What is Twitter

Inclusion London

Guide to Twitter

for Campaigners

Contents

Section 1: Twitter Basics ................................................................................... 3

What is Twitter? .......................................................................................... 3

How it works ............................................................................................... 3

Basics of a tweet ........................................................................................ 4

Basics of the Twitter layout ....................................................................... 5

How to tweet .............................................................................................. 8

Mentioning people ................................................................................... 10

Following people...................................................................................... 11

Replying to tweets ................................................................................... 12

Hashtags ................................................................................................... 13

Tweet confusion ....................................................................................... 14

Using Twitter on your phone ................................................................... 15

Section 2: Twitter for Campaigners ............................................................... 16

Hashtags for Campaigns .......................................................................... 16

Promoting campaigns via twitter ........................................................... 18

Networking ............................................................................................... 19

Influence ................................................................................................... 20

Sending direct messages ......................................................................... 22

Live-tweeting ............................................................................................ 24

Storify ....................................................................................................... 25

Section 3: Twitter Glossary ............................................................................ 26

Section 1:

Twitter Basics

What is Twitter?

Twitter is an online social networking ‘microblogging’ service. It lets you say what

you are doing via a short message of 140 characters in length. These messages are

called “tweets”.

To give you an idea of the length of each tweet, this paragraph is exactly 140

characters long. It includes spaces, letters and punctuation.

How it works

Similar to friends on Facebook, on Twitter you have ‘followers’, ie people who

follow your tweets. Your tweets are displayed on your followers’ Home pages in

time order (their “timeline”).

Similarly, the tweets of your Twitter friends, ie, the people you follow, show on

your Home page when you are logged in (www.twitter.com). Therefore, who

follows you and who you follow are key on Twitter – this determines who receives

your information and what information you receive.

Basics of a tweet

1. Twitter account name: The name you choose for your account – it doesn’t have

to be the same as your username.

2. Twitter @username: Your unique identity on twitter. It is always preceded by the

@ symbol. It is also part of the link to your account, for example, we are

@InclusionLondon and our twitter profile is at twitter.com/inclusionlondon.

3. Date: The date the tweet was posted. If you click on the date it will take you to a

permalink page from the tweet.

4. Tweet text: This includes @usernames (@DHCPLambeth) and #hashtags

(#hatecrime), which twitter automatically turns into links. It also includes a link to

a webpage (bit.ly/1MoRz6z). Twitter automatically shortens links for you, to take

up a maximum of 14 characters.

5. Reply: Click to reply directly to a tweet.

6. Retweet: Forwards someone else’s tweet to your twitter followers – useful for

passing on news from other people or organisations.

7. Like a tweet: Click to show your appreciation for someone else’s tweet. You can

find all of your likes by clicking the likes tab on your profile.

8. Tweet activity: Click to see how your tweet performed

9. … (more): Find the option to delete your tweet here!

Basics of the Twitter layout

1. Home: where you see your

timeline (the tweets of

people you follow).

2. Moments: A selection of

recent tweets from across

Twitter, like a news round-

up.

3. Notifications: Whenever

someone follows you,

retweets you or mentions

you in a tweet, you will get a

notification here.

4. Messages. You can send

and receive private

messages to anyone you are

following and who is

following you here.

5. Timeline: only the

tweets of people you are

following appear here.

6. Compose a tweet: you

can start typing in this

box to tweet.

7. Profile, settings and

log-out: Click here for a

drop-down menu, with

links to your account

settings and the link to

log out.

8. Compose a tweet: You

can also click this icon to

start writing your tweet.

9. Your tweets: Click

here or on your

@username or icon to

see the timeline of

your own tweets.

10. Trends: Popular

hashtags or words

used in tweets will

appear in this list, for

example, on this day a

lot of people were

writing tweets using

the hashtag

#WorldBookDay. Click

on the hashtag to see

a list of tweets using

that hashtag.

How to tweet

At the top of your Home page is a box that asks ‘What’s happening?’. Just

click inside the box and a place for you to write your tweet will open.

You can also click on the feather icon in the top left corner.

This box will open – just start typing.

