TwitLonger: D 4rrow TweetStorm insider tips: Once you know what you will tweet, which accounts you will target,

lissnup

On Sunday 24th October 2010, @lissnup said:

D 4rrow TweetStorm insider tips:

Once you know what you will tweet, which accounts you will target, and what hashtag(s) you will use, pick a time 3-5 days in advance, to allow for plenty of preparation. Not too long, or people might forget or get mixed up over the time/day. If you need help with spelling etc, just ask.

Do not change the time or day once you have started telling people.

Consider inventing a short unique hashtag so you can do a search on http://topsy.com for it and see how many tweeets were generated, then you can also see all the people who took part AND give participants some feedback when you thank them.

We have refined the IranElection TweetStorms to be 30 tweets at a rate of 1 per minute to avoid people ending up in "Twitter jail" and so the storm doesn't monopolise the timeline and attract too much negative attention from people (you know the type I'm sure!).

As StormLeader you might need to use an additional account to avoid this issue as you might be tweeting encouragement etc during the storm.

If you want to generate "1000 tweets for [your cause]" for example then you need 35+ people/accounts to take part if you have 30 tweets, 50 people if you have 20 tweets, and so on.

Don't forget to make each tweet shorter than 140 char - the shorter the better, as it encourages RTs which really get the storm brewing.

To count characters easily, use the web/tweetdeck etc to compose your tweets without sending, then copy and paste them into your document.

Use an easily shared/accessed document eg http://twitlonger.com, http://twitwall.com to list the tweets and time. Don't use only FaceBook, as many Twitter users do not use it.

Do not change the tweets once you have shared them with everyone unless there is a really serious error.

Include timezone info if you have people from other countries taking part. Double check timezones if you are not very confident with them (I am NOT!)

Important advice if people say they are not going to be around for the tweetstorm, tell them how to schedule tweets ahead of time using http://twaitter.com or tweetdeck for example.

I got a good initial response by inviting people via DM - I use http://tweetguru.net/multi/ to send a DM to 12 people at a time. At the same time, use every other available means (FB page/messages/event, blog, regular tweets) to promote the event (http://twaitter.com again is good for promo / reminder and countdown tweets)

If you add the names of all the ones who agree to take part to your tweet list it might encourage others. Up to you, I have no stats on that. I worry that people won't take part because they have "let someone else do it" syndrome.

Some useful info and links here:
What is a TweetStorm? http://twitwall.com/view/?what=0B0C040A07
Upcoming TweetStorms http://twitwall.com/view/?what=0B0C070A0A
and on GFM blog http://globalfree.wordpress.com

(some duplicate info)

Ideally, I have always thought we need a Twitter application for TweetStorms, where people can sign up (once they see the tweets and are OK with them). But my time and Twitter app dev skills are equally limited!!

Hope this helps!

Liss

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