4 Twitter Features You Should Know

Social networks change frequently, adding new features, refining others, even eliminating features that the companies that own them deem unnecessary or obsolete. Even if you’ve been using Twitter for a while, you may not be taking full advantage of all of its features, both new and old.

Here are four things to do on Twitter to improve the way you use it and to freshen your Twitter feed:

1. Leverage Twitter Lists

If you’re looking to clean up your Twitter feed or to organize other people’s feeds into categories to more easily access specific tweet content, revisit Twitter Lists. Lists are not a new feature, however, you may be underutilizing them.

Some types of Twitter Lists include:

• Topics or Interests – sort other accounts by topics such as Health, Breaking News, Mindfulness, Parenting or Sports.
• Media List – build a List of key media contacts on Twitter to build relationships
• Industry – keep track of what’s happening in your own industry by selecting relevant information sources
• Competitors – make a private List to track content from competitive companies

You have the option of creating public or private Twitter Lists. When you create a public one, the accounts you’ve listed receive a notification that they’ve been added to your List. Conversely, notifications are not sent when you’re using private Lists.

A helpful aspect of Twitter Lists is that you don’t have to follow another account to add them to one of your Lists so this reduces the noise on your main Twitter feed. By adding them to a public list, you also have the chance to get on their radar to start a dialogue.

2. Upload Multiple Images

A study of Twitter feeds by Buffer found that pictures triple the rate of others retweeting your tweets and nearly double the rate of likes your tweet receives. Varying up the images and image layouts you use on your Tweets create visual interest and attract more attention. If you typically upload one image per tweet, try uploading two, three or even four images to your post to create a photo collage. While the limit of photos you are able to upload to a single tweet is four, multiple images might better illustrate your content than a single image.

3. Post and Comment with animated GIFs

Given the popularity of images in social media, don’t shy away from using animated GIFs in your tweets or even your comments on other people’s tweets. Twitter has built-in GIF options as an option when you compose a tweet. Simply click on the GIF icon below the tweet field to open up a panel featuring popular GIF categories such as Agree, Dance, Good Luck, Thank You, and Thumbs Up.

Browse through or use a search term to find the one that enhances a tweet or represents the entire sentiment or message you’d like to convey. Keep in mind that animated GIFs are typically used for humor but may also come off as sarcastic or ironic. Pick GIFs that are in line with your brand image and use sparingly.

4. Tweet Live Video Streaming

When should you stream live video on Twitter? Use the same criteria when considering streaming live video on Twitter as you do when considering other live video streaming platforms including Facebook Live and Instagram Live:

• Do you have something timely or relevant to say that requires immediate broadcast?
• Do you have the right person on your team – or are you the right person – to handle a live video stream (poised, articulate, comfortable with both scripted and non-scripted presentations)?
• Do you have a setting conducive to live broadcasting with sufficient light and low noise for a good quality video?

Examine the tweets others are responding to by going to analytics.twitter.com and checking the data on your Top Tweets. Pick topics to live tweet about that are on target for your brand. Be careful to not come off as tone deaf to what is happening in current events, your industry, community and the world around you.

To start tweeting a live video stream, click the button for composing a tweet then click on the camera button. Instead of capturing a still image, swipe to the Live option. Set up your live stream before clicking the Go Live button with the option appearing across the top of your screen: Flash; Reverse Camera; Audio Only vs. Video, and Adding a Guest. You can also add your location to better target your tweet.

Once you have the right settings, compose your opening tweet to introduce your live broadcast including one to two appropriate hashtags. Live broadcasts on any social network can garner more attention than a static tweet.

Because new features roll out regularly on the popular social networks like Twitter, it can be hard to keep up. You don’t need to use all features all the time, and not all new features will suit your brand. Try the ones that make sense for the image you want to project and keep using the ones that improve the overall impact of your communications and outreach efforts.