Tag: twitter

When I first started using Twitter about a year ago, I would follow anyone who first followed me. As Twitter has grown, I have realized that I need to be more discerning so that I don’t get overwhelmed. Here’s a brief description of my thought process.

I tend to automatically follow:

• people I’ve met in real life
• students of mine at Georgia Southern University
• PR students & faculty from other universities
• people who live in the Savannah or Statesboro (GA) areas

I’ll visit my Followers page and hover my mouse over a name. If there’s no real name or any bio at all, I usually don’t look further. I’ll read a bio if it’s there. If in your bio you’re promising me things that I’d hear in a late-night infomercial, it’s unlikely I’ll follow you. Things in a bio that may intrigue me include:

• public relations or social media
• photography
• Auburn University
• Presbyterian
• NASCAR
• autism or Asperger’s syndrome

Though it’s not hypercritical, I prefer engaging in conversations on Twitter with people who use their real photos. It’s nice to have a name and a face together.

If I make it as far as looking at your most recent tweets:

• Is there a mix of original comments, @replies,  retweets and links? (If all the tweets are of one type, I usually don’t follow.)
• Do I see @replies to people I know?
• Do I think I’ll learn something from you?
• Are many of your tweets of a positive nature (not whiny)?
• Do you make me laugh?

If I haven’t followed you, and you would like me to, it’s generally a good idea to send me an @barbaranixon so that I know you’re interested in engaging in conversation with me. And if it seems like I’ve been talking in a foreign language here, take a look at A Twitter Lexicon.

So, what’s your strategy? How do you decide whom to follow?

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nereski/2889953926/

This morning, Michelle Naranjo sent out a tweet asking about protocol for unfollowing someone on Twitter.

That got me wondering . . . so I sent Michelle a direct message and asked if she’d mind if I posted a quick poll. And here it is: 

Our One Week of Twitter assignment begins on Tuesday, September 16, and will end at midnight on September 22. Your blog post about this experience is due before class on October 1.

Setting Up Your Twitter Account

1. Go to Twitter. Click Get Started, and sign up. I prefer it if you use some version of your first and last name as your Twitter ID. (Avoid putting numbers in your Twitter ID, or you may appear like a spammer.)
2. Upload a photo or avatar.
3. Write a brief (140-character or fewer) bio. It’s good to mention that you’re a PR student.

Setting Up Your Follower List

1. Go to the Twitter Accounts subject in your class’ Facebook group. Provide us with your Twitter ID.
2. Click on the Twitter URL for each person in our class. For example, my Twitter URL is
   http://twitter.com/barbaranixon.
3. When the Twitter page loads, click the Follow button.
4. Repeat this process for each person in the class. (Note: Some people in class did not put “http://” before their Twitter URLS, so you will need to copy and paste the address in your browser rather than click on a hyperlink.)
5. Also, follow at least five of the following: Brett Pohlman, Leo Bottary, Ike Pigott, Claire Celsi, Neville Hobson, Jennifer Ryan, Chris Brogan, Geoff Livingston, Todd Defren, Christopher S. Penn, Jeremy Pepper, Jeremiah Owyang, Scott Monty (Ford), GM Blogs,  Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh , Jet Blue, ComCast Cares, CNN’s Rick Sanchez, Georgia Southern University . . . or others in the field of PR or communication of your choosing. (NOTE: It’s possible that some of these people may not follow you back. That’s fine. You will learn from them anyway.)
6. You can have your Twitter tweets automatically update your Facebook status, if you want. (This is not required.)

Using Twitter

1. Over the course of the next week, send at least ten tweets (Twitter messages of 140 characters or less). Your tweets could concern something you’re doing or perhaps point others to something interesting or funny you read online. Maybe you could even pose a question that you’d like others to answer.
2. Also, respond to at least two of your classmates’ tweets. To respond, click on the arrow after a tweet. Or you can type the @ symbol followed immediately by a username (such as @barbaranixon).

Additional Information

1. Review my tips on how college students can use Twitter to their advantage.
2. After the week is over, add a 250-word (minimum) post to your blog about the experience and what you got out of it. Be sure to include at least one way you might find value in continuing your account in Twitter. This blog post is due before class on October 1.
3. There’s no requirement to maintain your Twitter account after this experiment is done; it will not affect your grade if you discontinue it. However, you might want to keep trying it for a while longer. I found it took me about a week to feel comfortable with it and really begin to learn its value.

Questions? Just send me a DM (direct message) or an @ (reply) in Twitter!

NOTE: Many thanks to Kaye Sweetser and Karen Russell for their ideas prompting this assignment.

If you teach Public Relations at a college or university and are also a user of Twitter, I’d like to hear from you. Let’s collect the addresses of the Twitter home pages for all the PR profs who use Twitter. I’ve found it incredibly helpful and interesting to follow other people who are teaching the same subjects I am. It’s great reading their different perspectives.

Please respond with your Twitter home page address (to make it easy for others to follow you), where you teach, and what classes you teach.

I’ll get us started:

Name: Barbara Nixon

Twitter Home Page: http://twitter.com/BarbaraNixon

College/University: Georgia Southern University

Courses: PR Writing, PR Publications, Corporate PR

Thanks!

(Image Credit: http://www.culturefeast.com/graduating-from-myspace-to-twitter/)