Five Elements of a Perfect Tweet

The Barrington 220 response to using Twitter as a professional learning network (PLN) has exploded this school year!

Several schools have highlighted teachers using Twitter by adding posters or signs showing Twitter accounts outside of classrooms. Since more and more teachers are beginning to use Twitter regularly, I thought this would be a good time to review five elements of what makes the "perfect" tweet.

The perfect Twitter post has five key parts: the message, a hashtag, a tag, a link, and a photo or video.

The Message

Twitter is currently reviewing the number of characters allowed in a single tweet, but as of right now, you are allotted 140 characters per tweet. Therefore, word choice is a very important aspect of creating a tweet. Of the five elements, the most important aspect of a perfect tweet is the message.

The Hashtag

Hashtags serve as labels for tweets. Adding a hashtag allows others to search for and find your tweet. For example, adding the Barrington 220 hashtag #bsd220 to a tweet allows anyone searching for recent tweets from our district to find them easily. Searching the hashtag #sped would find tweets related to special education. Here is a list of educational hashtags as compiled by Jerry Blumengarten, @cybraryman1.

The Tag

Tagging someone in a post is like cc-ing (carbon-copying) them on email. It ensures that your tweet will trigger a notification for whomever you’ve tagged to see that tweet. Tagging someone with a tweet also allows those who are following you to learn about other accounts you might be connected with. For example, tagging @barrington220 in a tweet, would allow others to become aware of Barrington 220's Twitter account.

The Link

Most Twitter posts also include some sort of link. Examples of links include a resource, another person's post, or a link to a blog post. The link is the most optional of the five elements of the perfect tweet.

The Photo or Video

A really good tweet includes media. Adding a picture, video—or a GIF or Bitmoji—brings interest and intrigue to your tweet. Photos are great, but adding videos of 30 seconds or less allow followers to gain an even deeper understanding of your tweeted message. For example, this tweet, from Shilpa Vakayil, @shilpavakayil, shows a video of her class.