Tenterden Osteopath

This is not just for osteopaths. I am posting it here because it could be useful to many people, especially the ones who ask me about Twitter. Once you get past the “why bother with it?” question (it’s like networking). And “what is it?” (It’s whatever you want it to be). The next question tends to be “how do I get started?” That is what this post is about.

First you will need an account. Go to www.twitter.com and set one up. Your twitter name will have an @ sign in front of it and will be unique to you. Unless you have an unusual name you will probably have to be inventive until you find a name you like. Then write your profile. This is what the world will see and should give some idea of your interests: don’t worry about getting it right first time you can always go back and edit it any time.

Next step is to find some people to “follow”. I recommend you start by following a few key personalities in your profession; every business has its gurus and opinion leaders. Use a google search on a few names to find their twitter addresses, and then follow the ones that appeal. Once you get comfortable with using Twitter you might like to see who these gurus follow. Some of them will interest you and you can follow them too (or instead). Often your gurus will re-tweet things that other people have shared, this can be good or bad depending how prolific and relevant the re-tweets are to you. If you need it there is an option to turn off re-tweets from individuals while still getting their original tweets.

Are you ready for your first tweet? Imagine you are in a room full of strangers, you are unlikely to shout “hello everybody” unless you are mildly psychotic. More likely you will listen in to some snippets of conversation until you find something of interest then maybe smile or comment and ease in gently. You can listen (it’s called “lurking”) for as long as you want. There is no pressure to tweet straight away; you will know when the time is right.

There are several ways to use Twitter. Some people use it to advertise their product or business; this can become boring if you are not careful. Imagine if you kept bumping into somebody socially and their sole topic of conversation was their business. Treat Twitter like a networking event. Use your profile description to describe what you do and let your tweets be interesting and engaging, just as if you were having a conversation in a crowded room. Some people like to share their day to day trivia on Twitter. I find this a huge turn-off. I don’t care what you had for breakfast or what time you went to bed or how you are feeling today. Unless you are witty and entertaining, then I might make an exception. Many tweets that are boring and trivial to me might be fascinating to someone else; use your discretion; follow and unfollow until you get the right mix.

I use Twitter mostly to get information so I follow people who post links to things and talk about subjects that might interest me. You can see from my profile what I am interested in and I assume that anyone who follows me shares at least one interest so my tweets tend to be for those followers.

Another way to get information, especially for breaking news or current events is to follow hashtags. A hashtag gathers all the tweets that mention a keyword in one place. For example #Tenterden will show you every tweet that mentions the word Tenterden (providing the sender puts the hashtag in front of the word. For example the tweet “its sunny in #Tenterden today” would be picked up if you searched for #Tenterden. But the tweet “its sunny in Tenterden today” would not be shown. If you want your tweet to be found easily by topic, use a hashtag. But be careful: too many hashtags make you appear desperate for attention.

I hope this brief introduction helps. You can follow me if you want to @billferguson www.twitter.com/billferguson