By now, we all know that !

Twitter is a social network!

where you post short bursts !
of thoughts and information.
 It has become the single most talked
about Web site since Facebook !
and grew 1,382% in the past year.!

Source: “Twitter Now Growing at a Staggering 1,382 Percent” Mashable, March 16, 2009
Then Twitter grew 43% with the
addition of just one user.
Source: “Oprah effect: 43% jump in Twitter traffic,” USA Today, April 21, 2009
But why is Twitter such a big deal?
This is the future of human contact?
Probably not. But it has its uses.

Like finding a job. Or new clients. !

Or garden tips. Or muffin recipes.!
Whatever.
Twitter revolutionized social media by
making it simple for the world to
communicate in real time.

Think of it as a cross between !

text messaging, instant messaging
and blogging.
Where did Twitter !
come from?
Founded in 2006 by three men:
• Biz Stone & Evan Williams,
creators of Blogger.com
• Jack Dorsey, software architect
Although it was first, Twitter at one
point had more than 100 competitors.

It has since crushed them.

Why did Twitter come out on top?
• Originated the concept
• Kept things simple
• Lots of venture capital
• Consistent buzz
• Better name
Getting started:
 Before you get too far…
1. Consider using
a simple name
close to your own.

2. Upload your
photo.

3. Fill in your bio,

home page, etc.
A few more tips for beginners:
• Talk first, follow later
• Start with friends, expand slowly
• Don’t bother going ‘private’
• Post consistently and you’ll get it
What should you write about?

News in your industry

Helpful tips
Links to your new blog posts
What’s going on in your life
Try to avoid writing about:

What you ate for lunch

Politics
Your travel schedule
‘Figuring out Twitter’
How do you find people to follow?

• Search by name on Twitter

• Find existing users in your e-mail
address book
• Look for common interests on
WeFollow.com
• Just look at your friends’ friends
Once you’re up and running, it should
look like this:

(assuming you’re Little Debbie)

 Where you post "
your next update.

Most recent
updates by people
you follow.
 Ignore this
question.

Reminds you
what you last
posted.

How many characters "

you have left (max is 140).
 The number of people
you’re following and are
following you.

Click to see recent "

posts mentioning you.

Private messages sent "

to or from you.
 Posts you’ve marked "
as favorites.

Click to see every tweet "

on the planet.

Random pictures of "

people you’re following.
A few Twitter terms "
you’ll want to know:
 @ reply:
A comment aimed at one user, but
visible to the public.
@ reply:
In fact, just mentioning a user’s name
with an @ will help ensure that user
sees your note.
Wait, was that Kathy Ireland?

Oh yes it was.
(More on Twittering celebrities in a few slides…)
 DM:
A direct message sent in private to
another user. Goes to your e-mail inbox.
 Retweeting:
Sharing someone else’s post. Often
abbreviated “RT.”
Retweeting:
Retweeting is a common way to praise
another user, spread awareness or
curry favor with influential users.

That said, if all you do is retweet,

you’re not adding much value.
 Tinyurl:
A service that shortens Web addresses,
making them easier to fit in a tweet.
(Twitter automatically shortens your
links to TinyURLs if they’re too long.)
But alternatives to TinyURL are catching on.

Bit.ly – Shorter, and offers stats.

Is.gd – Shortest links
SnipURL – Easy to use and share
 Hashtags:
Words beginning with a # to help you
track specific conversations.
You can follow a specific hashtag in
real time through Twitter Search.
Popular hashtags:

#FollowFriday: A weekly chance to recommend

people to follow.

#JournChat: A live, open discussion of journalism

and PR, 7–10 p.m. CST o Mondays

#NoPantsTuesday: Speaks for itself.

 Fail Whale:
The universal sign that Twitter is having
serious problems.
 Apps:
Applications that make using Twitter
easier, more productive, etc.
TwitterFon

A great way to
use Twitter from
your iPhone.
TweetDeck

Powerful,
customizable
way to use
Twitter on !
your desktop.
And don’t miss…

TweetLater: Schedule posts in advance.

TwitPic: Post photos to Twitter.

Twitbin, TwitterFox, etc: Lets you update

Twitter from your Firefox Web browser.
The most powerful Twitter site is actually
Twitter Search
which has become a scarily useful tool !
for monitoring global conversations.
So who’s using Twitter?
 Twitter demographics:

Gender Age
53% female 47% 18–34
47% male 31% 35–29
21% 50+
Education
46% College Ethnicity
37% No College 82% White
17% Grad School 7% Black
5% Asian
5% Hispanic
Source: “2009 Twitter Demographics and Statistics Report,” iStrategyLabs.com
Twitter is quite popular with:

• Bloggers
• Moms
• PR practitioners
• Consultants
• Pyramid schemers
• Corporations
• Celebrities
 Celebs on Twitter:

Ashton Kutcher: 1.4 million followers

Britney Spears: 1.1 million
Ellen Degeneres: 1 million
Barack Obama: 943,600
Jimmy Fallon: 778,800
Shaquille O’Neal: 770,000
John Mayer: 724,100
Demi Moore: 719,600

(As of April 24, 2009. By the time you read this, Oprah will probably have 7 billion.)
 Businesses on Twitter
o  Starbucks o  Ford o  Whole Foods
o  Southwest o  GM o  Dunkin Donuts
o  Dell o  Honda o  Kodak
o  Zappos o  Comcast o  Red Cross
o  Little Debbie o  H&R Block o  Rubbermaid
o  Hertz o  Home Depot o  Nationwide
Twitter helps businesses:
o  Raise awareness
o  Offer proactive customer service
o  Answer questions
o  Promote events, products, services
 Businesses should:
o  Be conversational
o  Jump in the discussion
o  Pay attention
o  Pace themselves
Businesses should NOT:
o  Be sales-oriented robots
o  Be repetitive and dull
o  Follow too many people at once
While consistent, earnest use of Twitter
is still best, some marketers are really
pushing the envelope.
‘Mad Men’ fans, including PR pros
unaffiliated with AMC, built a full online
life for the show’s characters on Twitter.
Skittles turned its entire home page into
Twitter search results for the word
“Skittles” — obscenities and all.
So what’s next for Twitter?
• A revenue plan would be nice
• Continued mainstreaming
• Lots more celebs, journalists, CEOs
• Become a standard customer service
• Probably keep crashing a lot
Thanks for your time.

david.griner@luckie.com
Twitter.com/griner
TheSocialPath.com