Tiptoe into Twitter: “Twools” to Get Started By Michele Payn-Knoper
You’re still scratching your head over the Twitterverse, but you know there’s opportunity for your operation. You have decided to try out Twitter, even though these 140-characters seem like a waste of time. What now? I’d suggest you spend 15 minutes a day for three weeks to learn the tool and develop habits to utilize social media as a part of your farm operation.Getting on Twitter is easy; you just go to
http://twitter.com/. Understanding it is not as simple, so do not get frustrated if it all seems like foreign land. These tips and tricks will help pave the way to a productive Twitter experience.
- Pick a short user name that’s reflective of your interests and preferably memorable – e.g., @dairylu, @itweetmeat @beansrock @soybeansue.
- Enter in your desired password. Be sure to write your user name and password down so you don’t forget them!
- Your e-mail is safe, so use a real one. Decide whether you want the e-mail updates or not from Twitter (I opt out of nearly all of these, personally).
- Skip the step about finding friends – you can always go back to it later if you want Twitter to scan your address book.
Welcome, you’re now on Twitter, and it only took a few minutes. The first thing you need to do is create your profile – your “persona.” Social media is about people, so this is important. Click on settings in the top right corner of your Twitter home page and take the following steps.
- Check your user name and time zone to ensure it’s what you want.
- Enter in a URL for a Web site, blog or Facebook fan page/group. If you don’t have one, then leave it blank.
- Consider which keywords are most important to you and will generate the most interest amongst potential followers. These need to be entered into the one line bio field – it’s the most important step as it will be your first impression. Make your description authentic and filled with personality. For example, “Soybean and corn farmer in Illinois who loves the St. Louis Rams, tractors and biotechnology, and knows soy biodiesel helps the diesel engines perform and provides a cleaner environment.
- Determine what location you want to list (state, city & state or USA) and be sure “geotagging” is turned OFF (otherwise, people can track your specific location).
- Hit the save button.
Now it’s time to upload your photo. You should still be in the “settings” tab. In the upper center of your screen, click “picture.” This will ask you to upload a file less than 700 kb, which will be the photo everyone sees associated with your user name. I understand you may not want your picture out there and would rather put up a great shot of your soybean field or perhaps your equipment. However, social media is about people – and it’s really hard to put a face on the plate with a photo of a combine. Don’t forget to save!
Take a quick minute to look at the “notices,” “design” and “mobile” options. If you don’t have time for that right now, you can always return to “settings.” These will help you set when you receive e-mail notices, set the look of your Twitter home page and manage the ability to send/receive tweets from a standard mobile phone.
At this point, it’s time to send your first tweet. Just type in what you’re doing on the farm today, that you’re new to twitter and need others in #agchat to help you or a line from a book you’re reading – keep it simple. Tweeting in 140 characters takes some getting used to, but it’s easier once the first tweet is done.
Now you’re ready to build your community on Twitter, which usually brings about the question “why do people follow me?” Twitter is not a permission-based system; it is not Facebook, where you accept friend requests. Twitter is designed to be an information-sharing service, and it’s ideal for you to build a community of diverse interests. Don’t worry about people following you unless they bring concerns of personal safety (at which point you should block them).
You can build your community a few different ways. I’d suggest you first search for the hashtag (number sign) #ag, #agchat, #soybean, #farm or #biofuel on your home page (note that you can and should search Twitter even if you’re not signed up at
http://search.twitter.com/). The search will produce a list of tweets; click on a user name (right next to the picture). If his/her biography (in the top right) and tweets (center of screen) look interesting, hit the “follow” button on the top left. Remember – you do not need to know this person.
Another way to get a feel for the “ag tweeps” is to search for user names that share your common interests (for example, @UnitedSoy,@Mo_Soy, @mpaynknoper @INsoybean, @agchat), then click on their followers or following. This will bring up a list of people; use the buttons on the right to begin following people who are of interest. Note that these same buttons are used on your own profile to unfollow, block or report spam.
Once you have connected with 20-25 people, spend some time with tools to help you build your community.
Congratulations – you are now a part of the Twitterverse. If you want to see other ag and farm folks, see the
“Follow Farmer“ list and be sure to get your name added by sending a tweet to @FollowFarmer.
Next up, we’ll discuss specific tools to manage Twitter. I’d strongly suggest you download Tweetdeck on your computer at this point to funnel all of the information that’s coming your way. Happy tweeting!
posted by Expert 6:49 am