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Social media for physicians: Composing a tweet
On average, about 6,000 tweets are sent every second, equating to more than 350,000 tweets per minute, according to Internet Live Stats.
While that may seem overwhelming, there are simple ways to stand out to your audience.
Making the most of your tweet
Tweets are restricted to 280 characters. However, it is not about squeezing as much as you can into the 280-character limit. You want your tweets to be succinct, meaningful and engaging.
When tweeting, it’s important to use an authentic tone so your followers can relate to you and what you’re saying. A good tweet is captivating, important and opens a conversation.
It’s not just your words that matter — using visuals, such as images or videos, are just as valuable and tend to attract more engagement.
Hashtags and mentions also tend to increase engagement when used thoughtfully.
Hashtags are used for grouping content about a certain topic by using the “#” symbol followed by a word or phrase.
There are always hashtags that are trending on Twitter. If you are writing a tweet about current or breaking news, check to see if what you are tweeting about is trending by viewing the “trends for you” bar and include the trending hashtag if there is one.
In addition to hashtags, you can also include mentions in your tweets. Mentions are simply mentioning another user in your tweet by typing the “@” symbol directly followed by the user’s Twitter handle. They should be used to call out or attract the attention of another user.
Be sure not to overuse hashtags or mentions, as the message of your tweet can get lost and can also look like spam. Using hashtags and mentions wisely will help you get noticed in the medical field and help you develop relationships with your peers.
Interacting on Twitter
To fully benefit from all that Twitter has to offer, you will not only tweet but engage with other users. You can interact with other Twitter users in a variety of ways, including liking, retweeting, commenting and direct messaging.
When looking at the timeline of tweets on your homepage, you will notice that each tweet has four icons at the bottom, as seen here:
Click on the first icon to add a comment, the second to retweet, the third to like and the fourth to send via direct message, save or export.
Commenting
Get the conversation started by commenting on a tweet. To comment, click on the thought bubble icon and add your thoughts. The person who wrote the original tweet will be notified of your comment.
Retweeting
Retweeting is the act of reposting another user’s tweet to your timeline. You can do so by clicking on the icon with two arrows in a square shape. When you do this, you will have the option to retweet the tweet as-is or add your own comment to the tweet.
By retweeting, you are indicating to your followers that you deem the tweet to be important and/or useful.
Liking
When you come across a tweet that piques your interest, you can “like” it by clicking on the heart icon. Every tweet that you like will be saved to your profile under the “likes” tab and sorted in reverse chronological order.
Direct messaging
While commenting on a tweet is public, direct messaging is for private discussions. Follow these steps to direct message another user:
- Step 1: Make your way to either your home or profile page and click on the mail message symbol on the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
- Step 2 : Click on the mail message symbol with the plus sign.
- Step 3 : Search for the account you want to message.
- Step 4 : Type your message and click the send button.
Make tweeting a habit
Writing tweets will soon become second nature. To start, try tweeting and/or interacting with other users on Twitter once a day. Making it a point to routinely listen to, engage in or even start discussions will help you become more acclimated with Twitter and feel more comfortable with tweeting. – by Alaina Tedesco