Last week, I taught a hands-on Twitter workshop for NCHRA. The workshop was billed for beginners and had a group of Twitter newbies interested in learning more about the much-hyped site. One of them called me a “Twitter cheerleader” during the workshop and I think that description is accurate. Twitter is an incredibly valuable tool for networking, learning, sharing information and meeting new colleagues and friends. I have dozens (and dozens!) of stories about individuals I’ve connected with via Twitter. If you’re not yet using Twitter, whether for work, for fun or for both, I encourage you to give it a try. If for no other reason than to see first hand what it is all about.
Here are the resources I referenced during the workshop. There are countless other sources and articles for Twitter how-to’s. My advice is just to get started! The rest will come. As with any new site or technology, there is definitely a learning curve. But, it doesn’t take long to get comfortable with all the funky lingo and start to see the value.
This special business guide to Twitter (from Twitter themselves) is a great overview and nice place to start.
Say it all in 140 characters: Everything you need to know before joining the Twitterverse is my article in Employee Benefit News about getting started.
Also in Employee Benefit News A little birdie told me: Using Twitter for benefits communication goes into detail about how to use Twitter for benefits communication.
And, this is a Benefits Buzz post from the spring with a lengthy—and lively!—discussion about whether or not Twitter is a viable tool for employee benefits communication.
Finally, a huge help during the workshop was for participants to see how I have my Twitter world organized in Hootsuite. I have groups of people I follow—Communications pros, HR pros, Health care and benefits experts, news sources, etc. Having the individuals and topics I’m most interested in makes using Twitter a lot more valuable and a lot less overwhelming.
Hope you get started! Please send me a Tweet when you do! Twitter.com/jenbenz