By Alan J. Porter | Senior Member
Twitter is something we hear mentioned on TV and in the media every day; it’s become part of regular conversation, yet it is only five years old and didn’t really come to prominence among the tech community until 2007. In fact, it’s arguable that its explosive growth and move into the mainstream is perhaps less than two years old. Yet in that short time frame, it has become an indispensable communication tool for many, and as shown recently in places like Egypt and Bahrain, even a tool of social revolution.
So why should technical communicators care?
Twitter is the communication tool of the moment and, as professional communicators, we should care and, in fact, be in a position to use it to communicate not only among ourselves but also, and more importantly, with our customers, both internal and external. In some ways Twitter may be a passing fad in the way that MySpace turned out to be, but the concept of posting short messages that are available online at any time is here to stay.
What is it?
Twitter is a way to post a short note with a maximum 140 characters on to the Internet. You may hear terms like microblogging or social networking in discussions about Twitter, but just think of a tweet as a sticky note that anyone who elects to follow you can read.
The joke about Twitter is that it is only for telling people when you are at Starbucks, and while you can use it for that, it’s so much more. Twitter is a way of sharing knowledge, observations, thoughts, and ideas that can be quickly and easily read, assimilated, and passed on to others. The viral nature of Twitter is one of its greatest strengths (but something you should always be aware of when you use it—remember that nothing you post on the Internet, no matter how you flag it or try to protect it, is ever really private). Equally as powerful, and one of the things that Twitter facilitates and exploits best, is the idea of crowd knowledge. Have a question? Chances are that someone in your Twitter stream has the answer, or at least knows someone else who does.
Twitter is also a great way to share links to interesting articles, blog posts, photographs, and anything else you might find online. You can also quickly find groups of people who have the same interests as you, both professionally and personally, and you may be surprised just how often those two worlds interact.
Why should I use it?
As I mentioned earlier, Twitter is first and foremost a communications tool. Use it to communicate your ideas, your thoughts, observations, and if you think it would be of interest, even what you are doing and where you are. Twitter, with its almost ubiquitous accessibility through the net, smart phones, tablet computers, and now even via your car, can be considered an instant communication tool that is on 24/7 from anywhere you happen to be.
As well as being a great communication tool, it is also an excellent resource for educating yourself and increasing your knowledge base. By following people you know or admire, you will find that they post links to websites, videos, and articles that might interest you, too. Most people on Twitter are willing to share their knowledge and passions for various subjects. Try also following people in other fields that you are interested in or want to know more about. It is often said that there is no better recommendation than a personal reference or referral. Twitter enables this on an unprecedented scale.
Like most online communities, you can learn things just by watching and observing, but you get the most from interacting and becoming an active member of that community. Twitter can increase your profile in a community by your participation in discussions and sharing information and knowledge. In today’s job climate, this can be invaluable in helping to increase your skills and marketability. Twitter is also a great way to find out about potential job openings and contacts; several STC communities and many industry people post regular updates on job opportunities.
Using new social network tools like Twitter can be an additional skill to add to your resume and may make you increasingly valuable in the workplace as more and more companies realize the power of social networks for marketing and, perhaps more importantly, engaging in meaningful conversation with their customers. A skilled technical communicator is ideally suited for this new role.
What can I learn?
First and foremost, be open to learning new things and listening to new ideas. On Twitter you can learn from fellow technical communication professionals, companies that serve the industry, and various STC chapters and SIGs (many of which are already active on Twitter). Twitter can provide education on developing trends and new technologies as well as discussions around new ideas. Not everything you read or see mentioned will develop into something you can use in your job, but you will be well informed and better prepared when change does happen.
Virtual conferences
On of my favorite ways to use Twitter is in relation to industry conferences. By following the hashtag for a particular conference (e.g., #stc11 for the past STC Summit), you can compile the best quotes, links, and information for a conference, even if you can’t attend. Nothing beats face-to-face interaction, but in many ways following a conference on Twitter is almost like being there.
If you are at a conference, use Twitter to find out what is going on in other sessions, read feedback on speakers and sessions (usually referred to as the “back channel”), organize meet-ups, and generally see what the conference buzz is. Most conferences now (including the STC Summit) have monitors displaying the relevant Twitter feed in real time.
If you aren’t sure about attending a conference, Twitter is a great way to do research on what was said last year or to see what conferences people are talking about. You can even be a virtual attendee and try out a conference online before deciding to go in person.
What can I share?
Once you join Twitter (which is as simple as choosing a username and password at Twitter.com and associating and verifying your account with an email address), how do you decide what to post? My tweets break down into four distinct categories.
- Share what you know. Post thoughts, notes, observations, and links about your own areas of expertise that you think others might find useful or enjoy.
- Share what you don’t know. Don’t be scared to expose what you don’t know. Ask questions; ask for opinions. You will be amazed at just what other people do know and how quickly they can get you an answer.
- Share what you find out. Let people know what you find out when surfing the Web; share interesting links, thoughts, and observations on your industry; and, if you are comfortable doing it, talk about life in general.
- Share what interests you. Share your passions as well as your work. You may be surprised how many people also have the same interests and how often the two intersect.
How do I use it?
As with any technology, a variety of best practices and FAQs have been established as more and more people use the service. Here are a few recommendations based on my own experience to date.
How should I manage my account?
