So Twitter™ has published a rather lengthy handbook for elected officials on how to use Twitter™, covering such topics as “What is a Tweet?” Sam Sanders with NPR thinks this it’s hysterical that there’s a 136 page manual on how to create a 140-character message. I, too, was initially struck by the irony.
Then I downloaded the handbook and looked through it. And I have to admit I thought it was pretty useful. Maybe it’s because I’m old. I’m guessing Sam Sanders is about 12 and doesn’t recall life before Twitter™, so communicating in a tweet is almost as second nature to him as whatever it is that 12-year-olds do these days. (As an aside, it turns out my almost 11-year-old is on Twitter™. Hoping my husband is keeping a watchful eye on that.)
Back when Twitter™ became a “thing,” my partner in crime, the late great David Howard, and I looked at each other and said in unison, “um. I don’t get it.” Because we were old (and by old, I mean over 30), it took us a while to figure out how to best use this new medium.
I’m guessing there are a lot of other “old” people out there (Alex Creel, are your listening?) who could use Twitter’s rather thorough and helpful tutorial, especially if they are running for office or hoping to influence elected officials. But I think it’s helpful for just about anyone interested in jumping into Twitterverse. For that reason, I’m posting the link to the handbook here.
It will walk you through the anatomy of a useful tweet, using hashtags (#) and even gives some good ideas of how to best use Twitter™ to achieve certain objectives.
By the way, you can follow me on Twitter™ at @GRootsGoddess. Ironic, isn’t it?