updated twittivism guide

8/3/2019 UPDATED Twittivism Guide

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What are the contents?

twittivism

Introduction..................................................................................................3

TwitterVocabulary.........................................................................................4

Twitter101....................................................................................................5

So What is Twitter? .......................................................................................5

Getting Started ..............................................................................................6

BecomingaPowerTweeter...........................................................................12

Twitter Best Practices...................................................................................12

Retweeting ..................................................................................................14

#Hashtags ...................................................................................................15

Uploading Images .......................................................................................17

Sharing Video..............................................................................................18

Twibbon ......................................................................................................18

How to Find Your Public Ofcials on Twitter ..............................................19

TwitterinAction:TwitterVSCNN:eRiseoWEdia...............................21

AdditionalResources...................................................................................23

AMTwitterDirectory..................................................................................23


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introduction

Name: nedryun

Location: Virginia

Web: http://www.nedryun.com

Bio: An un-apologetic

conservative. Married to

an amazing woman. Three

beautiful kids. Addicted togolf.

4,006 6,605following followers

Tweets 3,175

Fellow Twittivist,

In the days leading up to the American Revolution, committees of correspondence

formed to organize and increase communication between the colonies. Letters

were written and then disseminated throughout the colonies via horseback.

Those who organized the committees of correspondence hoped they might rally

the citizens of the colonies to the common cause of American independence.

But it is important to note that the end goal of the committees was not merely to

communicate ideas. It was to drive people to action, bringing Americans together

to achieve that common goal of independence.

In the 21st century, communication no longer moves at the speed of a horse or

even a ship. It moves at the speed of light. The Internet has given us the ability

to communicate almost instantaneouslysomething the Founding Fathers couldnever have imagined. And most of the amazing communication tools available to

us via the Internet are free: email, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and a host of other

new media.

But are those who believe in limited government and the free market using the

Internet effectively to unite people to a common cause and collective action?

Statistics show that over 80% of those under 30 nd their information onlinea

medium dominated by those with left-leaning views. This number of those who

nd their information online will only increase. However, those who believe in the

free market and limited government can change the second statistic. What we at

American Majority are doing is helping to educate people on the power of new

media, and on how to use it effectively to advance and defend those principles webelieve in.

The team at American Majority has worked very hard to develop an excellent

Twittivism guide (Twitter + Activism = Twittivism). This is the second edition of

the manual, and due to the rapid advancement of the medium, we will work on

providing future guides covering specic topics. We hope you will take the time to

read this guide and learn the power of Twitter. If those of us who believe in the free

market and limited government can become effective online in communicating the

truth, and in organizing for ofine collective action, we will win.

For Liberty,

@NedRyunNed RyunPresidentAmerican Majority


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4

twitter vocabulary 101

Avatar: the ofcial name or the photo thatrepresents your account on Twitter.

Follow: to subscribe to a particular users posts.Unlike Facebook, ollowing is a one-way street,

meaning a user does not automatically ollow youi you ollow them (although many will).

DMorDirectMessage: to send a private messageto another user through Twitter. However, you canonly DM a user that is ollowing you.

#Hashtag: hashtags are phrases or keywords thatcan be used to monitor who is saying what about aparticular topic. Hashtags will always be proceededby a # symbol and will usually consist o one

word (#Event) or multiple words without anyspaces (#PoliticalEvent11). American Majorityshashtag is #majority.

Lists: lists are a means o organizing users youollow into groups.

MTorModifedTweet:A orm o RT (see below),where you edit the tweet prior to re-posting toshorten length, x grammar or remove hashtags.

RTorRetweet: commonly used to describe the acto re-posting another users message.

Trending:When a topic (distinguished by a

#hashtag) is discussed by a high volume o users.

Tweeps: another term to describe Twitter users.Also used to describe users who ollow you acrosssocial networks.

Tweet(ing):the act o posting to Twitter.

Tweets: the term used to dene the individualposts on Twitter.

Twitterhandle:the ofcial term or your Twitterusername.

Twittivist: a Twitter user who uses his/her proleto advocate a cause.

Twitterverse: the vast community that has sprungup around Twitter.

Unollow: the act o unsubscribing rom aparticular users tweets.

URLShortener: URL shorteners allow you topost links more efciently, with some even oeringtracking capability.

