University News Last updated 28 April 2015
One of the biggest and most used social media sites celebrated its birthday last month. Twitter first launched on 21 March 2006 and since then has become a worldwide phenomenon.
School of Media student and social media enthusiast Jodie Perkins gives nine tips on using Twitter more professionally as an aspiring media professional.
How to use Twitter more professionally
In the first term of my first year as a Media and Communications undergraduate here at Birmingham City University we were asked to create a separate professional Twitter account, or update and use our personal account in a professional and more relevant to our specialisation way.
As Twitter has recently turned ine years old, I thought I' share my own tips on how you can use Twitter to your professional advantage.
Profile picture
As a University student you are bound to have embarrassing photos of you on nights out, you with your mates having a laugh and other photos that probably shouldn't end up on your professional Twitter account. We'e not suggesting you use your boring old passport photo, just a photo that is clear, nice and well...professional. Remember, you want people to take you seriously, you want them to follow your account.
Username
Your full name is a good start. If possible and available on Twitter to use. If your username is your full name it will make it easier for people to search for you. However, as there are millions of Twitter users, your full name might already be in use. So here is where it becomes a little tricky, think of your profession. Are you a journalist? Why not have JournoName? Are you into Visual Design - why not have NameDesigns? Make it relevant to your profession.
Bio
This is your chance to tell people what you're about. Who you are, what you do and why they should follow you. Keep it brief, add in a bit of your personality. Use what they give you, there is space specifically for your website link. Use it. There is a space specifically for your location. Use it - within reason, don’t write out your whole address - however it is good for potential followers to know where you are based.
Who to follow
You want to follow accounts similar to your own, people who are in the same profession and industry as you, brands that are in the same industry as you.Follow accounts that you will want to retweet and want to interact with. This is your chance to build up your online community - who do you want to be a part of that?
What to tweet
Twitter allows you to send out Tweets in 140 characters or less. Which is sometimes difficult. You should think about your tweets carefully - put your personality into your tweets and tweet about things you are interested in but don't spam your followers with uninteresting tweets. There is only so much of what you're having for lunch that people can take!
Link to your website
If you're talking about a topic that is in the press or on your blog, link to it. Your followers will appreciate this as they can read more into it as 140 characters isn't a lot to discuss something. However this does make the character limit even harder to stick by, you can use Bitly to shorten the link. This means you can still include the link in your tweet but it will be shorter.
Be human
If someone asks you something - respond, if someone retweets you - thank them. People are more likely to communicate with you if you communicate with them. Behind every Twitter account is another human, regardless of how big the business or brand is.
What's trending?
Twitter allows everyone to see what are the trending topics at the moment and how many people are tweeting about that certain subject. Use trending topics to your advantage, try and link it to your website or your profession. As more people are talking about trending topics more people will see your tweet, and therefore more followers for your professional account.