So you have been tweeting for a while now and you are following a fair few people and you have amassed a few followers too …. Now’s the time to start getting organised! The more people you follow the more diverse your Twitter world becomes, however it can start to become a little unmanageable, lots of tweets coming from lots of people, all jumbled up, you may miss tweets from friends or peers that you might like to have responded to, so you may want to think about some of the following:
A Twitter list is a way of organising the people you follow into groups – rather like filing things into the relevant drawers of a filing cabinet, you can then just look at tweets from those on your lists.
Twitter describes lists, as “A list is a curated group of Twitter users. You can create your own lists or subscribe to lists created by others. Viewing a list timeline will show you a stream of Tweets from only the users on that list.”
For example if you follow lots of healthcare people you may wish to organise them into lists according to job role “Nurses” “Doctors” “Physios” “OTs”
Creating a Twitter list is as easy as 1, 2, 3 …..It's well worth checking out (and even following) @DGFoords lists as they are a great example of how its done!
Another great way to get organised is to use a Twitter platform like Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck is free and an alternative way of viewing Twitter and has several functions.
Tweetdeck allows you to see multiple timelines at once
(like your lists)
It allows you to manage multiple twitter accounts
And view multiple timelines from searches, like a hashtags for conferences for example, and it is web based, so your organised twitter streams look the same whether you are tweeting from home, work or your tablet and phone!
Here's our view listening to a few of the We's all at the same nicely organised:
Its looks a bit scary – but it isn’t … honest ! You can sign up to Tweetdeck HERE Have a go and don’t worry you cant break it !!
Tweetdeck is not the only Twitter organisation tool out there .. here are some other versions. All are free !
Hootsuite - MetroTwit - Tweetcaster - Yoono
Now this may come as a shock to some of you but Twitter is not the only social media! It is however a very good social media with which to share lots of other great things on other forms of social media. Why not take a look at blogging, YouTube or Pinterest? (This list is by no mean exhaustive!) All can be fed into Twitter and can be used to create and share lots of useful ideas, experiences and information. Get creative, be brave and start to connect your social media platforms up.
Twitter is like a river that its constantly flowing. Every so often just go and have a look at your Home page stream of Tweets and see what’s going on. Remember that as with a river you can dip in and out and don’t worry about missing stuff because if its important it will be like a huge flotilla making its way down the river and you wont miss it !!!
1. Get organised – Make Twitter work for you how you want it to work, everyone uses twitter differently, get organised and find your groove.
2. Try a different form of social media – explore blogging or Pinterest and maybe have a go!
3. Use what other people have created – Social media is all about NOT re-inventing the wheel. Take a look at other peoples lists, blogs, videos and use and share them
4. Keep up the basics – keep listening, keep sharing and keep following
5. Teach someone else to tweet – Now you are a professor it might be an idea to share some of that knowledge you have and show someone else the value Twitter can offer
6. Keep it professional – Don’t get complacent remember HCP offline = HCP online … ALWAYS!
7. Be a role model – you are part of the Healthcare Twitterati now and as such others will look up to you so be amazing!
8. Keep exploring – explore Twitter Lists and new platforms for Twitter, use what works for you
9. Don’t get addicted – Take time away from Twitter, remember the real world needs you too!
10. Keep learning – even a Professor doesn’t sit back and wallow in their Professorness be open to new ideas and seek new learning opportunities.