Via(orh/t): a means o giving credit to a useror sharing a link without RTing the content othe tweet. Example: is is a great article! Bit.ly/example (via @AM_National)

Beore we can begin dening Twitter, we need to make sure we are all on the same page in terms ovocabulary. Like many areas o pop culture, Twitter users have developed a very specic language to reerto common Twitter actions and activities. While the list is long (and oten humorous), we have tried toinclude the most important terms below in alphabetical order. Please take the time to acclimate yoursel

with some o the more popular terminology:


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twitter 101

AmericanMajority

so, what is twitter?InaNutshellTwitter is an extremely powerul tool that allows you to connect with the world in real time. You can join a globalconversation and express opinions, share inormation, and meet likeminded individuals with the click o a button.is ree social networking service enables the user to send and receive short messages, known as tweets.

To make it easier, think o it like this:

Blogging+TextMessaging=Twitter

Each tweet can only be up to 140 characters in length. is restriction orces the user to distill his or her thoughtsdown to the most important content. ese tweets are then displayed on your personal webpage, called a prolepage. Like Facebook, Twitter provides each user a custom URL tied to their handle. Your page can be ound at www.twitter.com/yourhandle. For example, all o American Majority President @NedRyuns tweets can be ound at www.twitter.com/nedryun.

Each tweet is also delivered to those who have subscribed to receive your messages via the homepage. ese peopleare called ollowers.

You can subscribe to, or ollow, as many other members on Twitter as you would like. To combat spam accountsand obnoxious marketers, Twitter will allow you to ollow up to 2,000 users. Ater that number, you are restricted toadding only a percentage o those who have chosen to ollow you.

Currently, there are more than 195 million Twitter users. A staggering 100 million joined in 2010 alone. Currently,an average o 460,000 accounts are created per day.

At American Majority, we challenge you to see Twitter asmore than a simple social space. Twitter is a tool or realactivism, and or tracking inormation and sharing it withlikeminded ollowers. A mother rom Georgia can now

connect with events in Wisconsin. A handyman romNebraska can now raise money or a political candidate inFlorida.

And the numbers keep growing...

is technology isnt just or teenagers anymore. In a recentstudy rom PR giant Burson-Marsteller, 54% o Fortune100 companies maintain a Twitter presence. Compared to32% o Fortune 100 companies that have a blog and 29%that have an active Facebook page, it is obvious that Twitter


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has become the most popular communication tool or corporations looking to make the biggest impact.

Even more convincing is the study ound that, out o the companies choosing to use only one o these

new media tools, an overwhelming 76% chose Twitter.

Awordtothewiseonsocialmedia:Regardless o the site, when engaging in social media, youwant to do so with authenticity. One o the real advantages o the social web is that it has allowed usto join a larger conversation, one without geographic boundaries and time constraints. As such, youmust remember that Twitter ollowers are a privilege, not a right. I you do not add any value to theconversation, or you are seen as less than authentic, you will never know the true potential o such a socialsystem.

ABrieHistoryAccording to ounder Jack Dorsey, Twitter was originally developed to simply keep track o what hisriends were up to. When he brought up the idea to his colleagues, it was decided that a prototype shouldbe built.

Twitter was unded initially by Obvious, a creative environment in San Francisco, CA. e rst prototypewas built in two weeks in March 2006 and launched publicly that August. e service grew popularvery quickly and it soon made sense or Twitter to move outside o Obvious. In May 2007, TwitterIncorporated was ounded.

Currently, Twitter is ranked as one o the 50 most popular websites worldwide by Alexas web trafcanalysis. Continuing to thrive on investments, Twitter has raised over $150 million rom various venturecapitalists to date.

twitter 101


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twitter 101

CreatingYourTwitterAccountGetting started on Twitter is easy and ree. Visit Twitter.com and click on the Sign up nowbutton. [graphicshowing welcome screen]

On the next page you willbe given the option tochoose your username andpassword:

ClaimingYourTwitterHandleis shouldnt be takenlightly. We all know thatsecuring a proper webdomain name is criticalto your brands success.

With the incrediblerise o Twitter, the proper username can be equally as important, i not more important, in properlycommunicating your personal brand.

WhathappenswhenyoudontclaimyourTwitterhandle?ere are many reasons to claim a proper username, but the most important is personal identity. erehave been numerous cases o impersonations gone wrong. Kanye West, Ewan McGregor, Barack Obama,Maya Angelou, Sarah Palin, Rahm Emanuel, Newt Gingrich, and Ben Stiller are just a ew o the manypeople who have been subjected to hoax accounts.

