Microblogging: a critical reflection
An analysis of my own experience with the world of Twitter
As defined by David J. Fiander in Social Media for Academics, microblogging is “the general term for the concept of posting very short status updates as popularised by services such as Twitter”. But how can we make the most of our Tweets? I conducted an analysis of my own use of the platform and what can be gained from microblogging in terms of engagement.
Having completed a 13 month placement for a PR, Social Media and Influencer Marketing agency, I have had experience with working on both brand social accounts, and my personal ones. As someone with a pretty short attention span, Twitter had always been my preferred social platform for its short, frequent updates. I recently created a new Twitter account for the purpose of microblogging, and have found it a different experience altogether.
Something I found both when working for brands and microblogging, is that there are extra steps to follow when looking to increase engagement. The first: hashtags. I never use hashtags on my personal account, because the content I post is for my existing followers. When trying to reach a new audience, however, I have found them to be absolutely crucial. Indeed, the usefulness of hashtags in reaching a wider audience is discussed by Johnston in The Social Media Handbook (2013). In 2009, an NYU party went viral across social platforms and news outlets such as The New York Times, partly thanks to their #NSIE taking off on Twitter. Here is a side-by-side comparison of 2 Twitter polls that I posted, as an example:
The first contains no hashtags, is related only to my own research on the position of women in journalism and received 7 votes, likely all from my own followers. The second received a total of 124 votes. The most notable difference here is hashtags. By looking at trending hashtags and engaging with them I was able to reach the audience that was interacting with them, in turn, causing a noticeable uplift in engagement. Furthermore, engaging in live conversations and debates as they are happening increases visibility of your account.
The need for topicality and attention to what is trending is also crucial with regards to increased engagement. Hashtags are great, but trending hashtags are even more effective. Below is another example:
Perhaps the most important thing to consider when choosing hashtags is whether they are already in wide use on the platform. #DowningStreetBriefing, #Covid19UK and #CovidChristmas were the most used hashtags relating to the topic at the time I created this Tweet. I also tweeted this shortly after the briefing, meaning that many people were still sharing their thoughts in real-time. This journalist had been gaining attention for the tough questions she had asked the Prime Minister, so I decided to insert myself into the conversation. Despite only getting 21 likes and 1 retweet, the Tweet was seen 4,271 times and led people to my profile. Engaging with topical, recent content will always reach more people. Thus, hashtags and topicality are the two areas I found to be most useful in my venture into microblogging. For those wishing to try it out themselves, happy tweeting!
