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B
ENEFIELD
’
S
T
WITTER 
G
UIDE
This guide was prepared by Nathan Benefield ( @nathanbenefield on Twitter). It is by no meanscomprehensive, but targeted for those beginning Twitter, and primarily for Pennsylvanians who are politically interested.
Should you Twitter?Positives
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 Network with other online political activists, expand your reach
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Get information and breaking news quickly
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Syndicate your blog, get more readers
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Allows others to “retweet” things from you they find interesting
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Ability to be conversational, respond to others posts
Differences with blogging
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If you don’t ever or rarely “tweet” you won’t lose readers (if you tweet too much, you might)
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However, older tweets will be effectively lost after a while
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Has to be short and to the point
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Can target each “tweet” to the person who would most want to read it
Potential Pitfalls
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Spending too much time tweeting, reading what others have said
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Tweeting something stupid or offensive
Who should you follow?This is the most important topic
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Everyone you follow gets an email, letting them know you are following them.
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People you follow will frequently follow you back 
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Do a few Tweets before you start mass following. People won’t follow you back if you haven’t posted anything; they will want to know who you are and what you’re up to first. Also use your  bio and post a profile picture.
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Some people say you should follow everyone who follows you. I think this is silly. I only follow people I want to follow.
People you want to read or engage with
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I am looking for news on PA politics, so I follow a few newspapers and TV stations tweets
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I follow national groups/Think Tanks, because I am looking at research they have done – thingsto replicate, read, blog on, etc.
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I follow a few national bloggers, whose opinions and/or tech insight I find interesting
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I follow my friends, hear what they say about politics and their lives
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I follow capitol reporters, staff, and lawmakers
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Example:CNN Breaking Newsvs @ScottDetrow
 
) – one has 3.3 million followers, the other 1,000. The former gives me news I could get anywhere, the latter breaks news that I need. In onecase, Gov. Rendell called a Commonwealth Foundation analysis I wrote “ludicrous”—Twitter was my only sources for this news.
 
People you want to reach out to, network with, who you want to read your stuff 
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I follow people I don’t know in real life, but want to reach out to – especially folks from PA, andespecially if they are conservative, libertarian, or politically active
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I am trying to help grow my, the organization’s reach and audience
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I have used various lists, those who follow other users (e.g. GrassrootsPA,Capitol_Ideas
 
) and thetop Twitter users by cityto help indentify other people to follow, who will be interested in what I posted
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I will also see people I’m following reply to others, which identifies another potential follower.
People you hope will retweet you
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If @KarlRove (165,000 followers), @NewtGingrich (1,300,000), or @MichelleMalkin (99,000)retweets me, I will have reached a dramatically larger audience, and spread my message muchmore effectively
People you want others to know you are following
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Everyone can see who you are following (you can change this privacy setting if you want). WhenI first started on Twitter, I checked a few people I knew, and saw who they were following, andfollowed some of them.
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You will probably have some friends/fans who will be interested in the same people you’refollowing.
Twitter Lists
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Twitter lists allow you to organize folks on Twitter in groups, based on your interests. You canalso follow the lists other users have already created.
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I have three primary lists I follow actively– PA News and Politics, Bloggers,and  National Organizations. Some others list for PA Twitterers to get started: PA Lawmakers, CF Staff ,PA Political Pundits,and PA Media.
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Using tools like Tweetdeck or  Hootsuite you can organize your lists, and view them in multiple columns.
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You can make your list private, or make it public for others to use.
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You need not follow an individual user to add them to a list, or view their Tweets in a list.TweetPennsylvaniaaggregates a list of Pennsylvania state legislators, PA media, and state political pundits on one page for anyone (even non-Twitter users) to view.
What should you Tweet?Updates on major activities
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People often think that Twitter is just updates on the mundane things in your daily life, and some people do Tweet whatever they are doing.
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A better method it only to post a few major things that let people know what’s going on.Examples include: “I am attending the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference.” “I am appearingon the Bob Durgin Show at 3:30”
Breaking News
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This is the gold standard, if you are the first, or one of the first to see something, uncover something, Twitter will break it before anything else.
 
Live Events
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If you are attending an event, seminar, press conference, etc., you can “live tweet” it. This isalmost like reporting on it. Highlight key quotes from speakers can let your followers know whatis going on at an event they are missing.
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Sometimes this can be too much, e.g., lots of folks were tweeting Obama’s State of the Union, but it was televised live to millions. However, folks tweeting a speech at CPAC is better, sinceI’m not able to see it all.
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If you are the only one, or one of very few, covering an event, the value is far greater.
Blog Posts/New Articles/RSS Feeds
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You can use a service likeHootsuite.com or TwitterFeed.com to “tweet” each time your blog is updated, or every so often. These also allow you to keep track of stats (i.e., how often people areclicking your links). You can lead in with a text, e.g. “New Blog Post:”
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You will want to limit the number of automated tweets. Too many at once, will drive awayfollowers, and undermine click-throughs. Too many automated posts vs. real posts will also hurtyour following.
Replies
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You can reply to someone else, it will have an @ to start it, e.g. @NathanBenefield.
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Some people do almost all replies, other (I’m probably in this category) don’t do enough.
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Replies help build following, and will help get conversations going so people reply to you.
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You can reply directly to a comment, answer a question, or include someone’s handle in themiddle of a Tweet that would interest them, or is about them, e.g. “Specter resigns, Gov. Rendellto appoint @MattBrouillette to seat”
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Replies make you seem alive, rather than a robot.
ReTweets
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If someone has says something interesting that you want to share with your followers, you canRetweet.
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There are two tools for doing this: The Twitter reteweet button (two arrows forming a rectangle)will simply publish the original into your timeline. The old method was to lead in with ‘RT’ anduse the original poster’s handle
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Example RT @GrassrootsPA: Testimony Contradicts ‘Inquirer’s’ Tierney.http://ow.ly/oDW
Actions
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Many tools allow you to post updates. For instance,Scribdpost a Tweet whenever I upload aPDF file. You can Tweet from YouTube whenever you favorite a video. And many commenttools on blogs allow you to Tweet your comments.
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Facebook allows you to connect your Facebook Page with your Twitter account, to allowcrossposting.
Personal Info:
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As I mostly used Twitter for policy-related post, I rarely update with anything personal; others doquite a bit. It does help to build up your reputation and relationship with your followers.
Share News Stories
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If you see a good news story, and want to spread it ASAP, Twitter is a great way to let your followers know what you’re reading.
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