WGBH Board of Trustees

Twitter School

Welcome

Lynn Bay DaytonChair, Marketing and Communications Committee

Alexis RapoVice President, Digital Media

Syllabus

• What is Twitter?•The Anatomy of a Tweet•WGBH and Twitter• Navigating Twitter•Live Tweeting

Twitter Comfort Level

What is Twitter?

I’ve set up my account but I’ve never tweeted. My avatar is an egg.

I tweet, and find it really valuable. I want to learn more!

Level 2

Level 1

Level 3

Twitter Lingo

To Tweet

Tweeting …Not twittering.Tweeter

… Not Twitterer.

What is Twitter?

140 • Sends text messages limited to 140 characters

• Registered users can read and post tweets• Unregistered users can only read tweets

• Twitter launched in 2006

• There are 645 million active registered Twitter users

• 135,000 new Twitter users sign up every day

• An average of 58 million tweets are sent a day

2006

135K58 M

645 M

Why does Twitter matter?

of Twitter traffic during peak TV time (9–11 p.m. EST) is about TV programming.

TV viewers are actively engaged in talking about television on social media

40% 25 MILLION

66% have started to watch a TV show because of social media

36 MILLION In 2013, 36 million people sent 990 million tweets about TV

The Anatomy of a Tweet

Tim De ChantSenior digital editor at NOVA

The Tweet

Text

Profile photo

= 112 characters

Handle

Actions

Date sent

Actions

@ Mentions and replies

Retweet

Favorite

Direct message

RT★DM

How does WGBH use Twitter?1) Monitoring brand presence: What are people saying about my show?

How does WGBH use Twitter?2) Promotion: Telling fans what’s new

How does WGBH use Twitter?3) Crowdsourcing ideas

How does WGBH use Twitter?Example: Frontline #LeagueofDenial

• Frontline-related tweets appeared in Twitter feeds 50.3 million times the night of the broadcast

• Hundreds of journalists live-tweeted the film, including writers from ESPN, CBS, Sports Illustrated, TIME, and TV Guide

• #LeagueOfDenial was a national trending topic on Twitter during the broadcast

Ways to Use Twitter

1) Build your personal brand 2) Share your passions and hobbies

3) Find and follow news 4) Use as a second screen

What Do I Tweet?

• Your passions and hobbies

• Interact

• Takeaways from professional learning

• Interesting links

• Pictures

• Ask questions

Follow the WGBH Twitter List

twitter.com/torystarr3/wgbh-programs/

Follow Your Fellow Live-Tweeters

twitter.com/torystarr3/antiques-roadshow/

What makes a good tweet?

1) The 80/20 rule

3) Keep it short

2) Be visual

4) Interact

5) Be simple

Navigating Twitter: Desktop

Timeline

Mentions & Interactions

Search and trends

My tweetsSearch

Direct messages

Settings

Compose

Navigating Twitter: Mobile

Timeline

Mentions & Interactions

Search

Direct messages

Compose

Tim

elin

eDesktop

Mobile

Co

nn

ect

Co

nn

ect

Dis

cove

ry

Me

DesktopMobile

The Hashtag #

• A brief search term, used with a # at the beginning of a word• Using a hashtag, you can search Twitter to find all the tweets using that hashtag• Makes conversations possible• Hashtags function as keywords to highlight discussions• Hashtags unify a group of related threads or tweets because they are searchable• A hashtag that catches on and becomes widely used can amplify issues and

broadcast views very quickly

Live Tweeting #Desktop Mobile

Live Tweeting

How Can you Contribute?

Opinions

Share your experience

Tweet questions to Marsha and the team

Selfies / Photos

Antiques RoadshowLive Tweet

Join me tonight as I live tweet with @RoadshowPBS during their new episode at 8/7c PM on @PBS!

Capping off the best WGBH trustee meeting ever with a live tweet of @RoadshowPBS. #antiquesroadshow

.@RoadshowPBS is all new tonight 8pm EST on @PBS, and I'll be live tweeting with them. Join in at #antiquesroadshow

Participating in a live tweet with Roadshow EP @MarshaBemkoEP. Follow along using hashtag #antiquesroadshow!

Remember, always use #antiquesroadshow in your tweet.