Thread by @NikiRust

I'm often asked by academics how to use Twitter. Rather than repeat the same stuff on different occasions, I decided to create a thread.
This is just my own personal experience so PLEASE join in, add your own thoughts/suggestions & ask questions!

1. Decide your purpose
Why are you using Twitter? What do you want out of it? If it's purely to read up on other people's work, find new research & catch the latest news, that's totally fine.
A good way to curate your feed is to create Twitter Lists stephnissen.com/what-twitter-l…

2. Audience
If you want to go beyond reading to post your own content, decide on who you want to target. Who is interested in reading your tweets? Who do you want to get the attention of and why?

3. Content
The hardest part. Most people don't read Twitter to hear about your greatest achievements. Twitter shouldn't be a place to only boast about your work (though do celebrate success). We want to gain something from your tweets, be that facts, entertainment or inspiration

4. Network
Possibly one of the best uses of Twitter is finding likeminded researchers to collaborate with. Follow people whose research you like, comment on their posts, message them. Don't be shy! If you can't attend conferences in person, follow the conference hashtags

5. Reach
Building a following means knowing your audience. Post at popular times of the day e.g. commuting time. Use trending hashtags if they're relevant. Join in with popular threads if they're of interest. Give a reason for people to keep coming back to your profile & engaging

6. Profile
Add a photo of yourself & a banner of something that's relevant to your work.
Refine your bio to include a short description of who you are, what you study & where you work. Your bio is VERY IMPORTANT!
Add your institutional/project webpage or your own if you have one

7. Tweets
Twitter is less formal than LinkedIn so tweets should reflect this. Studies show people engage more in tweets that have images/video and emojis though 🚫❌don't ⛔️📛overdo it. Use #hashtags sparingly & #CapitaliseEachWord to improve readability

8. TwitterPro
Some academics have developed big followings by creating recurrent ways to interact e.g. weekly games #CougarOrNot, questions answered #WildID or weekly facts #WildDogFact
Apologies these are all wildlife based - shows my interests! Any others examples?

9. Have fun!
Using Twitter shouldn't be a bore. If you're not enjoying it, that's fine but maybe the platform isn't for you.
A great way to connect with people is to think of fun ways to engage. We're all drawn to fun people.
Remember: be respectful & kind to each other ☮️

@ruralimpact you were asking for some tips on how to use Twitter. Perhaps this would be of use! @cretweeting

Btw my social media game has recently been upped by the introduction of @canva canva.com which I used to create all the above images. It's free, super easy and, in my view, pretty game-changing! I'd recommend to anyone who uses social media regularly

Here's a great article by @CMRLee, a PR/Digital Director, on how to grow a social media community. Whilst written for brands, there's lots of overlapping advice for individual accounts too eightmoon.co.uk/how-to-grow-a-…

I am self-taught and have learnt most of the above tips from seeing what the "Twitter pros" do.
I'd love to hear from you all about what you think is the number 1 tip for academics to use Twitter? #SciTwitter #AcademicTwitter

Here's another great resource on how to use social media for public engagement by @NCCPE publicengagement.ac.uk/sites/default/…

I got a few suggestions from folk yesterday to use tweetdeck to help manage your account. Today I will start using it and I'll let you know how I get on! Anyone else got experience using tweetdeck or hootsuite?

Btw I just thought I'd add (and sorry for the shameful plug) that I do also give in-person training on how academics can communicate their science better. Do get in touch if you'd like to discuss!
#SciComm #AcademicTwitter #PhDchat #SciTwitter

Here's a FANTASTIC interaction I've just had with a total stranger on Twitter. Shows how amazing this platform is! 💕

https://twitter.com/Nisha360/status/1134054111551381504

Many people in this thread have suggested using analytics to track engagements/impact etc. Do you use any form of twitter analytical tools? If so, which ones do you recommend? If you don't, why not? I never have done to date; what am I missing out on?