Five lessons I learned from guest tweeting for SCN

I’d become a ‘Fawlty’ tweeter! 
This past week (11 - 18 March) I’ve been a guest of the Scottish Communicators Network (SCN) — or, more specifically, their Twitter account — @ScotCommsNet 

Of course, while you’re away from home you tend to be on your best behaviour. Initially I found guest tweeting quite hard work… it didn’t take me too long to realise why. 

So these are my five lessons for being a less faulty, more effective, tweeter:

1. I was more strategic

Posting from SCN made me think more strategically than my normal “scatter-gun” approach. I spent a bit more time than usual but got much more out of it too. I’m sure if I practiced this a little more then I get better and quicker at it and probably a more coherent feed.

2. I was more conversational

I didn’t see the point in guest posting if my voice wasn’t coming through, so alI of the retweets I “quote tweeted” and added something of my own to the post. 

Personality is what brings Twitter to life and I think I could bring more of that on my own account too. 

3. I read more (part 1)

I also did more digging around, using hashtags, threads and sites like LinkedIn to search out great content. I’ve grown used to relying on whatever’s in my Twitter stream for content. I also mostly built my Twitter network from retweets and the occasional conversation but breaking out of that comfort zone resulted in finding some great content that I liked — and I made some useful new connections.

4. I stayed on topic

Tweeting about #Comms is pretty broad so, a couple of times, I picked a theme for the day (using a hashtag — #InternalComms, #Video, etc) and posted content related to the theme. I found it useful spending a while reading on a specific topic, the account got a few extra followers and also got added to a bunch of related lists, so the effort didn’t go unnoticed.

5. I read more (part 2)

Have you seen (or worse, used) “likes and retweets not necessarily an endorsement” in a Twitter bio? It’s a licence/disclaimer to retweet any old rubbish that you’ve not read. I’m ashamed to say I’ve done it — not often, but I have done it. 

However, whether you have a disclaimer for retweets or not, directing people towards rubbish is directing people towards rubbish. So, if your intention is to build reputation by sharing then please, do your readers the courtesy reading it yourself first.

I’ve never guest tweeted before but I’ve found it to be a really useful exercise. It’s so easy to lapse into bad tweeting habits but guest tweeting for SCN has helped me improve my faulty ways. Do you recognise those habits i yourself? Maybe you have a list of your own? If so, tell us what they are in the comments below. 

And if you like the sound of SCN then come and join us on Twitter and LinkedIn

If you enjoyed reading this please share/give it a like :)

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Jon Gill is a designer who develops and improves services in the public sector including a variety of local authorities, organisations and business. He also designs and delivers digital and social media classes and workshops for businesses, schools, community centres, libraries and museums.

Follow him on Twitter @OnTheSuperFly and visit www.playfulcommunications.co.uk