Your Essential Guide to Twitter Brought to you by RateMyPlacement.co.uk in association with The Cardiff Award

What is it? Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages known as ‘Tweets’ As of September 2013 Twitter had 200 million users who send over 400 million Tweets a day Messages from users you choose to ‘follow’ will appear on your homepage and similarly any Tweets you send will appear on your ‘followers’ homepage. Think about them as mini updates from people or companies you value Twitter Homepage Your Twitter page

It is a quick and accessible way to reach out to your audience, build relationships and provide information With so many students using Twitter on a daily basis it can be used to share information about upcoming events, offer them top tips and advice for students on their job hunt It also enables students to interact with placement officers in an informal way, hopefully encouraging them to use your services more comprehensively You can also engage with other key stakeholders in the industry, keeping in touch with recruitment news and trends Why is it important for you?

How do I set an account up? 1. Go to 2. Enter your full name, address, and a password 3. Click Sign up for Twitter 4. On the next page, you can select a username* 5. Double-check your name, address, password, and username 6. Click Create my account 7. Twitter will send you a confirmation , just click the link in this and you’ll be ready to start Tweeting ! *Usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter. Think about whether you want to create a Twitter account for the placement service as a whole or for individual staff. If it is the whole office we would recommend a username such as ‘LeedsUniPlacements’ so students can see what your account is about straight away. If it is a personal account a username such as ‘TimPlacementOfficer’ would be good- but make sure it’s not too long as it will eat into your 140 character limit!

How do I Tweet? On the left, below your Twitter profile picture is a box which says ‘Compose new Tweet’ There's a character counter below the box, which counts down from 140 characters as you type. If your Tweet is too long, the character counter will go red and show a negative number. An error message will appear if you try to Tweet longer than 140 characters. Try abbreviations, removing some punctuation and rewording phrases to make Tweets shorter Within this you can include links to your website, pictures and anything else that takes your fancy! To Tweet a specific person you need to use the button (more on this to follow!) Just click the Tweet button to post your comment

This is where you can attach photos to your Tweets This number tells you how many characters you have left These are your ‘vital stats,’ telling you how many Tweets you have posted Click here to post your Tweet! Click on this box to start writing your Tweet

Twitter slang explained There are a few words and symbols that mean something in the Twitter- sphere. You may not have seen them before but they are pretty easy to understand

SYMBOL This symbol will precede your username and this together is known as a ‘Twitter handle’ is Tim’s Twitter handle. When you use a Twitter handle it becomes a link to that persons profile. It can be used to respond directly to someone or to mention someone else An example of this in action is… where is the best place to find placements?” why don’t you check out (shameless plug!) This will alert whoever Tweeted you that you have replied directly to them FOLLOWERS Your followers are the people who choose to see your Tweets on their homepage. You should be looking for students, employers and other industry influencers on Twitter to follow you. You can gain followers by promoting your Twitter account through other mediums such as putting it in your signature and using Twitter hashtags and reTweets (more on that later!)

THE # SYMBOL Maybe the most famous Twitter symbol of them all! Hashtags are used before a relevant key word. By clicking on this hashtag it will show all other Tweets marked with this keyword. You can put them anywhere in the Tweet, but we recommend limiting yourself to two hashtags per Tweet You may have heard of us using the hashtag PlacementChat (#PlacementChat). This allows us to have Twitter conversations with multiple users who all are discussing a similar theme i.e. placements An example of a Tweet including hashtags could be “Deadlines are approaching for the #placements and #internships on our website!” Anyone who has searched #Placements or #internships on Twitter will then see your Tweet

DISCOVER This is an option that will appear on your homepage. Twitter has an extra special algorithm that finds the best content from the whole Twitter-sphere that will be relevant to you and the people you follow. It is a great way to find about out ‘trends’ (see below!) and find content or people to follow FAVOURITE This action is used if you like a Tweet or want to save something someone has written. The Tweets you favourite will be stored on a list on your profile so you can always see them. It is a great tool to engage with your followers and to store information you like TRENDS Trends are topics that people are Tweeting a lot about. For instance, millions of people are Tweeting using #WorldCup2014 at the end of their comments. The result is that certain topics ‘trend.’ You can see these popular trends on the ‘discover’ section of your homepage. Tweeting about trends is important because it engages your audience and makes you seem more ‘human’ (a Twitter essential!)

Twitter Tips and Tricks Here is some expert advice from Kath Foot, Cardiff Award Manager…

If in doubt remember these key facts… 91% of students use a smart phone and the latest stats show 80% of Twitter users are on mobile. This means if you send out Tweets with links in them these websites must be mobile friendly websites Posts with photos receive 39% more interaction Think about your audience. Are they likely to be looking at Twitter at 9am? Make sure you Tweet at times when students will be engaged Follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of the content you post to social media should be helpful and valuable to your audience, and 20% can be self-promotional. These ‘valuable’ Tweets may include links to blogs or advice or reaching out to your audience for example talking about an event on campus that day #TooManyHastagsSpoilTheBroth! Keep it to one or two per Tweet Twitter isn’t an exact science. Take a look at companies that have got it right on Twitter such (and of This will help you to decide the tone you want to have on Twitter

#PlacementChat #PlacementChat is the perfect place to start your twitter experience! Join key stakeholders in the world of undergraduate recruitment to answer questions from students looking to gain work experience. From September #PlacementChat will run fortnightly every Thursday 4-5pm

Thanks for reading our guide. Good luck on your Twitter journey and don’t forget to follow Ready, Get Set and Go!