How to Tweet Like the Pros Even if You're New

After meeting with several people around town last week that are looking to get on to Twitter, it dawned on us to give it some point for Hopkinton Patch readers and business leaders in the community that may be interested in joining the “Twitterverse”.

We’ve put together a list of tips from us and around the web to help you use the social media tool to expand your horizons. 

1. The first step in getting in to twitter is creating a handle (name). When you’re creating a twitter for yourself you can use parts of you name. For example, if  is looking to get on twitter they could use a name like @FaithChurchHopkinton or @FaithCommunity. They would want to avoid a name like @FCCH because to people who aren't familiar with the church they wouldn't know what the abbreviation means.

2. Once you have a handle picked out the first step is connecting with people. About.com recommends connecting yourself to as many people as possible as soon as you join.

“Search for names you already know. Search on hashtags [more on hashtags later] such as #nonprofit #philanthropy for tweets on those topics. Follow the people and orgs that posted them. Whenever you find a blog or site you like, look for a Twitter button. Follow the people your favorite Twitterer is following, and then follow those who are following them, etc.”

For Hopkinton you can follow Patch (@HopkintonPatch ),  (@BaypathHumane),  (@HopkintonMA),  (@HopkintonEdFoun) or the  (@HopArtsCenter).

3. The third and most important step is to START TWEETING! You can tweet about whatever you want, as long as you keep the length below 140 characters. For us, it’s all about connecting users with news in Hopkinton. Even if it’s a weather update from a Boston TV Station like WCVB (@WCVB) or a state police report of a car crash (@MassStatePolice).

Other people use twitter to update about what their doing. On many personal accounts, twitterers will update about the test they just took, the promotion they just got, or the delicious lunch they just had at somewhere like the  (@MarathonRest).

4. Once you get tweeting you will notice that many people use hastags in their tweets. A hashtag is just the pound sign (#) followed by a word or phrase. We usually use the #Hillers, #Hopkinton or #SchoolCommittee. A hashtag allows users to have something searchable. When you tweet with a hashtag it will show up as link to all of the other tweets containing that hashtag.

5. The most important thing about twitter is to make sure your personality comes across; after all, it is a social network. When we tweet we try not to just tell you the headline of a story, we want to tell you why you care. You can use twitter to ask people questions you are curious about, take an informal poll or just tell people something.

A tweet could say “I’m at ” which doesn’t tell people much. A better tweet could be “I’m at @AngelsGrdnCtr what types of flowers would go well with me rhododendrons?”

If you’re still looking for help ask us any questions in the comments or better yet tweet @ us! Sometimes the best way to figure something out is by trying it first-hand.