Tweets: A Study in the Use of Social Media
This class required me to keep up a Twitter account in order to communicate with my classmates. I had already started to follow the site, but this gave me more incentive to use the site. What I discovered was not the site-of-the-moment, place for random thoughts everyone thinks Twitter is all about, but a tool in which we share information, media and discussions on topics ranging from the newest Twilight movie to the Iranian elections.
Any social media platform can be used for brand extension and reaching your intended audience. It simply takes studying the site to discover not only the tools available for reaching this audience, but what they will tolerate and accept. Twitter, for example, allows for a lot more free advertising and direct response than Facebook. Whereas a Facebook fan page puts the initiative in the hands of the audience, Twitter allows organizations and movements to reach out to not only followers but total strangers who happen to be discussing a topic of interest.
In my time on Twitter, I have discovered a few different tweet formats organizations and individuals are using with some great success. For example, you can answer questions in tweets, share products and address (or direct) complaints. Examples follow.
Any social media platform can be used for brand extension and reaching your intended audience. It simply takes studying the site to discover not only the tools available for reaching this audience, but what they will tolerate and accept. Twitter, for example, allows for a lot more free advertising and direct response than Facebook. Whereas a Facebook fan page puts the initiative in the hands of the audience, Twitter allows organizations and movements to reach out to not only followers but total strangers who happen to be discussing a topic of interest.
In my time on Twitter, I have discovered a few different tweet formats organizations and individuals are using with some great success. For example, you can answer questions in tweets, share products and address (or direct) complaints. Examples follow.
Question and Answer Tweets
The most amazing use of Twitter I have discovered this semester is the question and answer (or problem/problem solved) series of tweets and responses. This struck me most hard while I was tweeting during the World Series this year. I ended up gaining dozens of followers who liked my series on baseball (mostly me yelling at the TV through Twitter). When I lamented that I couldn't find a picture of the Empire State Building lit up in Yankee blue, I put the question to my Twitter followers, and got a quick response from someone I had never met. I still have the picture on my computer, too.
My request, and retweet
Response, moments later
Product Placement Tweets
Many companies, social movements, campaigns, etc. have discovered the power of social networking, including Twitter. The companies that really know what they are doing search for key terms and respond to them, a tactic I eventually used when one of my projects involved tweeting about a faux movement. Through retweeting and responding to Tweets, I managed to to get the very serious ASPCA to follow SharkDogs.
Random, boring tweet
Answer from sleep compnay
Random observation
The thesaurus answers
Normal self-promotion
Responding to a Tweet
Responding and using trending topics
Complaint Tweets: Addressing Flaws
While researching social media for the Writing Center, I came across web expert Jakob Nielson's rules on social media for companies, one of which included a belief that overuse of status updates puts off viewers who can't see updates by their real friends. I had never thought of this academically, but I went back and found a few Tweets that made the trend obvious.
Similarly, sites like Facebook and Twitter have become the forum for new ways to file complaints. People tweet about products, services, and even their landlords. I made a few attempts to complain about my services, with so far no return.
Similarly, sites like Facebook and Twitter have become the forum for new ways to file complaints. People tweet about products, services, and even their landlords. I made a few attempts to complain about my services, with so far no return.
Too many tweets from NBC
And too many from NYT
My attempt at addressing a problem
