It seems like such an arbitrary limitation: all you can write is 140 characters! But that’s actually a sentence or two, and you already say useful things that would consist of 140 characters all the time. Really, you do.
What Twitter does is teaches you brevity, and to get to the point. I don’t promise that this skill comes easily (and note that this advice is offered by two people who were willing to write 100,000 words), but it does come with practice.
Practical Tips
Focus first on what you want to communicate to your followers. It’s more important to say something interesting and useful, initially, than to worry about how to say it with elegance, wit, and verve. Not to mention to fit it in a little tiny box.
When you start out, expect to write out a Tweet and then edit it to make it fit. When you are new to Twitter, this takes time. Even today we struggle to fit 10 pounds of message in a 5-pound bag. You will find yourself spending several minutes trying to shorten a Tweet to fit. That’s truly okay. Take the time.
For example, recently Esther wanted to Retweet a relevant newsworthy item written by a friend:
#FEMA urges use of #Twitter, #Facebook bit.ly/piejHI Social media more reliable than cell phone in emergencies like #Hurricane Irene
That fit in her friend’s Twitter stream, barely. But Retweeting it with her friend’s ID exceeded the character limit, and she felt it was important to give him credit for the link.
She spent five solid minutes on editing (why, yes, she does need a life, thanks for asking) and managed to get all the important bits in, including the hat-tip to Alfred.
#FEMA urges Twitter, Facebook use bit.ly/piejHI Social media more reliable than phone in emergencies like #Hurricane via @AlfredPoor
My point is this: not everything fits in 140 characters the first time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it fit.
Finding the Magic Number
You hope for your Tweets to go viral, for people to Retweet your posts. But they can’t do that if you used up all 140 characters – or at least not without effort, which lowers the chance they’ll bother.
That is one reason it’s better to choose a short Twitter name. Adding “RT @ABC” to the front of a post causes less stress than “RT @ABCDEFGHIJKLM”
Some experts advise you to take the time to figure out your “magic Retweet number”. To give yourself the best possible chance of a Retweet, make sure that you leave this many characters free at the end of each and every Tweet. The formula is this:
Your Number = Length of Username + Five Characters
So in Esther’s case (@estherschindler), the magic Retweet number is 20; Brett’s (@brett) is 10. If she passionately wants to make something Retweetable, Esther has to keep her posts under 120 characters.
It’s okay to break this rule. Don’t agonize over it. Don’t sacrifices a really quality piece of copy to squeeze your Tweet under that ceiling. Just keep it in mind for the important Tweets. That is, if you’re merely entertaining your followers with a link to a fun article on the @PhoenixZoo‘s new acquisition of a male African lion and an Andean bear, write as long a Tweet as you want. If it’s a coupon to your business’s spring sale or the teaser for your online contest, make sure that it’s as easy as possible for a follower to Retweet.
Maintaining Good Grammar
In an effort to be concise, inevitably you will be tempted to use Twitter as if you were texting on your smartphone. Don’t do it!
Avoid text-speak at all costs. Take an extra minute to elegantly craft your message and to squash it into the desired 140 characters. Otherwise your business or ministry persona sounds like someone dropped out of high school (and then banged his head).
Oh, sure, Twitter has plenty of acronyms and abbreviations, not the least of which is RT for Retweet and #FF for Follow Friday. But just as in any other business and ministry interaction, people judge you (and your organization) on how well you write.
- Spell correctly.
- Use good grammar.
- Include proper punctuation.
This is still communication, after all.
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