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8twitter 101

Exxon Mobile had to undergo a series o reputation management projects to reclaim its image ateran imposter began tweeting under the Exxon name. Securing an easy-to-remember and personallyrepresentative username has become so important, in act, that there is now even an atermarket orusernames at Tweexchange.com.

I youre looking to ollow your avorite celebrity, politician, or company, be sure to look or the blueveried checkmark on the users prole page. e checkmark means that Twitter has conrmed that theaccount is an actual representative o that particular person or brand.

BeoreyourushoandgrabyourTwitterhandle,readthroughtheollowingtips:

Considerusingyourrealname. AmericanMajority President, @NedRyun, does it. So do

most o our sta. I you hope to use Twitter asa networking tool or advocacy, it is importantthat people can trust you and eel comortableconnecting with you. I you are trying toraise awareness about the corrupt nature oyour city council, securing the Twitter handleFrodoBaggins3453 isnt the wisest choice.Be honest and transparent; your ollowers willappreciate it.

Whatiyourrealnameistaken?Try tellingyour ollowers about your proession, a hobby,

or some other dening characteristic. I you area mother, tell us. I you are a mechanic, tell us.I you are a teacher, tell us. Using a deningquality in your Twitter handle can be just asgood as a real name. It allows other peopleto instantly recognize a quality they have incommon with you. For instance, whenever

we come across someone who has a variationo Liberty in their name, we ollow them.

We know that we will likely have somethingin common and that their messages will be ointerest to us.

Dierentiateyoursel. Jason43 and Jason83might as well be the same person. inkcreatively and try picking something thatinstantly tells us about you.

Dontcomeacrossasaspammer. Avoidchoosing usernames like Free_Tips or

MarketingGuru. ese will look suspiciouslylike spam accounts to the seasoned tweeter.It goes without saying, but please do notimpersonate someone amous either.Impersonating someone is one o the quickest

ways to isolate yoursel rom a potentialaudience.

Consideryouroverallmessage.How wouldyou perceive someone with your username?Consider what your Twitter handle says aboutyour belies and views. I you are trying to

gather conservatives, then identiying yourselas one is wise. I you are trying to reorm yourlocal school board, an education-related handle

will help set that tone. Also consider howit will look i you join a group or coalition.Be considerate to the cause. Would it help apetition drive i the lead organizer was namedSexyMama09? I dont think so.

Fortunately, at least or now, changing yourusername is as easy as editing your prole. Soi, down the road, you orm an organization,

run or ofce, or start a business, youll beable to change your username to reect that

without losing any o your history or ollowers.


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Got it? Okay, stop what youre doing right now and claim your Twitter handle! I you are involved in orrepresent any brands, companies, and/or organizations, grab those too. You cant truly hope to own yourpersonal brand i you dont yet own your Twitter handle. But remember, each account will need to be tiedto a unique email address, so plan accordingly.

***Goaheadandregisteronewellwait!***

Awesome, glad you are back. Now that you have registered the username you want, lets begin setting upyour account.

AddingYourPhotoYou do not want to use the deault Twitter photo. is is the quickest way to go nowhere on Twitter.Add your own. Once logged in, simply click on Proflerom the navigation bar up top. Once on the next

page, clickEdit Your Profle, then nallyProfle Picture. Space is provided to upload a new image romyour computer. e best pictures are square. For instance, i you have a great picture o you at the WhiteHouse, you should crop it to 120 x 120 or 30 x 30. Twitter will resize it automatically, and perect squares

will resize properly. Spend some time thinking about what you are going to put in that little space, as itwill be taken as a representation o who you are and what your tweets will probably look like. Rememberthat this is part o your personal brand. I you want to rally others around your cause, you need them totake you seriously.

FillingOutYourBioTo ll out your biography, clickProfleand then Edit Your Profle. Halway down the page, you will ndthe eld or a one-line bio. is is the nal critical piece in your Twitter identity. I your username isnot specic, i your picture is a little vague, then this is the space where you can nally dene yoursel.is is where potential ollowers will look to learn a little more about you and gauge whether you are

worth ollowing. A good example is American Majority President Ned Ryuns prole: An un-apologeticconservative. Married to an amazing woman. ree beautiul kids. Addicted to gol.

YourMoreInormationURLDirectly above the one-line bio is a eld available or you to place a single link. While this is pretty sel-explanatory, we challenge you to think deeply about how to use it. Too many people simply insert thelink to their blog, LinkedIn account, or Facebook page, but as a Twittivist you may want to do more.

