This is all pretty obvious stuff, but it needs repeating, especially as we head into the Liberal leadership period. I’m not calling anyone out here, but it would be nice if all politicians – Liberal, Conservative, New Democrat, & Green alike – tried to use Twitter in a more authentic manner.
- Candidates should do their own Twitter. If you think about how long it takes to type 140 characters half a dozen times a day, you’ll realize it’s only a time-suck if your habits are inefficient.
- Followers are following you to hear what you’re up to, so throw them a . They can get rhetoric elsewhere. What they want is a glimpse into your life. They want you to be real. They want you to complain about traffic and getting your kid to eat vegetables. It humanizes you.
- If it’s too much to keep up with replies, have your second (“team”) account reply from that account. I think people will understand if you’re busy.
- Political operatives who spend their lives watching #cdnpoli (*cough*) can spot a staffer tweeting a mile away so if you’re all using the same “team” account, sign your tweets with initials. (Kevin Rudd, former Australian PM, signs tweets “K Rudd” even now that he’s a backbencher. “It’s habit,” he admits. Not a bad habit.)
- If you’re going to schedule tweets, don’t schedule the same tweets to repeat ad nauseum. Probably shouldn’t schedule tweets, though, except to promote substantive content like a blog post or press release. Rhetoric scheduled at two-hour intervals takes on an Orwellian quality.
- Always follow back. It doesn’t oblige you to pay attention to everyone you follow. You’re not trying to win votes on Twitter; you should be trying to win over influencers, who take note when, say, after three or four years they’re still waiting for a follow from their own political party. Following back is more about etiquette than functionality, in my opinion.
- An assistant can easily set up a list of accounts to which you should pay attention, so you don’t have to worry about that last bullet point. Also, let your communications chief monitor your account and have access to modify or delete tweets if need be.
- Overuse of exclamation marks gives the impression of insincerity! No one believes politics is that exciting! Also very Ministry of Truth-esque! People don’t speak in slogans either! It turns voters off! Like a standing ovation, an exclamation mark means less the more it’s used.
- Okay, about hashtags. Your name is a searchable term. So a tweet from your account in which you hashtag yourself is redundant. If unsure, do a search for that hashtag; if the only accounts using it are yours and supporters retweeting you, it’s just a waste of space.
- The only hashtags you really need are already established, so for the upcoming year of Liberal leadership fun, #cdnpoli, #lpc, & #lpcldr will suffice. Yes, I use hashtags in a jokey way, but I’m not a candidate.
- Having both English and French accounts is good, but don’t treat one (it’s usually the French one) like a Google Translate result: give both unique content, because some people read both, and issues in Québec and the rest of Canada are often different in scope and perspective. Speak to all your potential constituencies.
- Certain poses in avatars (as in election signs, posters, etc.) can be cliché. Your face is always the right choice.
- Use Twitter to direct followers to content: blog posts, sites, news articles, Facebook updates, etc. Better to do this than to stretch any point longer than 140 characters. It’s too hard to follow multiple-tweet points.
- Don’t argue with anyone. That’s for those of us whose political role is “cantankerous curmudgeon.” We have our purposes, I suppose, but again, I’m not running for office. When someone attacks you, reply with a gracious invitation to take conversation to e-mail or phone. That’s the classy reply.
- Irregular Capitalization looks Really Weird unless you’re Writing in German and even then I Think It’s Just For Proper Nouns.
- Initiate issue-based but non-partisan conversations with journalists. Retweet their pieces if you agree. Court not their vote, but their respect, and the notice of those who closely follow Canadian journalists’ social media.
- The only Twibbon you need is a small, smartly placed party logo.
- If you want a tweet to spread, better than just repeating yourself, simply add “Pls RT” to the end. It’s polite and direct.
- Finally, the conventions of social media are user-defined. They are, well, conventions not rules; they change over time. So what do you do if someone writes a blog post with a list of twenty recommendations and you’re not sure? What if someone calls you out for #usingtwitterwrong? Easy answer: ask Twitter. Even a conversation about hashtags demonstrates engagement and humility.
Although I’m thinking specifically of the Canadian context, and even more precisely at how Liberal leadership candidates might benefit from smart use of social media including Twitter, the inspiration for this post comes from this tweet, by Maltese opposition leader Joseph Muscat:
Tonight’s #confidencevote will pass, the uncertainty will remain. #malta needs a focused government not #pnpanic to create #afairsociety — Joseph Muscat(@JosephMuscat_JM) June 4, 2012
Not a bad tweet, but there’s too much obvious rhetoric and too many hashtags that are essentially meaningless, except for #confidencevote, which was dictated by news outlet Malta Today to land on its feed. #Malta is self-evident, and usually how I tag my own Maltese political content, but why not #mtpoli? I doubt many would think, in context, that anyone means Montana.
Canadian readers (aka all of you) can probably think of many more helpful suggestions. Why not tweet them at me?
P.S. The Maltese government survived the confidence vote, if you’re curious, and here’s how I tweeted it.
