For any blogger, especially those covering a geographical area or specific topic, I would definitely recommend setting up a Twitter account.
For your Twitter “handle” or name, try to use the name of your blog or your blog’s URL.
Now it’s time to start building an audience.
Before you write your first post, use the navigation at the bottom of your new Twitter profile to do a search for terms related to your topic or area. I would might search for “Annapolis, “Designer,” and “Multimedia.”
Look at recent “tweets” (posts) and click on the names of Twitter users who have interesting things to say about your topic area. Once on their profile page, click the “follow” link.
Now it is up to you to “tweet” interesting material.
Twitter’s biggest potential, I believe, is its ability to localize conversation by topic, and to a lesser extent, geography.
Twitter has great potential for covering live or breaking news. If you are “Tweeting” to promote your blog, one strategy is to live blog events on Twitter, and then write a blog post summarizing the event–a post which you would promote to your Twitter audience using a short URL.
For example, if I wanted to cover a local mayoral candidate’s run announcement ceremony, I would get to the event early, and post to my Twitter feed every 5 minutes, or anytime a notable event occurs.
In your first post, you want to localize the event by noting the location, city, and topic. It would be important to refer to the candidate by their name, as well as their twitter handle:
jeffreyahaines: I’m at Eastport Elementary School in Annapolis waiting for NaptownCandidate’s announcement–The place is empty
jeffreyahaines: NaptownCandidate has taken the stage, but the crowd is still thin. Does she have any supporters?
jeffreyahaines: An audience has formed. NaptownCandidate is talking about her plan for transportation.
Later, you would write a summary blog post, and “Tweet” a link to it through your Twitter feed.
jeffreyahaines: NaptownCandidate doesn’t have a chance in the Annapolis mayoral race: www.gol.ly/jeff
When writing your blog post, and publicizing it, you might want to send a direct public “tweet” to NaptownCandidate by starting your message with @naptowncandidate
jeffreyahaines: @naptowncandidate read my blog post about your candidacy announcement at www.gol.ly/jeff
And she might direct reply to you:
NaptownCandidate: @jeffreyahaines I like your post!
I think the biggest things new Twitter users should remember is that that people don’t want to be harassed (so don’t repeatedly send someone direct messages or Tweets unless they respond!), and that people want to read interesting things–not the latest scoop on my laundry (unless, of course, I am a laundry expert!). New users should follow a few people who seem to have respect in their topic area, and then work to build a reputation as a good source for information on the same topic.
One great thing about Twitter versus blogging is that there are no anonymous comments. If you often blog about controversial topics, you will be able to have a good idea about who is responding to you.
I recently attended a Twitter meetup (or “Tweetup) for Annapolis Twitter users. It was a great experience to meet other locals who were also experimenting with new technology. Once you have established yourself as a user, consider starting a meetup group for your geographic area!
I hope you take some time to give the world of Twitter a try. If you have questions about getting started, feel free to message me! My handle is @jeffreyahaines