1. Media: Click here to add photos or videos to your tweet. Photos and

videos generally get more retweets! You can read more about why on the

Twitter blog.

2. Location: You can add where you sent the tweet from. This will allow

people nearby to search for your tweets.

3. Poll: You can add a simple poll for your users.

4. Counter: There is a counter next to the Tweet button, which shows you

how many characters you have left out of 140 for your tweet.

5. Tweet: Hit this button when you are ready to send your tweet.

Keeping it short:

If your message is over 140 characters, as above, it will not be allowed. The

character counter is red and showing minus figures; this means you need to

shorten your tweet.

Adding Links: If you add a link, twitter will automatically shorten it for you.

Therefore, don’t worry if you are inserting a long link – it will not affect your

tweet!

Mentioning people

If you are mentioning someone else in your tweet, you may want to refer to

them by their Twitter name. All user names on Twitter are preceded by the @

sign. For example, if I was tweeting about something Transport for All were

doing, I would refer to them as @transportforall.

In this way, people know they have been mentioned. You can keep track of

who has mentioned you - this is kept track of in the notifications tab (next to

Timeline). https://twitter.com/i/notifications

The @ name also automatically becomes a link to that person or

organisation’s profile page, eg www.twitter.com/transportforall.

You can search for people to follow using the Search function at the top left.

TIP: If you use someone’s twitter name at the beginning of a tweet, the tweet

will not appear on your followers’ timelines. If you want more people to see

the tweet, put a full stop before their name, or rephrase your tweet, eg:

Following people

Search for the person you want to follow using the search box at the top of

the screen. Click the ‘Follow’ button on the right hand side of their profile

page.

Replying to tweets

Once you begin to tweet, you may see tweets that you'd like to comment on

directly. Just click on the tweet and use the ‘Reply’ link that appears. This

brings up an @ symbol, plus their username in your Tweet Box.

Use this space to reply directly to what they said. By doing this, it connects

your response to their tweet.

This is especially useful in replying to tweets you’ve been mentioned in,

which you can find on your notifications page –

https://twitter.com/i/notifications

Hashtags

A hashtag is essentially a filter. You can use the # symbol plus a keyword if

you want people to find your tweets when they're using the search function.

If you make a comment on a specific subject, you use a hashtag so that it is

linked to other comments made on the same subject.

For example, if you are tweeting about the Independent Living Fund, you may

want to add #SaveILF to your tweet. The hashtag will automatically turn into

a link, which you can click on to see all the other tweets that contain it.

You can also type the hashtag, #SaveILF, into the search box at the top of the

page to see what people are saying. And you can use the search box to see if

people have already started using a hashtag about a topic you want to tweet

about. You might search for “Independent Living Fund” and see that a lot of

people are tweeting about it using the #SaveILF hashtag.

A list of ‘trending’ (popular) hashtags also appears in the left hand column of

your home and notifications pages.

How to delete a tweet

Click on the … sign below your tweet. Unfortunately, you can’t edit tweets,

but you can delete them if you make a mistake. However, if your tweet has

already been retweeted by other people, and you just want to correct

something minor in the tweet, it’s best to leave the original tweet up and

write a new one with the correct information.

Tweet confusion

People’s Twitter names and hash tags are shown as links in tweets, and

formatted accordingly, eg, @inclusionlondon. In the beginning, this can

make reading tweets seem a bit confusing. Don’t panic! It just means that

you are linking to individuals and topics.

Using Twitter on your phone

You can download a Twitter app which is the easiest way to tweet when

you’re out.

iPhone users: Go to the App store and search for Twitter.

Android users: Go to Google Play or open the Google Play Store app and

search for Twitter

your phone, you can tweet using the feather icon at the top right of the

screen.

Section 2:

Twitter for Campaigners

Hashtags for Campaigns

Hashtags are useful for campaigners as they’re good for getting discussion

and debates going. They make it possible for lots of people to contribute to

the same debate and for everyone’s tweets on a certain subject to be

grouped together.

You might want to use a hashtag if:

- You’re going to a protest, event or meeting. You can post photos of

where you are or highlight ways to get involved, for example the

#JuniorDoctorsStrike:

- You or your organization has something to say about an issue that’s in

the news. For example, tweeting about the cut to Employment Support

Allowance as it was being debated in the Lords, using the hashtag

#NoESACut.

