not even fit There are many “URL Shortening Services” that produce tweet-friendly URL's

24. What is “URL Shortening”? • Example • http://aspirationtech.org/publications/manifesto • Can be shortened to • http://bit.ly/duOq0s • Tweet: Read our manifesto! http://bit.ly/duOq0s • Shortening tools • http://bit.ly – Great analytics • http://tinyurl.com – The original • ...and dozens of others

25. What is a “hashtag”? Hashtags are specially marked keywords inside of tweets that indicate the topic of the tweet Not unlike a subject line in email Use # to indicate a hashtag, #nptech, #costarica or #healthcare Example from twitter.com/inveneo: #Haiti Update - 1st long-distance WiFi Internet link up for @SaveTheChildren, second one coming up soon http://ow.ly/Zsgj

27. What are Twitter lists and do I care? Lists are collections of Twitter accounts which can be followed as a unit Why do I care? Good way of grouping what you follow Establish thought leadership in topical areas Unique, valuable lists build higher visibility Being on other users' lists increases organizational visibility

28. Twitter conventions Twitter has many conventions that have been established by users When you mention a user, precede their name with @ “listening to @aspirationtech give a groovy webinar” To complain about something that doesn't work properly, use #fail “#sfmuni 24 bus 45 minutes late #fail”

29. What about “Phishing” on Twitter? Phishing: tricking users into divulging passwords and other personal data Phishing tweets might try to Impersonate a friend or organization Get you to click on malicious links Visit a Twitter look-alike page and supply user name and password It's a brave new ever-changing world Think thrice before you click

30. How do I know if it's working? Use “listening tools” to see where your tweets are propagating and how your issues/keywords are trending Examples of listening tools Netvibes.com Hashtags.org Radian6.com

32. Tell me about other Twitter tools Many tools are built on top of Twitter Client apps to manage messages Search tools to explore content Tweet schedulers to queue up tweets Petitions to build network support Fundraising tools to accept donations Analytic tools to track how you're doing

33. Twitter Tools • Client applications • Work like email clients, only for Tweets • Tweet without a browser or phone • Group users and filter incoming tweets • Examples • HootSuite • Tweetdeck • Seesmic • Brizzly

34. Twitter Tools • Search tools • See who's Tweeting about your org, your issues, or other terms of interest • Examples • search.twitter.com • tweetscan.com • wefollow.com • ...and dozens of others

35. Twitter Tools • Schedulers • Let you pre-load Tweets in advance • Schedule Tweet times in the future • Examples • Twuffer • FutureTweets • Hootsuite

36. Twitter Tools • Petition tools • Propagate petition themes through the Twitter network • Impact and value subject to debate • But, good awareness raising tool • Examples • TwitPay – take donations via PayPal • GiveATweet – via NetworkForGood

37. Twitter Tools • Analytics • Track how users and topics are trending • Track geographic patterns • See what specific users say on #topics • Examples • Tweetmeme • Hootsuite • TwitterAnalyzer

38. Good Nonprofit Twitter examples • Three nonprofit tweeters we follow are • @kabissa • @wiserearth • @inveneo • Other good nonprofit-relevant tweeters include • Beth Kanter, @kanter • Ash Shepherd, @tacs_npower • Britt Bravo, @bbravo

39. Good Nonprofit Twitter examples • Our criteria • Tweet useful materials interesting to the audience • Reply and retweet often to build community • Good use of lists • Also check who they follow and who they retweet

40. Resources • Twitter toolboxes on Social Source Commons • http://bit.ly/aJ243P • Idealware – Good social media review • http://www.idealware.org/articles/

41. Questions? Submit your questions using the chat box.

42. Continue the Discussion… Additional questions can be answered by posting in the Emerging Tech Forum: tinyurl.com/y8vw9gz

43. Get the Most Out of TechSoup • At TechSoup, you’ll find a range of technology services to help your nonprofit: • Read helpful articles in our Learning Center • Request donated software, hardware, and online services • Join our community forums to learn from your colleagues • Browse upcoming events and conferences

44. Upcoming Webinars Is Salesforce CRM Right for Your Organization? Thursday, March 25, 11 a.m. Pacific time Finding the Perfect Donor Database in an Imperfect World Thursday, April 15, 11 a.m. Pacific time

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46. Thank you to our Webinar Sponsor! ReadyTalk offers dedicated product demos for TechSoup organizations 4 times per week. For more information:pages.readytalk.com/techsoup.html

47. Thank you!Please complete the post event survey!Kami Griffiths, kami@techsoup.org, 415-633-9392