Is it best to have separate accounts for work and private usage? I think so. I have two main accounts: @alanjporter is for my slice-of-life stuff, while @4jsgroup is focused on my tech comm industry involvement. But a lot of my friends are in the industry and the two accounts tend to merge, so I find I tweet mostly from my personal account, even if those tweets have a technical publications aspect to them. I also know people who just use one account to cover all of their online activity. It’s up to you to decide how you want your account to reflect you, and if you want to mix your business and personal life online.
What do I post and what shouldn’t I post?
This is also a personal decision but, as with any form of communication, consider who your audience is and what you want to share with them. I made a decision to never post about politics, religion, or technical publishing software. I won’t name names or call out products for praise or damnation. That’s a policy I also carry over to my blog. I also won’t discuss details about contracts, projects, or customers (unless I have their permission to do so).
Do I have to follow everyone who follows me?
You don’t have to. In fact, at the start you will follow more people than follow you. Follow who interests you, respond to them, get into discussions, post interesting content that gets re-tweeted, and then people will start to follow you. Don’t get obsessed by your follower count, it only really matters to a few so-called social media marketing experts; it’s what you post and the way you interact that is important. When it comes to who you follow, decide what is a practical number. I try to keep my list to around 300 accounts that I follow, and every couple of months I go through and tidy it up by deleting people that haven’t updated for a while or those whose posts no longer grab my attention.
Isn’t Twitter just a time sink?
It can be. It’s all too easy to become a Twitter addict to the point that you spend more time tweeting about stuff or reading about stuff that other people are doing than actually doing stuff yourself. Decide what approach works best for you, I know some people who have the Twitter stream constantly running on their desktops and can work like that, glancing at each new post as it pops up. I can’t. I treat Twitter like a coffee break, dropping in a few times a day to catch up on what’s happening and maybe posting a few things I came across or thought about earlier.
When do I post?
Again, this is up to you. You can post things ad-hoc as they occur to you or schedule them to appear at specific times. I tend to use a combination of approaches, depending on the content and style of the message. You need to post often enough to be interesting so that people will follow you, but not so often that your feeds become a nuisance. Tweeting is a balancing act; common wisdom is that an average of five to eight tweets a day is about right. But remember this is your account, so try and achieve a frequency that works for you.
Being the corporate Twitterer
More and more companies and organizations are recognizing social networks in general, and Twitter in particular, as excellent tools for engaging their customers in meaningful and productive dialogue, as well as a way to listen in on what is being said about the company and its products. It’s also an excellent way to keep an eye on developing industry trends. I believe Twitter represents an opportunity for technical communicators to bring their skills to the fore and raise both their profile and value by becoming a corporate Twitterer.
The following notes and observations are based on my experience of providing professional Twitter services for several companies and organizations over the past few years (and, in keeping with full disclosure, I am currently part of the team that posts under the @PTC_Arbortext handle for Arbortext related products and services).
First, decide on a strategy and approach for your corporate account—will it be under the name of a particular person or the company? Will it be an individual or a team posting to the account? No matter which method you choose, I recommend that it is always clear who is posting the information, which can be done in a couple of ways. If the account is a corporate one, make sure the author’s name is stated in the account bio; if you have a team approach, give each person on the team a tag they can use at the end of their posts (for instance, mine is “–AJP” for the @PTC_Arbortext account).
But no matter what way you set up your account, remember that you are acting as the voice of the organization. A corporate Twitter account is no place to express personal opinions or make unguarded remarks. If you also have a personal account, be careful to make sure you are posting to the right Twitter feed. (There was a high-profile incident recently where someone posted a personal comment about the quality of Chrysler cars from the official Chrysler account. The author was sacked and the agency he worked for lost the Chrysler account.) There can be real-world consequences to Twitter communications, which is the reason I never mention clients, projects, or products on any of my personal Twitter feeds.
When using Twitter, you must also learn to be a gatekeeper and be responsive, but be responsive in a positive way. No matter what is said, what question asked, or in what tone, the response should be professional, level- headed, and above all friendly. You need to be timely with a response; Twitter is all about instant (or almost instant) communication—a delay of a day is too long, but the worst thing to do is to ignore someone. Yes, some questions and situations may require time to consider and prepare a detailed response, but you at least need to acknowledge that you are thinking about your response.
As with a personal account, you will get the most traction and response by posting interesting information and engaging in conversations. Twitter is not a platform for just marketing tag lines and slogans; it’s about listening and engagement. Good content will get re-tweeted and passed around, irrespective of its source. Remember that anything you post will be public and indexed by search engines, so don’t make negative remarks about customers, competitors, etc., as they will long outlive the moment that created them. Be positive and professional.
Twitter can provide insight into what your company is working on and developing, and it can also give a personality to those in the company who don’t normally interact with customers. But again, be aware of airing your dirty linen in public; don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in front of an audience at an industry conference.
Get out of it what you put in
Twitter isn’t a field of dreams; just setting up an account and waiting will not work; you have to participate. Like any social network, the rewards are based on your participation. Decide what you want from Twitter and be realistic and work toward that goal. If you put in what you expect to get back, you’ll be rewarded with far more.
Alan J. Porter is a senior digital publishing consultant at PTCArborext. He has 20-plus years’ experience in corporate communications, marketing, and content development in both the UK and the United States. He has been involved in the development and adoption of various industry standards and is a regular speaker at industry conferences. He is also a published author with several books, comics, and numerous magazine articles to his name. He blogs about the many facets of digital publishing at http://thecontentpool.com.
