Social Media Guide for Wattpad

Twitter

Ah, Twitter. Those who use it love it. But a lot of people just plain don’t understand it. 

And young people are mainly abandoning Facebook for it (and for Snapchat, FYI). Remember our research into buyer personae? If you’re writing for younger people – or think you could reach them – then Twitter can be a great place to connect.

Your Profile

There are new profile options. Use them. They involve more imagery, and the ability to pin a beloved tweet to the top of your page. Do so. 

Your profile information should be something that people would search on. My verbiage fits both long tail and general searching. By using the hashtags #StarTrek and #fanfiction, I am searchable in both ways. But by adding the term shuttlepod I am signaling to Trek fans that I have an affinity for Enterprise, as that term wasn’t used in the other series or the films. I also use the abbreviation ENT but that’s a little harder to search on. But shuttlepod – for people in the know – is semi-obvious. The puppy’s uniform is also from that time period, as are the background images. 

Contrast this with the @shrinkingjes profile. My credentials are front and center. My certification announcement is the pinned tweet. The term maven is another term for expert and is used in the marketing space a lot these days. The colorful puzzle pieces background image is fun and light but also connotes diversity and also putting together disparate elements. 

For both profiles, the terminology is either neutral or positive all the way.

Followers and Following

Here’s a tip. There is a thing called Klout score (Google it). @shrinkingjes is a 50; @JespahTrekFanFI is a 32. That’s not so surprising as the former has more followers and has been on Twitter for over 5 years. Klout is calculated from several factors and not just Twitter, but Twitter looms large. 

And one thing that Klout looks at is your ratio of followers to following. @shrinkingjes has more followers than people being followed. @JespahTrekFanFI has the opposite. But I still want to keep the people I’m following. What to do?

Lists

Twitter lists can be public or private (you might want to have family members or competitors listed privately). Either way, once someone is on a list you’re following, it’s as if you are following that person. As a result, it doesn’t tilt your follower/followed ratio at all. 

What I do is, I put famous people who will never follow me back onto public lists. That way, I get their wisdom without negatively affecting my Klout score. Plus the public nature of these lists allows others to follow my lists (and I believe – although I am uncertain – that followers of your lists can help improve your Klout score). But I openly follow my friends. 

The only real difference you will notice is if you want to direct message someone. You can’t do that unless you’re following them. But you won’t be able to directly message celebrities anyway. Put them on lists.

Why do I care about Klout scores and lists?

It’s time to visit Hoot Suite again. 

Go to Add Stream. Select Lists. Pick your list and click Add Stream and now you’ve got a stream which is just the slice of people on your list. 

As for Klout scores, go to any stream and pull on the downward arrow to select Filter. Choose Klout Score. You get a little slider bar. Push on it a little and you’ll start to see everyone’s Klout Score. That number can only go up – you can only filter by Klout Scores that are greater than or equal to the number you select with the slider bar. 

Now do you see why you might want a higher Klout score? 

If you have a Wattpad list, and then you filter it by Klout scores of greater than or equal to 35, as of the writing of this post, you’ll get @shrinkingjes but you won’t get @JespahTrekFanFI. 

Hoot Suite and the Twitter App itself

Hoot Suite was originally built for Twitter, and that functionality is probably the best. Once you get used to Hoot Suite, here’s a tip. Except for fiddling with your profile images and pinned tweet, use Hoot Suite. Just get used to using it, and use it. It is faster and it doesn’t crash like Twitter does. 

The link is to da puppy’s Twitter account. Puppy’s looking all serious in the image! The YouTube video is a decent tutorial on using Hoot Suite for a number of things on Twitter, including scheduling posts. By the way – Hoot Suite can schedule Facebook, Google+ and other kinds of posts. 

Did this chapter help you? Did it hold your interest? Do you want to see more? Then please vote! You know the puppy wants you to. ;) Don’t forget to check out da puppy on Twitter and check out the swanky new profile! Share your favorite Tweeters in the comments section.