- You want to highlight hypocrisy! Sometimes, campaigners will hijack

hashtags to point out another side of the story, or to get more coverage

for their campaigns. For example, when the Chinese President visited

the UK in 2015, disability campaigners used the official hashtag,

#ChinaStateVisit, to point out human rights violations against Disabled

people in the UK.

Promoting campaigns via twitter

Twitter is a great place to keep people updated about your campaigns. You

can use it to:

- Publicise your meetings

- Invite people to your events

- Let people know about reports, petitions, blog posts or any other links

to your campaigning work.

140 characters won’t give you much room to go into detail, so make sure you

include a link to where to find more information.

Remember, Twitter is a breaking news source and is where people go to find

out about and comment on breaking news stories. This could include

protests, government policy announcements, election results, etc. You can

be part of shaping that story if your voice is part of the debate.

Networking

Twitter is social, not just a broadcasting system. It means you can network

with other people interested in similar issues or campaigns.

Ways to network on twitter include:

- Congratulating public figures on their appointments, for example

congratulating a new MP on being elected

- Thanking politicians for a meeting:

- Thanking journalists for a good article

- Responding to other tweets you think are interesting, useful, or which

you can add to in some way. Retweeting and following other people is

a good way to network, get noticed and gain followers yourself.

Influence

People do check what people are saying about and to them on Twitter. Use

people’s twitter names, eg @InclusionLondon in tweets and they will get a

notification about your tweet.

If you are working on a campaign which is trying to influence particular

people or organisations, see if they are on Twitter and think about how you

can engage with them. Remember to be polite, and think about getting your

message across in a creative way.

For example, on Valentine’s Day the Living Wage Foundation encouraged

people to tweet a ‘Valentine’s Card’ to employers asking them to pay the

living wage:

There may also be twitter users with large followings who are interested in

the same issues, who would be willing to tweet about your campaign. For

example, footballer Stan Collymore often tweets about mental health:

You might not get a response, but if you build a relationship with someone on

twitter (follow them, reply to and retweet their tweets), they might help you

out. It’s worth asking other people to retweet you (occasionally) – just add

‘please RT’ or ‘please share’ to your tweet.

Sending direct messages

Twitter provides a Direct messaging service, so you can send longer, private

messages to people. To send a message, click the envelope icon at the top of

the screen.

Then click on the ‘New message’ button.

To send someone a direct message, you have to be following them and they

have to be following you.

Direct messaging can be a good way of getting in touch with journalists about

a news story you want them to cover. It’s often easier and more direct than

going through their news desk.

You can direct message up to 50 people at once so it can also be a good way

to send mass messages, for example sending a call out for an opportunity to

speak to the press.

To send a direct message from your phone, click the ‘speech bubble’ icon.:

Live-tweeting

When events and protests have their own hashtags, people can follow what’s

going on. That’s useful for both for people who are there, and for people who

are following from home or their office.

Photos and quotes are especially good here and sometimes journalists pick

up on them.

Live-tweeting is also a good way to get more people to a protest as it

happens, or to provide updates on a changing situation.

Storify

Storify (www.storify.com) is another website that lets you pull together

Tweets and Facebook posts (and more) to create a record of what happened

at a particular event.

It allows you to search Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Google for

content which you can drag into your own ‘story’. You can also add your own

text and photos.

Storify can be useful to create a picture from many different viewpoints. For

example, you may want to pull together tweets from a protest, or about a bill

making its way through parliament. It works in the same way hashtags do,

listing tweets on a particular topic, but with Storify you are in control of

which tweets are displayed. A Storify is also permanent record of what

happened, unlike a hashtag feed.

Example:

Community Links Bromley did a Storify for their Leading the Sector to 2020

conference: https://storify.com/ComLinksBromley/leading-the-sector-

towards-2020

They used the Storify format to pull in tweets, photos, videos and slides from

the conference, and used their own headings to give the content structure.

You can find more examples of using Storify for political stories on Cllr Paul

Bull’s Storify page: https://storify.com/Paul4Cowick.