We challenge you to consider ways you can develop a strong Twitter Landing Page. Whether you arepromoting your blog, a petition, a website, an issue, or a politician, consider tailoring a landing page onyour website specically or those visitors who are coming rom Twitter.

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PostingYourFirstTweetI you have gotten this ar, you are likely ready to start ollowing others and joining the conversation. Butbeore you go out and start ollowing the neighborhood, consider posting a ew tweets o your own rst.

You want to have a body o work in place beore you invite others to your prole. One o the biggestmisconceptions about Twitter is that you are expected to post tweets like, I am driving to work, orSitting down to dinner. Again, this is a tragic and undamental misconception. In reality, Twitter is anextension o your personal brand. I you are extremely active in the Tea Party movement, or instance,your Twitter account should reect that. I you have an interest in the Founding Fathers, your tweetsshould reect that, i you have a blog on your state government, your posts should...well, you get the idea.By posting a ew interesting tweets and a couple o non-spammy links, others will be more inclined to seeyou as a legitimate asset to the conversation and as someone worth ollowing.

To reply to someone elses post, simply place @ in ront o their username or click the arrow to reply

and type your response. For instance, i I were to ask, How are you enjoying the Twittivism guide? romthe AM_National account, your reply might look like this:@AM_National I love it! A great resource, I am learning so much about Twitter.

Its important to note that only your ollowers who also ollow AM_National will see your response ontheir homepage. I youd like all o your ollowers to see your response, common practice is to place aperiod beore the @ when typing the username. Your reply would then look like this: .@AM_National Ilove it! A great resource, I am learning so much about Twitter.

BeginFollowingOthersNobody wants to tweet in a vacuum. You need to nd interesting people to ollow and engage. As wetrain activists around the country, we always suggest starting by tweeting about topics you are most

interested in. I your interest is politics, then consider ollowing a prominent gure you respect and areinterested in. I you are really interested in sports, you might choose to ollow Shaqs tweets.Wed also recommend using Twitters Find Friends eature by clicking Who to Follow rom the mainscreen. is eature nds contacts rom your email or LinkedIn accounts that are also on Twitter. is is agreat way to interact with people you already engage with outside o Twitter.

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AmericanMajority

O course, there are plenty o tools designed to help you nd new people to ollow. One such tool isTwitters own built-in search engine. You can nd others who are talking about things you are interestedin simply by typing in various keywords. Because this eature only searches at the specic moment youtype in a keyword, this tool isnt always the best way to nd thought leaders or those who consistentlytweet about a given topic. For example, you might use a specic hashtag or news rom your statelegislature.

To increase your chances o nding someone interesting, try using Twitters advanced search options.From there you can limit results to a specic location. As a Twittivist, nding local tweeters will help youbuild a stronger coalition that can meet oine. In addition, i you are going to be commenting on localpolitics or a local sports team, these users will be more interested in this inormation.

UseListstoStayOrganizede Lists eature, available rom the homepage, is a means o organizing the people you ollow intogroups. Lists not only organize users into a directory, but also combine their tweets into a stream thatcan be separate rom your homepage. Lists can be accessed via a custom URL: twitter.com/username/list-name.

Lists can either be public (viewable to anyone) or private (viewable only to you). For example, you might

nd it helpul to keep a list o reporters or news sources located in your state. American Majority sharesa list o our sta and state ofces, and a list o our training alumni. Tweet at AM_National once youvegotten started and well add you!

For more inormation on creating and managing lists, check out the tips on our blog, insider.americanmajority.org/tagged/Twittivism

LearntoShareEverythingOnce you have built a community around topics o interest, share! I you come across an interesting storyat work, share. I you nd anothers post interesting, retweet it (we discuss retweeting in the next section).Constantly think o ways you can share with your Twitter community. is will add value to youraccount, increase the number o your ollowers, and add to the quality o the conversation.

twitter 101

staff tips@NedRyunTwitterhasbeenagreatwayformetoadvertisemypodcastseries,TheHistoryoftheConstitutionalConvention:atNedRyun.com.EachtimeIrecordapodcast,Isimplytweetaboutitandfansofthepodcastseriesknowthatfreshcontentisup.TryconnectingTwitterwithyouronlineprojectsandwatchyourcommunitygrow.


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becoming a

power tweeter

twitter best practicesBeProactiveDespite all o the marketing magic that exists on the Internet, the best way to increase your ollowers is stillthrough good, old-ashioned conversation.

