How To Get the Most Out of Your Twitter Account

How To Get the Most Out of Your Twitter Account

by David Haack

8/12/2013

Twitter can be either the most wonderful news and networking site, or the biggest time suck in the history of the planet. Well, the latter may be supplanted by a few reality tv shows, most of which are such a time suck that I can’t even tell you their names... but I digress... 

When used properly, Twitter can be your single source for breaking news and interesting facts and articles. The magic of Twitter is connecting anyone with anyone. Literally. We live in the day and age of pocket-sized computers and FOMO (fear of missing out - yup, it’s a real thing. Look it up.) and ADHD. You can now connect with your favorite celebrities and sports figures and see what they say from their pocket computer, when they say it. Or get news from major companies and organizations as that news breaks. 

Let me give you an example. Sportscenter. Sportscenter now uses Twitter accounts of major sports figures as a source for their quotes in stories. So you probably don’t need Sportscenter - That is, if you know what you’re doing on Twitter and utilize it properly. Cut out the middle man! If you’re following the right people and know how to access and organize certain content so you can find it when YOU want, you can be on top of your news and interests and help connect others to them as well.

Here are 3 tips and tricks that I’ve use to keep my Twitter functional and fun. This is by no means a complete list, but it’s enough to get you started. 

Photo courtesy of Someecards

#1 - FOLLOW OTHER PEOPLE

When starting out, you’ve got to follow to be followed. People fear this... some people would like to keep their following to follower ratio in a place that puts them in line with Kobe Bryant or President Obama. Time to get realistic!  Others think certain follows start out fun, but like some bad relationships, begin to bother them and annoy them with the frequency of their requests (or in this case, tweets. Step 2 will address this issue) and I won’t deny some people will annoy you and might even deserve an “un-follow”, but when you’re starting out, FOLLOW OTHERS. Just like Shoeless Joe Jackson said to Ray in that cornfield, “If you build it, they will come” - if you follow, they will follow back. Or at least some of them will. If you DON’T follow, you never know what you might be missing! The point of being on Twitter is to use Twitter to it’s full functional use, right? 

#2 - MAKE AND UTILIZE LISTS

This is a photo finish with the previous step for 1st place in making all the difference in your Twitter world. The “Lists” feature in Twitter is a life saver by being a huge time saver. Scrolling through your “Home” screen to find information when you follow over a thousand people is like searching for Waldo at a Red and White Striped Sweater Convention. You may eventually find him, but was it worth the effort? Probably not. LISTS are key. 

Quick tutorial - Click the “Me” tab, then click your “Lists” link from the top left section of your profile page. You can then create lists which you can place any of your followers into. There are private lists and public lists, and the great thing with this is you can follow other people’s public lists as well. Follow the same instructions on anyone’s page, and you’ll see their Lists. 

Example - If someone you follow is an expert in cooking, they may have a list created where they have placed their favorite cooks and foodies on Twitter, and you can subscribe to that list to see those folks updates. Then, when you’re jonesing for some food-related posts and recipes, you just click on their “Cooking” list, which will now conveniently be located within your lists if you subscribed, and only the tweets of those folks in the list will appear. Then you can decide from there who you’d also like to follow and perhaps place into a list you create... And the spiderweb of connectivity grows...!

Lists are MUCH easier to comb through and find what you’re looking for than having everyone on one single feed as in the “Home” screen. 

#3 - INTERACT WITH PEOPLE

This may seem like a no-brainer, but please, for the love of god, don’t be a one way street. You’ll be tuned out. No one likes to hear someone talk at them and never pause for a question or a real human interaction. Everyone has their opinion on everything, so just be yourself. You’ll hear a lot of “experts” say don’t do this or do that or be more or less frequent.... Bah humbug! If you see something in your Home or Lists feeds that interests you, reach out! Get an interesting follower, tell them thanks! See something that inspires you, re-tweet it. You might not get a response back from that question you asked Ashton Kutcher, but then again, you might! You never know, and that’s the fun of Twitter. It’s a bit more open to this being possible than other platforms in Social Media. Reply to people when they reach out. Reach out to others. Just be a human being on the site with your own style and flavor, and you’ll get more out of it. 

Follow some people, put them into lists and throw your current follows and followers into list, be yourself, and see the whole new world it will open up for you on Twitter! Who knew 140 characters could contain so many possibilities?! 

David Haack is founder and CEO of PHD Social Media, a Social Media Management company. Follow on Twitter: @DavidHaack