TWITTER 101 FOR

LWV: GETTING

STARTEDTweet the Vote!

Workshop, MCC, Saturday, August 23

Cherie & Mike Dargan

Overview—we will

• Get you signed up for an account if you have not already

done so. Go to http://Twitter.com (write down your logon

information)

• Explore your Twitter page (timeline) & look at the icons

• Show you how to find/follow each other, the National

League, the new BlackHawk Bremer League, and related

organizations like Rock the Vote

• Learn the lingo: tweet, retweet, trending, and hashtag

• Keep it short and sweet—start tweeting in 140 characters

• Discuss what you can use for content: what do you tweet

about?

Signing up for Twitter

1. Go to https://twitter.com/

2. Fill out the form

Your name

your email address

your password

your username

3. Click on Create your account

4. Now, let’s take a look around!

Need help?

Lots of good resources online

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-

Twitter#Set_Up_Your_Profile_sub

Are we all on Twitter yet??

Who has an account set up?

Do you remember your log on? WRITE IT

DOWN somewhere!

Do you need help?

All you need to set up a Twitter account is an

email address and access to the internet.

What is Twitter?

•Micro blogging tool (ideal for posting

short chunks of information—a quote,

statistics, a web link)

•Posts are limited to 140 characters

(counts spaces, punctuation)

•Social media tool used by over 255

million people daily

Twitter and Mobile Devices

Twitter as an App!

One of the things that Mike and I have discovered with our

smartphones and tablets is the power of tweeting on the

go!

You can use Twitter on any device that connects to the

internet; however, there are also Apps for mobile devices,

so you may want to check these out as well.

Remember, many people now use mobile devices to get

online, making Twitter all that more popular, because it

features short posts.

People tweet during events or while watching their favorite

TV shows (House of Cards, @mikedargan?)

What do I post about? Tips from

the National League

• “… your online communications, particularly

social media channels are largely about

recycling, reusing and repurposing the content

that you already have!

•Relevant news articles and getting updates

from your League, other Leagues and the

national office that can be shared easily. All of

this can easily be shared on social media.”

•Use the hash tag! #lwvia

National League’s Twitter page

Before tweaking our new Blackhawk/Bremer

Twitter page

After tweaking our page

Customize your Twitter page

•Click on the little gear icon in the upper right

hand corner to tweak settings in your account.

• If it is a personal page, add a photo.

• If it is a page for your local League, you can

use an icon for the League (use Google

images) or use a photo of an event.

•Can change the color of your page to a darker

blue.

•Can add a brief bio--one sentence.

Twitter is a powerful tool!

#lwvia

(remember this!)

Why use Twitter?

•Ideal tool to advocate for

public policy and educate

public about issues

•Useful for sharing great

articles and web resources

(URLs)

•Collaborative – retweeting

your post is a compliment!

•Community building –

learn from other Leagues!

•http://www.mediabistro.co

m/alltwitter/social-media-

statistics-2014_b57746

•Did you know that Twitter

has 255 million active

users who collectively

send 500 million tweets

each and every day?

Use a hash tag to make your tweet distinctive!

#lwvia

Twitter icons—on the top of your page

•Home – see the Twitterverse (the ongoing

feed of posts from everyone)

•Notifications – informs you of people following

you, retweeting your posts, etc.

•Discover – lets you see trending news, and a

newsfeed that is more sorted out

•Me – lets you look only at the posts you’ve

done

Twitter Icons, Cont.

•Search – gives you a way to find others to

follow or to search for topics (voting, voters,

election, etc.)

•Mail – gives you an internal message system.

These are private messages, seen only by

you and that person

Search for topics: voting

Search for other Leagues’ Twitter pages -

-to follow them

Icons underneath a tweet

• Reply—if a tweet is directed at you, you can reply

(@mikedargan, thanks for the help today!)

• Mention -- using @ symbol plus username

• Click on Notifications to see if people have mentioned

you.

