Eager to get involved in the thriving and enriching EdTech Twitter community? Take advantage of these top tips to help you bag a host of followers in no time!

 

Building Your EdTech Twitter Community

 

1. Promote Yourself

Remember, when they first come across you on Twitter, all other users have to go on when deciding whether or not to follow you is your brief profile description. Avoid the temptation to make a sarcastic or witty comment and focus on getting across the main points about your interests and expertise – let them know why you’re worth following and what you’ll be tweeting about. Check out Shelly Blake-Plock (@BlakePlock) for a good example of how to get it right!

 

2. Go with the flow

Getting involved in a particular Twitter community means putting your ear to the ground and immersing yourself thoroughly in the trending topics and important issues being discussed. By focussing your tweets to make sure that you are joining in debate on popular topics, you will ensure that your opinions are likely to come up in trending threads and be seen by more tweeters.

 

3. Check in with Hashtags

A great way to ensure that you are ‘on trend’ is to keep up to date with some of the education technology community’s most popular hashtags. These include the #edtech, #elearning, and #mlearning streams.

 

4. Market your niche

If you have particular interests or expertise in a certain area, make it clear by focussing your tweets to suit that particular niche. You are likely to pick up far more followers by being specific and setting yourself up as an expert in a single particular area than by spreading yourself too thinly across all aspects of EdTech. Some great specific trends to follow include mobile learning (check out the #mlearning and #iPaded hashtags), bring your own device (#BYOD) and education apps (#edapps). #Homeschool is another great tag for those providing information and resources particularly useful to parents teaching their children at home.

 

5. Follow the leaders

A great way to start out is to make sure you are following some of the most important and influential voices in the Twittersphere in your area of interest. If you’re hoping to make a splash in the EdTech Twitter community, it’s advisable to start by following popular educators and opinion leaders like @web20classroom, @TheConsultantsE, @ShellTerrell, @CoolCatTeacher, @kylepace, @rmbyrne, @tomwhitby, @NMHS_Principal, @iEducator, @rkiker and others. You’ll find that simply by starting to follow lots of interesting EdTech tweeters you automatically pick up a good starting crop of followers, as many people will follow you right back.

 

6. Make Lists

When you’re trying to attract attention, using Twitter’s list function to endear yourself to other members of the online community is a great way to grab people’s attention and attract a bunch of new followers. Try to think of exciting new ways to collate EdTech Twitter information – that way you’ll attract interest from other tweeters as well as catching the eye of those who you include in your lists. Apple Educators, a list by @digitalteacher, is a great example!

 

7. Chatter!

Getting involved in popular education technology chats using hashtags like the extremely popular #edchat is a brilliant way to get to know the leading tweeters quickly! Raise your profile immediately with succinct, interesting ideas, or by sharing new and exciting resources.

 

Looking to bring your school get up to speed with Twitter? Check out our Introduction To Social Media In Education online training course. Start building a passionate and innovative PLN within your school and see how the best educators are using social media to inspire learning!

 

What are your top tips for attracting EdTech Twitter followers? Let us know below!

 

Remixed image courtesy of Flickr, *saxon*