A lot of people take the wrong approach to Twitter, using it for a constant stream of spam links and self-promotion but if you intend to use Twitter for communications, networking and marketing this is not very effective.
Teens are really social and as Twitter is an extremely sociable platform, it only makes sense that I as a teen can teach you a few things about the micro-blogging service.
1. Be Social
School is miserable. Lessons, tests and detentions from teachers who you don’t like and who don’t like you. Majority of teens who you speak to will agree that school is a bore. The one way to get through it is to have some friends to help you to pass the time. But how do you make friends? It’s by talking and being social of course. Twitter is the same, if you’re using it for communication, make sure that you reply to every DM, @reply and though provoking tweet that you get in your timeline. It’s the only way that you can make friends and gain follows as well as influence on the site. Not only this, but being social can result in great opportunities because of your network and creating this loyal group of followers will increase the likelihood of people ReTweeeting our links, making more people aware of you through their marketing.
2. Play Nice
Think about your school days. Remember that there was that bully in the playground who was mean to everyone? When it comes to Twitter, don’t be that guy. As if us teens didn’t dislike school enough without the addition of overbearing thugs annoying us in corridors! Here’s a life lesson: once you’re the bad-guy, you’re always the bad-guy and if you consistently insult people via Twitter, you’ll quickly gain a reputation as a loud mouth bully. If you have something to say, remember the 2 C’s – Creative Criticism. If you’ve got a problem with someone or something, be polite and say it gently. At least that way you get to voice your opinion and help someone out too!
3. Get that Extra-Credit
Take it from me, your lessons are a whole lot easier when your teachers like you. For any teenager in any class there’s a meanie who is rude to the teacher and has no manners. That kid practically lives in detention! There’s always a teacher’s pet too, who showers the teacher in compliments. That kid is a genius. With Twitter, compliments get you everywhere. @reply lovely messages (only if you mean them!) and watch as your followers attempt to create relationships with you, who is obviously a nice, kind-hearted person. You’ll also increase your chance of being followed as more people will tell their followers to follow you!
4. Pay Attention
Recently, I got the chance to make a screencast/video tutorial to my peers as part of an assessment. The lesson plan was the easy part but what I found difficult about it was that they wouldn’t pay attention for very long. It’s obvious that you learn more when you give something your entire focus, not getting distracted at all, especially in school but this same technique can definitely be applied to Twitter.
If you pay attention to Twitter, you’ll notice when people are talking about certain trends which means that they’ll be using search engines to search for them too. You’ll be able to harness that extra traffic potential by writing great posts about the latest ‘in-thing’ that the Internet is into.
5. Be Prepared
The worst thing in high school is to show up to a lesson unprepared. Everyone’s experienced that moment when the fear hits, and the sheer look of horror slowly creeps upon your face as you realize that the homework that you spent an entire weekend on, lays on a work-table, at home, miles out of reach because you simply forgot to prepare the night before and put it in your bag, ready to take to school. Knowing what you’re using Twitter for can really help. Using it for marketing? Know and prepare what links you’ll be sharing when you get a flood of new followers. What about communication? Be ready to jump in and get involved with the ‘happening’ discussions, this will also help to make you look like an expert in your field too. If you’re a Twitter networker, preparing to reply to your followers can let them know that you appreciate them!
Social media is new and exciting, but it comes down to interacting with others in a respectful, supportive manner. Remember, it’s a “community.”
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