Seven Twitter treats for comms pros

Twitter was created seven years ago and is celebrating its birthday today. In order to mark this auspicious milestone, I’ve decided to highlight seven Twitter treats for your delectation and delight.

You can find me on Twitter @AllthingsIC and I’ve written about the site many times since I first started writing my blog in 2009. Today I’m going to point you towards some resources to help you make the most of it based on some of the content I’ve written and featured here on this site, and information I like.

The bottom image on this page is my very own LEGO figure that I had created after spotting the maker via Twitter @minifigsme (I paid for it and am not affiliated with them – I just love their work!). It has my Twitter ID on the front and I’ll be revealing the message on the back very soon…

The seven Twitter treats are:

1)    Twitter guide for comms pros

2)    Why blog and tweet?

3)    The IC Crowd

4)    People to follow

5)    CommsChat on Twitter

6)    Organisations don’t tweet, people do

7)    Free download to a book chapter about Twitter


1. Twitter guide for comms pros

Thinking of signing up to Twitter but don’t know where to start? Check out the Twitter guide for comms pros that I wrote last year. It guides you through the language, steps to create your profile, how to get started and what the features are. I’ve continually updated it since publishing in September and if you spot something you think should be in there, or have a query, do please contact me.

2. Why blog and tweet?
I get contacted by lots of people working in internal communication who ask me for evidence of leaders using social media to communicate with employees.

Read an article featuring Dean Royles, Director of the National Health Service (NHS) Employers Organisation discussing why he blogs and tweets. He said: “It seems to me that asking why I blog is like asking why I bother to communicate. No one asks me why I speak in meetings! Or why I email or why we do press releases. Yet social media seems to me to be a much more effective media. It is an essential part of stakeholder relations and a key aspect of management and leadership.”

Bonus read: I included Dean in another article I wrote on trust and social media for @mazi’s blog. You can read it here.

3. The IC Crowd
Last year I co-founded The IC Crowd with two friends and fellow comms pros, Jenni Wheller and Dana Leeson, to bring the internal communication community together. We launched it via Twitter @theICcrowd and it’s a place for like- minded people to connect, communicate and share ideas and stories. You can read more about it here.

Last week we announced our second meet-up, and within the space of 26 hours, 100 IC pros signed up for the big yak unconference we’re holding in June. Twitter has seen the community come together and lead to face-to-face discussions and events, which I’m thrilled with. You’re welcome to join in the discussions, just look up @theICcrowd.

4. People to follow
One of the most useful functions of Twitter is lists. People can collate each other into lists and publish them. I’ve included some on my resources page. Do take a look because you could discover new people and conversations. The IC Crowd has also published lists: of IC pros to follow, IC recruiters and the Institute of Internal Communication 30 under 30. Simply choose ‘subscribe’ to see their tweets.

5. CommsChat on Twitter
Twitter is a great place to discover other people working in internal communication, but it can also be useful to push your thining and introduce you to new topics.

One example of this is CommsChat. It takes place every Monday evening between 8-9pm GMT and you can follow along using the hashtag #commschat. I log in via www.tweetchat.com because I find it easier to see the conversation all in one place and it adds the hashtag for you.

There is a supporting website, www.commchat.com so if you wanted to take part but forgot, or would like to read the conversation back, it publishes a transcript 24 hours after the chat takes place. I hosted one a couple of weeks ago about using tablets for communication and you can read about it here.

All Things IC6. Organisations don’t tweet, people do
Following the HMV tweets earlier this year, I asked Euan Semple (@euan on Twitter) to write a guest article for my blog. He is the author of Organisations don’t tweet, people do and you can read his thoughts here.

If you’re looking for other books to read about social media, check out my resources page and see the next treat below.

7. Free chapter download
Share This: The Social Media Handbook for PR Professionals was published by Wiley last year and I wrote the chapter on using social media to enhance employee engagement and internal communication.

Lord Sugar is quoted as saying: “Social media has become an invaluable tool in my PR armoury by giving me a direct voice to speak directly to members of the media and general public. This book is a useful guide to using social media effectively”

To mark Twitter’s seventh birthday, the Twitter chapter is available today as a free download. Simply fill in a short form here to access it. The authors regularly tweet and use the hashtag #CIPRsm – look this up to read their current thoughts.

If you’re reading this article after 22 March, you can discover more about Share This on Amazon and can also download the first chapter, An introduction to social networks, by @katyhowell.The Share This Too authors are on a Twitter list here.

The sequel, Share This Too, is coming soon, also by Wiley, and my chapter focuses on using social media for corporate communication. You can find out more about Share This Too via this press release and follow @sharethistoo on Twitter.

So there you go, a bumper crop of Twitter goodies. Enjoy! If you found this a useful read, you can share on Twitter by choosing the share buttons below, Rachel.

Post author: Rachel Miller

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