• Retweet – this is how you share a great tweet you read on

someone else’s timeline. So, it is reposting a tweet.

• Star (favorite). This helps to determine trending topics.

Notice, if you use @ symbol + username, the person you

are addressing will see the post.

Twitter lingo

● Tweet -- a noun (Her tweet went viral)

● Tweet -- a verb (I have to tweet about this

event!)

● Retweet -- Sharing or re-posting a tweet

● Hash tag -- uses # plus word or phrase

● You can make up hashtags, register them,

or use ones already in existence

● You can sort your messages by hashtags

● Trending topics rely on hashtags

What are some hashtags we can use?

#lwvia

#voting

#votingrights

(remember, no spaces)

Where can you find a list of hashtags?

http://www.hashtags.org/trending-on-twitter/

http://www.hashtags.org/platforms/twitter/what-characters-

can-a-hashtag-include/

Rules for creating hashtags

http://www.hashtags.org/definition/

Dictionary of hashtags

Dissecting a Tweet

Looking at sample tweets

● Even though these are short posts, you can

pack a lot of information into 140 characters!

● Hashtags here help connect this post to

many others, sharing the same hashtags

● You can use more than one hashtag in a

single tweet

● If you have a very long URL, shorten it with a

web tool like tiny url, so you don’t use up

your 140 spaces with the website!

● Tweet pertains to Iowa? #lwvia will tie it in.

Topics to post about

● Voter registration events

● Voting

● Voters and ID

● Getting more people to vote

● Cutting through the excuses people give for

NOT voting

● Educating people about the voting process

● Identifying special populations for a

campaign -- new citizens, new High School

graduates, college students, minorities

Where to find items to post about

● Your email from League

● The League Facebook and Twitter pages

● Your friends’ Twitter pages

● The network news (print, web, and social media pages)

● Local TV news (print, web, and social media pages)

● Local League Twitter or Facebook page

● The local newspaper

● The Des Moines Register

● The regional newspapers

● Websites like Rock the Vote,

http://www.rockthevote.com/

● and the Vote411, sponsored by League

● http://www.vote411.org/

Now what?

• As you read news stories

and visit websites, look for

the Twitter icon (see the

list of Social Media icons

on the Time website).

• Click on the one for Twitter

(little blue bird) to tweet its

URL, but notice you can

comment on it, tweet the

article’s headline, or main

idea.

Don’t stop now!

•Log on to Twitter a few times a week to keep

the dialogue going

•When you see a tweet you like, click on the

icon to retweet it

•When you see a tweet you LOVE, click on the

Star to favorite it

•Hashtags are powerful! Example: #lwvia

For more information,

• http://forum.lwv.org/sites/default/files/lwv_convention_201

4_-_social_media_0.pdf

• Here is a PPT over using Facebook & Twitter from

National League

• https://support.twitter.com/articles/166337-the-twitter-

glossary

• Twitter has a great HELP section, including this Glossary

• http://forum.lwv.org/member-resources/article/creating-

your-online-content-strategy

This brief handout reminds us to RECYCLE,

REPURPOSE, and EVERGREEN

For more information, cont.

• http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-

statistics-2014_b57746

• Did you know that Twitter has 255 million active users

who collectively send 500 million tweets each and every

day?

• http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-

fact-sheet/

• Lots of information on how we are using social media

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag

• Explanation of hashtags and how to use them

More information, cont.

https://support.twitter.com/articles/215585

Getting Started with Twitter

https://twitter.com/VOTE411

League’s voter education program.

Launched by @LWV in 2006,http://VOTE411.org is

a1stop shop for#elections info, providing nonpartisan

general & state-specific info to the public.

Questions?

Follow us and we will follow you!

Cherie Dargan

@ProfessorPost

cheriedargan@gmail.com

Michael Dargan

@MikeDargan

dargan@gmail.com

Remember, for today, use the hashtag #lwvia