Tweets and Hashtags: Effectively Using Twitter and Twitter Search

With all the hoopla about Twitter going on last year, it seemed like you weren't "somebody" if you weren't tweeting your every thought 100 times a day (Twitter is a way to microblog 140 characters at a time). I don't know about you, but I really don't care to know what 15 of my closest friends had for breakfast, nor do I want them to clog up my social media info streams with that information. Waffles or pancakes? Honestly, I don't care. Who has time to poll their followers about that? But, I guess that's why they call it "Social Media" and not "Productive Workday Media." However, don't dismiss Twitter as a useless fad for fans of the Jonas Brothers just yet. If you want your tweet time to be sweet time for your own educational pursuits, it can be done.

The issue with Twitter is not whether it is useful -- it is -- but think of it this way: Twitter is what you make it. It can be a guilty pleasure or it can be a great tool for gathering information and sharing it with others, or it can be both. It just needs to be leveraged appropriately. If you haven't used Twitter and/or aren't sure of how it works, here's a great video by our friends at CommonCraft. It's almost 2 years old but still very relevant (besides, CommonCraft videos are fun to watch and great at explaining how things work): 

Personally, I don't tweet much. I prefer to use it to receive information from people whose opinions I value. And occasionally it surprises me. When I was in San Antonio last year Twitter proved to be a highly effective information channel for keeping me updated on the spread of H1N1. I became a follower of the CDCs tweets on H1N1 and received constant updates on where cases had been found. When I arrived at UTSA HSC it was pretty obvious cases had been found locally -- they had yellow-taped the entrance and I had to get checked before they'd let me in to give my talk, but still Twitter turned out to be a great way for me to stay on top of the status of outbreaks in real time.

There are two things that will help make your Twitter experience productive: 

1. Be selective in who you follow.

This is important because many people add everybody they know as if Twitter is Facebook or MySpace and an extension of their high school yearbook. If you want to do that, it's your choice, but pretty soon your Twitter page will end up having so many and frequent updates that you'll likely become overwhelmed. If you want to keep your tweet noise managable, be selective in who you follow. Another tip, act like a stalker and see who other people are following. You'd be surprised how many good information sources you can find this way.

2. Manage the tweets.

Use a tool that manages your tweets like TweetDeck (I have TweetDeck for the iPhone and love it; at work we use HootSuite which allows the staff to manage multiple accounts and streams). Here's one review of TweetDeck. But there are many other tools you can use to manage your Twitter account and follower base. I just happen to like TweetDeck because it integrates with Facebook and other social media.

Twitter Search can be very helpful. Here's another video from CommonCraft on using Twitter Search and hashtags to keep track of specific topics or events: 

Remember, tools like Twitter end up being as effective as you make them. It takes some time and effort to set it up properly to keep track of the things that are really important to you, but once you do, you can make Twitter work for you, bringing you the latest info on all sorts of topics you are interested in and cutting down on the noise.

Something Fun: 

In my original description of this Blog, I said I hoped it would be fun. Here's something for entertainment purposes only: Twitter Frenzy on Comedy Central!  

About the Author

Stephen Welch

Senior Vice President, Communications
Executive Editor, CHEST

This blog, "It Ain't Rocket Surgery" is intended to help busy health-care professionals find useful online and mobile resources that will enhance their self-education and professional research efforts, or point out important topics of discussion related to online information and content. The blog's title is a Yogi Berra style mash-up of two common phrases, "it ain't brain surgery" and "it ain't rocket science". I hope it will be casual, fun, insightful, and -- most of all -- educational.

You can follow me on Twitter. 

I currently serve ACCP as the Senior Vice President of Communications, as well as the Executive Editor of CHEST, the ACCP’s flagship journal. During my 15 years here, ACCP has focused on growing and developing the editorial, technological, and business aspects of the College. We are constantly striving to make the journal and other ACCP educational content as accessible and useful to clinicians as possible.

When not at work, I like to spend time scuba diving with sharks, collecting original comic book artwork, exploring the digital world, and searching for good BBQ.

Your feedback about the blog is always appreciated. So are tips on good BBQ joints.