A short introduction to the "why" and "how" of twitter. Just a beginning, intended for novices. Short and to the point.

1. ...twitter...
Getting
Started

2. ...Twitter...
Getting Started

3. Twitter is...
conversation

4. social political/
media advocacy
mobs professionals media
stars
interest
groups gossip
friends
Twitter is...
traditional
journalism
branding news
non-
companies individuals
traditional
customer
promotion
service

5. the gossip tweet
goes to his twitter
drinks
shares his trivia
the “tweet” that all
his followers see

6. the brand tweet
press release
goes to corporate twitter
HQ - Austin, Texas
shared
the “tweet” that all 1.7mil
Whole Foods followers see

7. the news tweet
reddit.com
a social news website on which users
submit can post links to content on the Internet.
new stories
individuals
all over the
web republishes
shared to followers

8. interest groups tweet
some groups are organized around tags
(aka, hashtags) such as the #prodmgmt or
product management group
some groups use a web service derived
from twitter called Twibes

9. social political/
media advocacy
mobs professionals media
stars
interest
groups gossip
friends
Twitter is all of these things
traditional
journalism
branding news
non-
customer companies individuals
service traditional
promotion
...and more

10. Twitter vs. Facebook
• Twitter is OPEN • Facebook is CLOSED
• Like a public rally - • Like an invitation-
where anyone can only party - the only
join, follow, people there are you
participate. & your friends.
- No permission required - ✓ Permission required - people
anyone can “follow” you and can read your Facebook posts if
read your Twitter stream you *accept* them as friends
(and you can read theirs if you
✴ (assuming default privacy setting - anyone can “friend” or “fan” them)
follow)
✴ (assuming default privacy setting - friends only)

11. Case Studies
4 examples to evaluate

12. Comcast: Customer Service
• Comcast has been using Twitter to scan for complaints & engage with
customers since early 2008. It doesn’t replace phone & e-mail help but
is a different kind of dialogue: it is a little more personal, more back
& forth, & gives immediacy to interactions.
• Sometimes customers have general complaints, sometimes they have
a specific problem. Frank Eliason (Comcastcares on Twitter) or one of
his 11 team members, responds immediately -- often by simply
tweeting back “Can I help?” The back & forth occasionally may result
in calling the customers directly if they share their phone numbers.
• The Comcast Twitter team may not always resolve the problem, but
they always respond immediately.
• Is Comcast’s use of Twitter to broadcast messages about its brand or engage in a
conversation? Is Comcast’s use of Twitter project a brand or individual personality? What
is more useful in the Twitter-sphere?
How does Comcast’s Twitter presence help its brand?
Can words overcome bad products or bad experiences with products?

13. Whole Foods: Promotion
• Whole Foods Market has several Twitter accounts. The main account
(@wholefoods) has over 1.7 million followers (as of 3/28/10) & is
widely regarded as one of the most successful brands on Twitter.
• @wholerecipes has over 19,000 followers (as of 3/28/10) & is mainly
used to broadcast recipes
• Whole Foods also has topical accounts (i.e., @WFMcheese), regional
accounts (i.e., @WholeFoodsNYC), and local store account
(@WholeFoodsPAL)
• Examine Whole Foods’ Twitter presence - how are they using
Twitter, globally & locally? What is their brand presence on
Twitter? (brand-based vs. personality-based; broadcast vs.
conversation)

14. Street Food Vendors:
Location Awareness
• Examine the following Street Food Vendors:
• @cremebruleecart
• @cupcakecart
• @urbanectar
• How are they using Twitter? Is it effective?
• For a full list of Street Vendors go to:
www.seriouseats.com/2009/05/a-list-of-street-food-vendors-trucks-carts-using-twitter.html

15. Others?
• Media outlets:
NYT, Washington Post, Huffington Post
• Media stars:
Oprah, Bill Gates, Kevin Spacey
• Tech people:
Robert Scoble, Michael Arrington, David
Pogue
• How do they use Twitter?

16. Signing-up
How to get an account

17. • Go to http://twitter.com/signup
If you want people
Choose carefully!
to find you - use
This is the “name”
your real name
that shows up in all
your messages! Your
“brand” name.
Where Twitter sends your
messages about who is
Select this if you want following you, etc.
people to find you
via email
Click and you’re done.

18. The Twitter Language
Some special terms to know

19. tweet
• A simple tweet is when someone sends
out a message via Twitter that is less
than 140 characters
Userid or Twitter name:
Mashable is a social media site
Mashable uses a picture
of its founder for its brand
the Tweet (<140 characters)
image: more personable
time of tweet
& software used to write tweet

20. retweet
• A tweet that you liked, & want to
redistribute to your followers
Indicates a retweet - and
that none of the original
tweet was altered
Also indicates a
retweet - in this case,
time of tweet & software
the original tweet may The person/ID who
used to write tweet (via
have been changed originated the tweet
the web), plus how
many people have
retweeted this particular
tweet from the NY Times
time of tweet & software used - in this
case TweetDeck, which is used from the
desktop instead of a web browser

21. @ mentions
• If someone mentions you in a tweet or
retweet, it’s indicated by an @ symbol
TIME magazine mentions the twitter ID
for a new book by one of its editors They also mention themselves :}
retweet that mentions Harvard Business School
This retweet is a part of a conversation.
@Scobleizer orginally posted something about Google Sync
@matthewogston replied with this comment about Google Contacts
I follow Scobleizer - and normally I don’t see replies to @Scobelizer liked the comment so he retweeted it.
@Scobelizer or replies he makes to others such as
@matthewogston (in my twitter stream) - unless it is
retweeted.

22. short links
• Since twitter is only 140 characters, and
links to web sites are often long, there
are many services that shorten the links
Harvard has a branded service
bit.ly is popular service & is built into TweetDeck
• These are automatically done through the twitter web site, or via twitter software such as
TweetDeck, Seesmic, or others. You can also go directly to bit.ly or tiny.cc and create your own
short link to share with people -- it can be used in places other than twitter.

23. That’s it. A short intro.
Coming soon...
conversing on Twitter
(tweeting & beyond)