Why Tweet?

Oonagh Murphy@OonaghTweets

An introduction to Twitter for volunteers

What is twitter?•Twitter is named after the tweet tweet call of birds•It is an online service which allows people to send messages to people all over the world•A tweet is a message which is sent using twitter and has a maximum of 140 characters

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Twitter has become an important communication channel

•1 billion tweets are sent every week

•In March 2011 there were an estimated 225 million users

•When Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 there were 456 tweets per second (TPS)…a record at that time.

•During and after president Obama’s speech about the death of Osama Bin Laden there were 3,440 tweets sent per second. This means about 22 million tweets in less than 2 hours

All sorts of people tweet from Stephen Nolan to Stephen Fry

Twice as many 50-60 year olds than 18-24 year olds in the United Kingdom use Twitter Nielsen Online.

Twitter is useful for lots of different things...

Making a connection with people who have similar interests as you from art to golf to skydiving

Campaigning for everything from defibrillators or better facilities in your local area

Commenting on local and international news and current affairs

Campaigning for social change or improving your community

Twitter lets you view other peoples tweets

• Viewing other peoples tweets can be a good way to follow news or ‘scandals’ as they unfold.

• Popular news stories such as the London Riots are turned in to code words using the # key so everyone can follow

• #londonriots #murdoch #savelibaries

Twitter lets you join the conversation

Tweet about what interests you, not what you had for breakfast.

This week I’ve tweeted about Museums and galleries

#londonriots

#research

#socialmedia

Why do arts organisations tweet?

• To have a conversation with their visitors • To develop a community beyond the walls of their gallery or

arts centre• To receive feedback about visitor experiences• To encourage people to feel valued so that they visit more

often, through for example special offers and exciting competitions

So what about MAC?

• Well in the run up to opening MAC are using #themacandme hashtag to talk about everything from the building to the programme.

• MAC would love you to join them online and help them get people interested in Belfast’s most exciting new arts centre

If your tweets include the words #themacandme they will be posted on www.themacand.me

Can you help MAC?

But how do I join Twitter?• Setting up a Twitter account is similar to setting up an email address.• You can do this at www.twitter.com• When you register Twitter will ask you to ‘follow’ people, following someone

simple means you will read your tweets• When you follow someone they might follow you back, which means they will

read your tweets• When you first join Twitter joining in with a # conversation such as #themacandme

is a good way to pick up followers• If you become a MAC volunteer there will be lots of opportunities to learn more

about Twitter from setting up an account and tweeting for MAC• The best way to understand twitter is to simply have a go

So how does it all work?

• Twitter is a micro blogging site...• Which means you can use up to 140 characters (letters and spaces) to write a message• If you want to use twitter you need to set up an account. On twitter you get a name or

address similar to an email address• My email address is murphyoonagh@hotmail.com but my Twitter is @OonaghTweets• Twitter names start with the @ sign

This is where you write messages

Twitter recommends people to ‘follow’ based on your interests

Twitter tells you what # conversations are popular now

Here you can see who ‘follows’ (reads) your tweets, and who you ‘follow’

Tweeting for MAC

Many arts organisations use Twitter in really exciting and interesting ways. MAC would love you to help them become as exciting as Tate, Natural History Museum and The Grand Opera House online

Tate & Twitter• 420,000 followers • ‘work of the week’ • ‘Weather forecast’• ‘Tate Debate’

@Tate

It’s all about personality at the NHM

Natural History Museum

@NHM_MusMgr

Grand Opera House• 3,273 followers• Lots of exciting promotions

means that they are talked about

• One competition made them the most talked about thing on Twitter in Belfast

@GrandOperaHouse

Volunteers will be the face and voice of MAC

In gallery and online volunteers will be helping create engaging and exciting experiences.

Social media provides volunteers with a really exciting opportunity to talk to a broad range of visitors before and after a visit. It provides volunteers with the opportunity to embed MAC into the communities in which they are interested in be that #tweetni #arts #savelibaries #theatre #education

Can you help MAC?• could you answer visitor tweets in a light hearted and

humorous way?• Would you like to host a MAC debate?• Run a photography competition • Or teach visitors some interesting facts about art and

artists • Review exhibitions, or recommend events?

Thank You