Breaking it down into 5 steps Tweeting Live Breaking it down into 5 steps

Live tweeting an event

It is replacing a story “Live-tweeting is kind of like note-taking, only it's online, collective, and interactive.” Source

Prepare as much as possible To ensure you can act quickly and stay as relevant as possible while live-tweeting, you need to be prepared. This will help you stay organ Do your research. For example, make sure you know the names (and how to spell them properly) and the Twitter handles of everyone involved with the event. Research the topic. Set up streams in Hootsuite/Tweetdeck. For the official hashtag of the event you’re live tweeting and a Twitter list you’ve created of all the relevant people involved in the event. (For retweeting, staying involved)

Use the right hashtag(s) and mentions Make sure you know what the official hashtag is (if there is one), as well as any other hashtags that may come into play. (If you’re creating a hashtag for an event you’re hosting, remember to keep it short.) Make sure to use @ when talking about specific people

Make every Tweet count Your live tweet needs to be a complete story. But you obviously don’t have as many words. Watch for: key moments, trends, shifts, natural stopping points. Don’t feel the need to transcribe the whole event.

Keep it professional Just because live-tweeting an event happens fast and furiously doesn’t mean you should abandon your standards when it comes to content. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Check facts before you hit tweet. It’s better to pause and check a fact/name than to tweet an error. Be selective about the quotes or insights you choose to tweet and only post high-quality photos and videos that your followers will find interesting. “The most important thing to me is probably beauty, or at least avoiding ugly. I hate abbreviations. I hate acronyms. I use correct punctuation.” Jay Rosen

Provide value for people who aren’t there Adding context—whether it’s a quote or a link to more info— will ensure that all of your followers can find some value in your live-tweeting. Making sure every Tweet you post is useful, entertaining, educational, or valuable can also help you gain new followers.

Mix it up Tweet out quotes from speakers or presenters. Interview attendees and tweet out their responses Tweet questions or polls of your own using the hashtag to engage your followers. Share photos from the event. (Must be good quality unless breaking news) Post videos of behind-the-scenes footage, or updates from the event. Retweet event speakers, presenters, or performers. Retweet humorous or insightful comments about the event from other Twitter users.

Wrap it up and repurpose it *Compile your Tweets (and the best ones from other people on Twitter or those involved in the event) into a blog post and share it with your followers in the days and weeks to come. *Likewise, you can use the images or videos you created while live-tweeting as content for your other social networks.

A (sorta) step by step 1. Let me know you are going to live tweet something. Let me know when it’s about to start 2. You have to tell me where you are and give me a little background. Who is the speaker, why are they speaking, what are their qualifications. What government agency is meeting, what’s on the agenda, background of it. Who is playing, what are their records, etc. Great for the start before anything happens. Get all this information ahead of time (name spellings, background, etc.) You will need to do prep work. (Background is also great for breaking up long pauses in event.)

3. Live tweet the event (See the Mix it up slide) 4. Let followers know it’s over 5. What’s next tweet

Some basics you might not think of You need first and last names. You need identifiers. (Twitter handles OK) Avoid first person (I/me) in meeting/speech, etc. contexts. (Breaking disasters can be different) You need specifics. “Lots of money raised.” Nope. How much? If it’s mentioned, you better explain it. (City Council approved Ordinance 73.24) Background and fillers. So what does the organization do? For how long? Etc.

Breaking news “Get the news out quickly and accurately, respond to the public and gather news.” Source

Tweet early and often At the start is when people are hungriest for any information, any small detail.

Report what you are checking on “We’re getting reports of a xxx” And don’t be reluctant to credit or retweet other news outlets or crowdsource.

Address rumors and misinformation And verify (AP has rules on this) “Our reputation for accuracy and fairness is more important than speed (though speed is important). I am very careful about what I tweet out (and what I retweet).” You can phrase your tweets by saying something along the lines of, “X is reporting Y, but we haven’t been able to confirm this information yet.

Include images/video These get more interaction Include “caption” information. (Describe the action, identify the people, put picture in context, use present tense)

You can use your own observations

And your own feelings. Live tweeting is when a reporter can be a person, too.

Tweet links to other sources of information Online story Live blog

A sample part of a sentencing live tweet

Other “live”

Twitter chats

Basically an informative Q&A. Here’s some how-to tips

Twitter Q&A’s (…. Can go wrong)