One o the best ways to start this is by asking a question. e key to this approach is to be conversational about

topics that will interest others. For instance, i your personal brand is politically charged, asking a question abouthealth care reorm may receive a nice response as well as invite several critics. Using existing #hastags (well get moreinto those later) can also aid in jumping into current conversations and adding your insights.

LeveragingOtherNetworksAre you more active on other networks? Use it as a pathway to Twitter. I you have a blog, mention that youreusing Twitter in a post and link to it rom your prole and contact pages. I youre on Facebook, sync your tweets

with your status updates or provide your Twitter handle to new people you meet. As Twitter has become moremainstream, adding your Twitter handle to your email signature and business card has become commonplace.Twitter also oers a great icebreaker (You know, I saw the best article about XYZ the other day on Twitter). Notonly will you have something to talk about, but, i the other person is on Twitter, they will also be likely to ask toconnect.

Tweet,TweetWaitTweete more active you are on Twitter, the more likely you are to be successulon Twitter. Every you do comes up on theTwitter Public Timelineso upping your tweet numbers will help you appear more oten.

While its to drive the conversation, remember to also listen. Be careul not to send too many tweets withoutresponding and listening to what other people are saying. You will be blocked i you ood Twitter with uselessinormation. Remember, it is about a conversation. is requires you to be on topic, be interesting, and beresponsive.

American Majority uses a ew ree tools to help manage our account. For more on these, check out our blog insider.americanmajority.org/tagged/Twittivism

ProvideValueTweeting on a personal level is un and, or many, thats as ar as it goes. But i youre interested in growing yourTwitter inuence, you need to provide your ollowers (and potential ollowers) with value. Its the same principle asgrowing a blog i you help enhance peoples lives in some way, they are more likely to want to connect with you.

As a result, your conversations should matter on some level. Sure, you can throw in personal tweets and have someun with it, but unless youre providing something useul to people (inormation, entertainment, news, education,etc.), they probably wont ollow you or long.

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Essentially, Twitter is a shorter and more viral orm o blogging, so the same rules still apply. By constantly

writing or tweeting about your expertise on a specic topic, youll become known or it and people willgravitate to and ollow you.

I you already have a blog, there are many ways to auto-publish your posts to Twitter. We recommendusing Twittereed or Tweetlater, but oten times its best to crat a tweet yoursel to introduce the post andadd a short link to your blog. is also helps you track how successul a tweet was based on how manyclicks your link received.

Running out o topics and relevant things tosay? Sign up or Google Alerts and Google willsend you a list o recent web articles, posts,and content pertaining to whatever keywords

you enter. I you want to be seen as a reliablesource or Tennessee politics, or instance,then tell Google to push you any and allarticles, videos, and blog posts dealing withthat topic. e best thing about using Google

Alerts is that can establish your brand arounda certain topic, delivering pertinent content toyour audience again and again.

I you provide a service, then let people know. We have ollowed more than a ew computer technicians,and when we needed technical questions answered, we didnt call a 1-800 numberwe went to Twitter.Users were able to help us through a variety o sotware issues. e more you tweet about the topic you

want to be known or, the more people will remember you or it and, when they need your expertise,they will contact you. On the ip side, using Twitters search eature allows you to nd users discussinga problem theymay have, so you can reply to them oering your advice. For example, Comcast regularlysearches or users having issues with their cable or Internet and oers to assist them.

becoming a power tweeter

staff tips@BrettFarleyDontbeafraidtouseyourTwitterhandleofine.TryaddingyourTwitterhandletoyourbusinesscardoremail

signature.YouwillbesurprisedhowmanypeopleareonTwitterandbyprovidingthemwithsuchanoption,youincreaseyouraccessibility.Italsoopensyouuptosocialspheresyoumightnothaveentered.


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e retweet (or RT) is Twitters premier way o re-sharing content that someone else has posted.Retweeting is an integral part o the Twitter experience. But, or beginners, its not immediately obvious

what retweets are, or what tools to use to make retweeting easier.

Lets start with the basics. I you see a tweet you nd interesting or contains an interesting link, you mightwant to share that with your ollowers. First, copy and paste the tweet. en, to give credit to the originalperson, add RT plus the persons Twitter handle at the beginning o the tweet. Heres an example that o

what AM_National would tweet:

Please check out http://www.NewLeadersProject.org #majority #tcot

You could retweet that to your ollowers by typing the ollowing:

RT @AM_National Please check out http://www.NewLeadersProject.org #majority #tcot

Retweeting is a antastic way to make contact with the person who originally posted the tweet andprovides real value to your ollowers. ey will appreciate that you are sharing inormation, even i itdidnt originate with you. You can also use the RT to add relevant inormation, like this:

Ive signed the pledge! Have you? RT @AM_National Please check out http://www. NewLeadersProject.org #majority #tcot

You can also RT directly rom the homepage byclicking retweet when you hover over a tweet.is is oten the best way to share contentquickly and without needing to mind the

140-character limit.

