Tweet tweaking!!

The use of online networks is something that is very topical for me currently in my workplace.  While I have had a Facebook account for a few years now, I mainly use this in a personal capacity.  I prefer to keep Facebook as a personal platform to connect with friends.

Recently I have created my own Twitter account @BredaCarey to use in conjunction with our institutional library twitter account.  This is a recent development for us here in the library and we are still on a learning curve with it.  We are slowly building up our follower base. Our aim would be to place this account within our own college community and also within the wider national library community as a whole.

In setting up this account we had to follow the parameters as laid down by our institution regarding the use of social media.  We have also consulted fellow stakeholders such as our Students Union regarding tips and advice.

Some useful tips that we have learned include:

- the busiest time for students to look at their social media feed is on a Sunday evening, when they are returning to college and are sitting on a bus or a train.  It is a good idea to time the release of important tweets/facebook posts to coincide with this window of opportunity.

- the application of the 89/20 rule in terms of the nature of your postings.  20% of postings should concern serious postings, whilst 80% of postings should be of a more light and entertaining nature.  For example, on a Friday we would have Friday fun facts, which concern some aspect of a library related theme.

- always be prepared for negative comments, it is important to be able to take the good with the bad.


Twitter and Facebook are great platforms to communicate with your student base, but it is time consuming gathering material for posts.  Overall, the effort is worth it, as it expands the reach of the library in communicating and indeed marketing and advertising services.