Twitter 101 – Part 2

You’re on Twitter. You understand how to use it. But now you want to know how you get followers.

The simple answer is, you tweet. Share information. Engage other people on Twitter.

Okay…

How do you find those other people? Aha! It’s not as difficulty as you might think.

Twitter has a built-in search feature. The search box is at the very top of your browser window. Decide what you want to search for and type it there, either with or without the hash tag we talked about on Monday. It’s not required, but it might help you get more specific results.

For example, I might search “crochet” since, in addition to writing, that is a mainstay for me.

Notice you can save the search so you can do it again later just by choosing it from a drop-down menu.

The left side of the screen shows current tweets about the subject. The right side shows people with that word in their Twitter ID or prominently in their bio.

To get followers, you have to follow. Many people will follow back. Start with the right side of the screen. Read through some of them, including their bio and some of their tweets. If you like what you read, follow them.

After you’ve followed a few, go back and look at the left side of the screen. Read through the most current tweets. (If new tweets matching your search term have been posted, there will be an update in a gray bar that tells you how many new tweets there are.)

Reply to a few of those. Start a discussion or join an active one. Answer questions if someone has posted any.

If you have a book out, please resist the temptation to plug your book/link in every tweet. As many followers as I have and as often as I tweet, I only post my link once a day unless someone specifically asks for it.

It will take time, but doing this will help you get followers. People may also start including you in the Follow Friday (#ff) or Writer Wednesday (#ww). Those will also help you gain followers.

Be patient. It will happen.

Friday we’ll talk about chatting on Twitter.

Oh, and if you want to follow me, I’m @JenNipps.

Part 1