Twitter was born in 2006. Eleven years later, I created a Twitter account for the first time when my Social Media class started. Although I have only recently become a tweeter, it did not take long for me to learn how to navigate the site. Friends, celebrities, businesses and everyone in between uses Twitter as a relaxing social media outlet to stay up to date on the latest news, sports, fashion, humor and almost anyone you can imagine seems to have that famous @username tag. Hashtags became well known through Twitter. Since you are only allotted 140 characters, hashtags make it easier and more convenient to get your point across quickly. Trends change daily, and they are based on your location. A few things trending today are Beyonce, #TrumpOnBlackHistory and #JustCantSayNoTo. Hashtags are a fun, different way to express yourself.
Brands, businesses, celebrities and even the President of the United States use Twitter as a way to bypass the media and communicate directly to people, promote their products, upcoming albums, book signings or even to raise awareness about a specific cause close to their hearts. Brands like to use Twitter to keep their message short, sweet and to the point.
How top brands are using Twitter as a social media platform is huge. The fact that retail is the largest industry that receives the most engagement does not surprise me. Big retail brands like Wal-Mart or Target use Twitter to promote their sales and products. This platform seems to have a bit of an age target market. Although anyone who can run a computer can create a Twitter account…. compared to Facebook, Twitter seems to be the more youthful and playful platform of the two. Certain things you tweet, not to mention the way you tweet, will result in the reactions you want. Using all capital letters, hashtags, and using the word ‘you’ seems to boost people’s numbers. I believe that if you stay fairly consistent with the way you post, followers will like that.
The very first brand I followed on Twitter was Intrepid Travel. This brand is literally just a page that posts nothing but beautiful, awe inspiring pictures of places all over the world. I followed them first because traveling is a huge passion of mine and in my spare time I enjoy scrolling through things like this because it forces me to become more imaginative; picturing myself in that place and being immersed in the diverse culture, language and surroundings brings me joy. Plus, it always gives me new ideas of different places I would have never dreamed of traveling to until I saw it on Twitter and was intrigued to do further research.
After scrolling through much of my Twitter feed, there were three particular stories or posts that stood out to me the most. The first was a picture from Fox News covering President Trump’s first one hundred days in the White House with a hashtag #First100 which caught my eye; this post was quick to read and allows me to gain more knowledge about current events without actually watching it. The second story was a link posted by the New York Times including a photo that boldly read, “Truth. It’s vital to democracy.” They linked their website with the post and this certainly got my attention because as an aspiring writer with an interest in politics, I strongly agreed with their message. The last story that stood out to me was Nat Geo Travel who shared a “dazzling video of glowworm cave in New Zealand.” With the bright photo of the glowworm cave and the caption telling people to check it out really intrigued me. All three of these stories would be very easy to research and write about because they all have accessible information on the internet and are important brands or television networks with top stories.
Out of my six tweets, my top interaction was when I retweeted a funny post about dentists and tweeted at my friend who is in dental hygiene school and she liked it. I noticed that when I tweet original content it never gets much reaction. My engagement on Twitter is dryer then the Sahara desert right now. To whoever reads this, feel free to follow me @anw1313. You would be greatly appreciated.
My advice to you whether you are brand new to the Twitter world or you’re an experience tweeter, the best practices for this specific social media network is keep it short, use hashtags appropriately, add pictures, videos, and links when necessary and don’t think to much about a tweet unless of course you are tweeting to people from a business or brand’s account.
Honestly, I plan to utilize Twitter as another way to stay connected and in the loop with friends, famous people and articles I have a peaked interest in. Twitter can assist you with doing homework because for instance, if you had a class that requires you to stay informed on all the latest news then write a detailed report, Twitter would be an excellent outlet to use. Or in my case, it can be useful when you are enrolled in a Social Media class and must use Twitter among other social networking sites to engage and interact with followers. Twitter is a great way to spread your name and brand to get recognized. The more followers you have, the more famous you become.
In the short amount of time I have spent on Twitter, I have learned that it is a great tool to use to sift through information, posts, and people that pertain to you. It also allows you to be a bit creative without going overboard. For me personally, this is just a more laid-back version of Facebook and I am slowly but surely starting to appreciate that. Twitter seems timeless right now, but technology never takes a day off.
Ashlynn Worley 