Section 3:

Twitter Glossary

Adapted from www.twitter.com

(https://support.twitter.com/articles/166337)

The @ sign is used to call out usernames in Tweets: "Hello @twitter!" People

will use your @username to mention you in Tweets, send you a message or

link to your profile.

@username

A username is how you're identified on Twitter, and is always preceded

immediately by the @ symbol. For instance, Inclusion London is

@InclusionLondon

See "hashtag".

bio

Your bio is a short (up to 160 characters) personal description that appears in

your profile.

block

If you block a Twitter user, that account will be unable to follow you or add you

to their Twitter lists, and you will not receive a notification if they mention you

in a Tweet.

Direct Messages

Direct Messages are private messages sent from one Twitter user to another

Twitter user. You can use Direct Messages for one-on-one private

conversations, or between groups of users.

Subscribing to a Twitter account is called “following”. To start following, click

the Follow button next to the user name or on their profile page to see their

Tweets as soon as they post something new. Anyone on Twitter can follow or

unfollow anyone else at any time, with the exception of blocked accounts.

follow(s)

A follow is the result of someone following your Twitter account. You can see

how many follows (or followers) you have from your Twitter profile.

follow button

Click the Follow button to follow (or unfollow) anyone on Twitter at any time.

When you follow someone, you will see their Tweets in your Home stream.

follow count

This count reflects how many people you follow and how many follow you;

these numbers are found on your Twitter profile.

follower

A follower is another Twitter user who has followed you to receive your Tweets

in their Home stream.

hashtag

A hashtag is any word or phrase immediately preceded by the # symbol. When

you click on a hashtag, you'll see other Tweets containing the same keyword

or topic.

header photo

Your personal image that you upload, which appears at the top of your profile.

Home

Your Home timeline displays a stream of Tweets from accounts you have

chosen to follow on Twitter.

Liking a Tweet indicates that you appreciate it. You can find all of your likes by

clicking the likes tab on your profile.

Tap the heart icon to like a Tweet and the author will see that you like it.

list

From your own account, you can create a group list of other Twitter users by

topic or interest (e.g., a list of friends, colleagues, campaigns). Twitter lists also

contain a timeline of Tweets from the specific users that were added to the list,

offering you a way to follow individual accounts as a group on Twitter.

mention

Mentioning other users in your Tweet by including the @ sign followed directly

by their username is called a “mention”. Also refers to Tweets in which your

@username was included.

Notifications

The Notifications timeline displays your interactions with other Twitter users,

like mentions, favorites, Retweets and who has recently followed you. If you

request it, we send notifications to you via SMS or through the Twitter for

iPhone or Twitter for Android apps.

pinned Tweets

You can pin a Tweet to the top of your profile page to keep something

important to you above the flow of time-ordered Tweets.

profile

Your profile displays information you choose to share publicly, as well as all of

the Tweets you've posted. Your profile along with your @username identify

you on Twitter.

profile photo

Your personal image, found on your twitter stream. It's also the picture that

appears next to each of your Tweets.

A response to another user's Tweet that begins with the @username of the

person you're replying to is known as a reply. Reply by clicking the "reply"

button next to the Tweet you'd like to respond to.

Retweet, RT

A Tweet that you forward to your followers is known as a Retweet. Often used

to pass along news or other valuable discoveries on Twitter, Retweets always

retain original attribution.

You can share another user's Tweet to all of your followers by clicking on the

Retweet button.

timeline

A timeline is a real-time stream of Tweets. Your Home stream, for instance, is

where you see all the Tweets shared by your friends and other people you

follow.

timestamp

The date and time a Tweet was posted to Twitter. A Tweet's timestamp can be

found in grey text in the detail view of any Tweet.

trends

A Trend is a topic or hashtag determined algorithmically to be one of the most

popular on Twitter at that moment. You can choose to tailor Trends based on

your location and who you follow.

Tweet button

Anyone can add a Tweet button to their website. Clicking this button lets

Twitter users post a Tweet with a link to that site. Learn how to add the Tweet

button to your website here.

Twitter Polls

Twitter Polls allow you to weigh in on questions posed by other people on

Twitter. You can also easily create your own poll and see the results instantly.