Saturday, April 19, 2014

Snark Bite -- Twitter Trends

Writing advice in 250 words or less...

I've had a Twitter account for a while but I haven't used it for much more than promoting my daily blog post. In the last couple weeks, I've learned an interesting pointer I'd like to share.

What are trends and how are they determined?

From the Twitter Help Center:

Trends are determined by an algorithm and, by default, are tailored for you based on who you follow and your location. This algorithm identifies topics that are immediately popular, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help you discover the hottest emerging topics of discussion on Twitter that matter most to you.
How do you find what's trending?
  1. Sign into your Twitter account.
  2. Go to the page that says HOME...NOTIFICATIONS...# DISCOVER...ME.
  3. In the left column, beneath "Who to follow" locate "Trends".
  4. You'll notice that many of the words trending are hash tags, but some are not.
Through the trending window, I discovered #amwriting. With some imagination, a creative tweet can usually be crafted utilizing at least one of the trending terms.

Including trending terms in your Twitter posts doesn't guarantee discover-ability or a retweet, but empirical evidence seems to support the supposition.

Happy tweeting!

14 comments:

  1. Interesting observation, Melissa. I don't do much with Twitter, either, but I haven't given up on it completely.

    Barbara Barrett

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    1. Hi Barb,
      I've been trying to learn more about Twitter since I'm fairly convinced Facebook is on its way out. It's good to remain current. :)

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  2. There's also an #amediting and #1k1h for those who sprint and try to write 1K words in 1hr time. I did a couple of trending things when you had to put #duck to the end of every quote. And sometimes Princess Bride quotes will trend. I love those days because there are so many good quotes but getting them into a twitter feed is difficult sometimes.

    I do twitter off and on. I will go to blog posts off of tweets.

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    1. Thanks Beth! I'll check those out. I can see using #am editing but I don't think I could do 1k/hr. That's a lot. :D

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  3. I've had trouble lately even getting into my account, but I will try your suggestions.

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    1. Ilona,
      I'm sorry. I hope you get your login straightened out.

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  4. Melissa, you're a genius. I always check out what's trending but never thought of weaving a term into my tweets. *Hand slap to forehead*

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    1. Thanks Mac. Anything to increase visibility helps. :)

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  5. Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting, Mary! I hope it helped. :)

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  6. Melissa
    Thanks for that tip. Sometimes all these things seem overwhelming, and I'll admit I often feel lost on twitter.

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    1. Hi Rebecca,
      There's just too much to keep track of. Best bet is to a pick a couple social media platforms you enjoy and focus on them instead of trying to master everything. :)

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