A Few Twitter Campaigning Tips
We’re in the midst of an attempt to get the #Gaza hashtag to trend on Twitter (if you don’t know what that means, let me Google that for you), and are learning bit by bit what doesn’t work (and of course, what does). Twitter is an ever-changing platform, so what mattered one year ago may not anymore.
- If you’re taking part in a campaign, it’s best to post original tweets. Too many retweets, and you might be recognized as (or reported as) spam.
- If you’re using a hashtag, use it once per tweet or it doesn’t seem to register. Again, probably because it looks like spam.
- In general, too many retweets, or links posted across multiple accounts, will result in you being de-listed from search results. Therefore, if you maintain multiple accounts, you should try to keep the tweets as unique as possible.
- In general, during campaigns, original tweets are more effective. Not just for the aforementioned reasons, but also because they’re simply more compelling.
- If you must re-tweet: I suggest changing a bit of the text, or even removing the attribution (hey, it’s all for a good cause, right?), especially if you know the person. Here’s a good example of some relatively spam-proof retweeting. These two are both retweeting something I retweeted (without attribution) from a friend, @dubaijazz:
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27.12.2009dubaijazz
Shukran, Jillian!
28.12.2009Reality
If you want to help Gaza you should try to figure out a way of getting sane, rational people to run it, instead of insane, radical islamic fundamentalist terrorist nutjobs like Hamas.
But then again, most people who yell loudly in favor of this stuff aren’t REALLY caring about helping the Palestinians. They’re usually more focused on trying to harm Israel, even if it doesn’t actually help random Arabs/Palestinians.
28.12.2009Jillian
Actually, I am very concerned about the freedom of the Palestinians, which has been compromised since loooong before Hamas made the scene. I would love to see Gaza rid of Hamas, but it’s not that simple anymore. How do you suppose we do that? The Israeli way, which means massacring children and babies but not successfully ridding Gaza of Hamas? I think Israel’s proven that their way simply doesn’t work.
Why don’t you use your brain: The choice of Hamas came out of desperation and corruption. The PA–which colludes with Israel–is corrupt, Gazans are living in poverty. They made a choice, a bad one (hmm, kind of like when Americans chose the murderous G.W. Bush, huh?), but regardless of Hamas, Israel and Egypt are the ones imposing the blockade. I will continue to speak out for the people of Palestine.