Another option is posting a modied retweet(distinguished as MT). Use this i you want toshorten a tweet to add your opinion withoutlosing the tweets original intent.

Marketing researcher Dan Zarrella studiedover 10 million tweets and retweets,concluding that tweets containing a link aremore likely to be retweeted than those thatdo not. Zarrella explains that 56.69% o theretweets he studied contained a link, versusonly 18.96% o a normal tweet. is dataclearly tells us that retweets are an extremelycommon orm o quickly sharing inormationacross social spheres. So, i you would like toget retweeted, nd an interesting link!

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Hashtags tend to be one o the most conusing eatures o Twitter, or beginners and veterans alike. Simplyput, these tags help create some order within the madness that is Twitter. When a group o people all agree

to include such a tag when discussing a certain topic, it then becomes much easier to search. For instance, atAmerican Majority, we use the hashtag #majority in all o our tweets. So, i anyone wanted to see what theAmerican Majority sta was talking about at any given time, they could simply type #majority into anyTwitter search service and receive a stream o our posts.

Hashtags are created by taking a short, descriptive term and placing a # sign in ront o it. is pound signhelps Twitter distinguish between a tag and a word in the tweet.

Beore you run out and create a hashtag, be sure that it adds value or yoursel and your ollowers. Hashtagsare best used to organize inormation. I you use a desktop application, using a hashtag will help you keeptrack o those talking about your topic, even i you do not ollow them. Some good examples or hashtagsare conerences, major events, brands, and popular topics.

I you do decide to create a hashtag, be sure to contextualize it. Most people wont actually know what yourhashtag means, so give a quick explanation in one o your tweets. For wide adoption, it needs to be very clear

what it means and why people need to associate with it.

Still conused?

To help you get started, we have included a list o the most popular hashtags. Try visiting http://search.twitter.com/ and typing in one o the hashtags listed below. is is also a great way to nd targeted ollowers.

Twitter is a very quick and oten ckle tool. A hashtag can begin trending (becoming popular) out onowhere, leaving you scratching your head as to what it means and why it is so popular.

So, to help you stay abreast o the latest Twitter trends, we have provided three antastic services to helpyou stay aoat in the ocean o tags.

Hashtag Meaning

#majority Tweets pertaining to the American Majority

#TCOT Tweets pertaining to top Conservatives on Twitter

#TLOT Tweets pertaining to top Libertarians on Twitter

#912 Tweets pertaining to the 9.12 Project

#teaparty Tweets pertaining to the Tea Party movement

hashtags


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Twubs: Twubs (unny name, cool service) aggregates tweets and imports pictures to help you understandthe topic being discussed.

Tagalus: Tagalus is one o our avorites. Simply, it is a dictionary o sorts or hashtags. Dont see your

hashtag on their list? Add one. Simply tweet the Tagalus Twitter account and your tag will be added.

What the Trend?: I you notice something trending, simplyvisit this site and What the Trend? will provide a quick blurbon whats going on.WhattheTrend?: I you notice somethingtrending, simply visit this site and What the Trend?will provide aquick blurb on whats going on.


staff tips@KingJamesVsnIfyouhaveasmartphone,besuretodownloadtheTwitterapp.Itsagreatwaytocheck-inonthego,waitinginlineorsittingataredlight.Butevenifyoudonthaveasmartphone,anytextenabledphonecanbelinkedwithTwitter,allowingyoutotweetonthego.Youcanevensetupdatessoaspecicuserstweetswillbesenttoyourphoneautomatically.


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If a picture is worth a thousand words, then we are going to show you how to say a lot with only 140 characters.Unfortunately, Twitter does not provide a built-in way to attach images to your tweets. So, like many of theunique and fun features you see on Twitter, we have to turn to third-party applications. ere is a whole host of

applications that make it easy to share pictures with the Twitterverse. Here, we are only going to focus on ourrunaway favorite, Twitpic.

Twitpic is currently the largest and mostpopular image-sharing service for Twitter.Twitpic has long been a favorite amongcelebrities and has received a lot of attentionas a source for images of breaking news.Services like Twitpic allow a new level ofpersonalization to your tweets. AmericanMajority has long used its Twitpic account tocover our trainings and Tea Party protests.

