1. Twitter basics Andy Bechtel, associate professor School of Media and Journalism editdesk.wordpress.com

2. Our plan for today How to get started on Twitter How to get followers and what to tweet about Individual help at end of our session

3. What is Twitter? A free social networking site Sometimes called a micro-blogging site Has about 300 million active users worldwide Uses a timeline approach Let’s take a look: www.twitter.comwww.twitter.com

4. How to get started Consider how you or your organization will use Twitter. What’s your objective? Consider your username. Maximum of 15 characters, but aim for shorter. Consider something memorable and unique. Remember that you can change your username later if you need to. Create an account. Use a profile picture.

5. How Twitter works People can follow you on Twitter. When you send a message, they will see that message, known as a tweet. You can follow others on Twitter. Follow people and organizations who interest you. A Twitter feed is like a personalized list of headlines or a news wire service.

6. More about how it works A tweet may be up to 140 characters in length. People can forward, or retweet, a tweet that they think is interesting. That can get your message spread in a hurry.

7. Following on Twitter Sources of information relevant to you and your colleagues. See who is following you. Consider following them back. Think of people you follow as your scouts — and vice versa. It’s OK to unfollow.

8. How to get followers Offer valuable information. Include links. Reply to followers when they ask questions. Publicize your Twitter feed on your website, blog, business cards, LinkedIn page, etc.

9. UNC on Twitter  https://twitter.com/UNC https://twitter.com/UNC  https://twitter.com/EmployeeForum https://twitter.com/EmployeeForum  https://twitter.com/ChancellorFolt https://twitter.com/ChancellorFolt  https://twitter.com/TarHeelProvost https://twitter.com/TarHeelProvost  https://twitter.com/UNCFacGov https://twitter.com/UNCFacGov  https://twitter.com/JoMCParkLib https://twitter.com/JoMCParkLib

10. Fun follows  https://twitter.com/UNCMemes https://twitter.com/UNCMemes  https://twitter.com/NCcollection https://twitter.com/NCcollection  https://twitter.com/DaggumRoy https://twitter.com/DaggumRoy  https://twitter.com/UNCJschoolProbs https://twitter.com/UNCJschoolProbs

11. What to tweet about Breaking news, announcements, events News about your academic area or unit Job listings Scenes from daily life Personal observations Important: Keep it professional.

12. Effective tweets Have a personal touch. Be conversational. Explain how information will affect your followers. Use a key detail. Use a number. Use abbreviations. Use a photo, map or chart.

13. On July 1, the sales tax in L.A. County was increasing a half-point, to 9.75 percent. So the night before, instead of writing just “L.A. County's sales tax to increase to 9.75%,” I tweeted: “Only 3 more shopping hours until L.A. County's sales tax goes up to 9.75%” It had a huge response! It was RT'd like crazy. — Deirdre Edgar, an editor at the Los Angeles Times Tweet vs. news headline

14. Sample tweets

15. More sample tweets

16. Spelling and grammar They still count, but you can be more flexible. Minor errors are more forgivable. Big ones will be noticed.

17. Maintain good taste (unlike here)

18. Tracking your traffic

19. #Hashing it out

20. Twitter abbreviations RT = retweet HT = hat tip OH = overheard ICYMI = in case you missed it #FF = Follow Friday

21. More on Twitter Direct messages Likes (formerly known as favorites) Trends Lists Muting

22. What’s ahead Algorithmic feed Increased character count

23. Any questions?