One of the best things about Twitpic is thatonce you start an account, you are providedwith an email address. is means that youare no longer bound to your computer.Simply take a picture with your smartphone,for instance, and send it to the emailprovided by Twitpic. Whatever you type in the subject line will be posted to your Twitter account, as well as alink to your image. If you are using a hashtag, remember to include that in the subject line as well.

All of your Twitpic images will be stored online at your Twitpic account, so you can reference them in a blogpost or share them with friends when you get back to a computer. As a Twittivist, photographic evidence can bea powerful tool to inspire action. At American Majority, we insist that our sta use Twitpic as much as possible.Photo sharing has become wildly popular on the web. Good activists know how to utilize the mediums of theirday. Documenting your eorts through Twitpic both inspires and teaches others.

Flickr.Comes.to.TwitterMost of you likely already know about Flickr, the webs most popular photo-sharing site. But what you mightnot know is that Flickr recently decided to jump into the Twitosphere. Similar to Twitpic, Flickr oers a specialemail address designed for your account. With Flickr, you can befriend other users and even create specialgroups to share your photos.

uploading images


staff tips@KaseygeeGobeyondfollowingofcialnewspapersorblogs,checkoutthepersonalaccountsofthereportersorbloggersthatmostinterestyou.Youmaynotonlyndinterestsbeyondpolitics,butanewwayofinteractingandsharinginformation.


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Twitvid.comSo pictures are nice, but maybe you really want to make a statement with video. Well, at AmericanMajority we are beginning to play around with a great video-sharing service called Twitvid.com. Much

like Twitpicdiscussed aboveTwitvid allows you to create a ree account to share your videos onTwitter. Not only can you uploadvideos rom your computer, butTwitvid also provides you with aree email account so you can sendvideos via your smartphone orpocket camcorder.

In addition to Twitter, Twitvid.comwill send your video to YouTubeand your Facebook page. Twitvid isyet another powerul way to shareyour experiences with thousands opeople with the click o a button.

Twibbon is a dierent kind o petition site. Rather than just getting people to tweet their support,Twibbon asks them to do more: wear it. Ater uploading an image to Twibbons website and writinga brie description o your cause, you are ready to go. Simply begin asking people to visit your cause

on Twibbon and, by showing their support, Twibbon will automatically overlay your image on theiravatar. Be sure to keep your image small and in one o the corners. Nobody will want to support a causethat covers his or her entire avatar. is eature might sound a little unny, but consider that a popularTwibbon campaign, encouraging the death o IE6, took o and attracted over 9,000 supporters. is canbe a great way or users to identiy members o your organization, or show your support or a candidate orcause.

sharing videos

twibbon



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AmericanMajority

An important aspect o eective Twittivism is the ability to research the actions o your public ofcials andkeep them engaged in the democratic process. I you and your community have a genuine concern, yourpublic ofcials should hear about it, regardless i they are busy tweeting about their lunch. Rememberthat this platorm allows or conversation in multiple directions. You should take the tools laid out in thisguide and use them to encourage accountability and transparency.

One o the most hailed elected ofcials on Twitter is Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker (@CoryBooker). Mayor Booker used Twitter during a snowpocalypse to assist residents struggling to digout o the snow. He not only used it to determine where to send plows, but he and his sta respondedto requests or help in person, shovels in tow and, in one case, even bringing diapers to a mom who wasunable to leave her house.

TweetCongress

TweetCongress.orgis a great example o the innovative power o Twittivism. While searching or theirown congressman on Twitter, the ounders o TweetCongress were astonished at how ew representatives

were actually on Twitter. is realization prompted the ve ounders to build TweetCongress.com as agrassroots, non-partisan movement to get every member o the U.S. House and Senate on Twitter.

As o this writing, there are 249 congressional tweeters. O those, 134 are Republicans and 115 are

Democrats. is is obviously signicant progress in the past ew months, but considering that there are286 members that remain outside the Twitterverse, there is clearly more work to be done. You should takea moment to look up your representatives in both the U.S. House and Senate on TweetCongress.com.

Well wait!

I you have ound your representatives, then you should immediately ollow them and send them amessage saying thanks or being on Twitter. Let them know youre watching! I your representatives areamong those who are behind the times, then write them an email asking them why they arent online yet.Better yet, call their ofces and tell them that you want to see them online!

how to find your publicofficial on twitter



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Many congressmen manage their own Twitter accounts, so by interacting with them on this platorm youare, in many ways, cutting out the middleman to having your voice heard. Further, unlike email or phonecalls, other users can physically see your eorts to reach out to your elected ofcials.

In addition to just helping you nd your own representatives, TweetCongress compiles all the tweet-eeds rom congressional tweets and aggregates them into an easy-to-read stream. You can also use the#tweetcongress hashtag and have your very own tweets show up on their webpage!

While still evolving, TweetCongress is one o the best ways to quickly nd your public ofcial on Twitter.

GovTrack.usis independent tool will help you research and track the activities o the U.S. Congress. is opensource site promotes transparency and civic education through technology and innovation. As Twittivists,this is exactly what we are looking or.

rough this amazing resource, you and your ellow Twittivists can track the status o ederal legislationand locate voting records in both the House and Senate. In addition, you can view detailed inormationabout each member, their district maps, the congressional committees they sit on, and even their votingrecord.

One o the great things about the site is that you can add Trackers to specic members o Congress,legislation, or committees. GovTrack.us will ollow your tracked items and send you email updates

when something changes. So, i you have a smartphone, there is no reason you cant stay inormed andinorm others.

Lastly, the site oers a unique Q & A unction that allows visitors to ask questions o other visitors.Essentially, they GovTrack.us has created a large think tank in which acts, outcomes, and opinions canbe debated. ere is also a tweet tracker that allows them to display tweets discussing bills and legislation

when someone attaches one o their hashtags to the tweet.



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AmericanMajority

twitter in action

As the Iranian election atermath unolded in Tehran during the summer o 2009, thousands o demonstrators tookto the streets to express their anger at perceived electoral irregularities. While many were ocused on showing theirsupport or Iran and its reedom, a unique hashtag began appearing throughout the Twitterverse: #CNNFail.

Even as Twitter was quickly becomingthe best source o news rom the rontlines o the riots in Tehran, a growingnumber o users were becomingseriously enraged at the apparent lacko coverage CNN was giving to thestory, compared to other mainstreamnews channels.

CNN needs to talk about theimportant things like Ms. Caliorniaand who Paris Hilton is (sleeping

with), wrote Twitter user @ArchivalQuality.

Others used the opportunity toapplaud the work o other networks

while indirectly criticizing CNN.Might I point out to all o those tracking #CNNFail that theres a corresponding #NPRWin good coverage @ www.npr.org, opined Twitter user @Nickbernstein.

e consistent use o #CNNFail to share tweets reerring tothe poor coverage by CNN quickly became an animal all itsown.

And it wasnt long beore word o CNNs theoretical reportingailure began to make its way into more established media.Under the headline, Dear CNN, Please Check Twitter orNews About Iran, the popular blog ReadWriteWeb blastedthe network or its ailure to cover the clearly massive story inthe Middle East.

is is a antastic example o the power o the collective voice.ere has been a lot o disdain or the mainstream media

twitter vs cnn: The rise of WEdia(viacnet.com)


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lately, but with the rising power o social media sites like Twitter, we are now on the verge o a paradigmshit in mass communication. Now, not even three years later, news anchors rom local media on up tocable news will oten look to Twitter or breaking news and on-the-ground civilian reporting. Twitpics

and Twitvids have been viral sources o inormation, courtesy o a new generation o civilian reporters.

We are entering the era o WEdia, where wedecide what is newsworthy and what is propaganda, and thisnew era o communication will be orchestrated and molded by Twittivists like you.

staff tips@RazshaferFollowinglistsisagreatwaytokeepupwithcertaingroupsofusers,withouthavingtheirtweetsclogyourmainstream

oraddtoyourfollowingnumber.Forexample,duringtheRNCChairmansrace,IfollowedalistcuratedbyacolleaguetokeepupwiththenomineesasIchose.

twitter in action


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AmericanMajority

Video Tutorials covering everything rom Twitter to YouTube and blogging to Facebook can be oundonline. Check them out here: http://americanmajority.org/video-tutorials

For more guides like this one discussing additional social media resources, check out: http://americanmajority.org/resources/guides/

Were always nding new tools and sharing our social media tips on our blog, http://insider.americanmajority.org

I youre interested in running or ofce, check out our podcasts available herehttp://americanmajority.org/resources/podcasts/with loads o campaign tips.

Even more resources can be ound at http://americanmajority.org/resources

To request an American Majority training in your area, go to http://americanmajority.org/request/

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additional resources

am twitter directory


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updated twittivism guide

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