Hello, my name is Dan McDonnell and I am a Community Manager for the American Evaluation Association. My last couple of posts have been focused around evaluating Tweets and Twitter data as well as sharing useful Twitter tools for evaluators. This week, I’d like to talk about an upcoming change to Twitter to keep an eye on.
In the coming weeks, Twitter will be giving users’ profile pages a major facelift. A small group of Twitter users, including First Lady Michelle Obama, already have the new page enabled. Besides just looking sharp, the new and improved Twitter profile page adds a number of new features that can come in very handy for users.
Rad Resource: Show Off Your Top Tweets
One of the biggest features that Twitter is advertising is the new ability to display a list of your top tweets prominently. Imagine a fellow evaluation professional who is not currently following you sees you mentioned in a Tweet, and clicks through to your profile to learn more. If they did this today, they’d see whatever your most recent tweet was – whether it was sharing a tip on #dataviz, or checking in at a local eatery. Post update, your tweets that were most engaging (whether retweeted, favorited or responded to) will feature prominently – which helps you put your best foot forward on Twitter.
Rad Resource: Pin a Favorite Tweet
Have a tweet that you feel really represents YOU, or the reason that you’re on Twitter? On your new Twitter profile page, you can select your favorite tweet that you’ve sent, and wear it like a badge of honor. Like the above feature, this opportunity allows for you to really customize the first meeting that many Twitter users will have with you, helping to make an introduction on your terms. See how the band Weezer has taken advantage of this on their new page.
There are a couple more features that the new pages offer, as well as some changing guidelines for the design of your Twitter page – but we’ll save those for a future post. For now, start sifting through your Tweets to find your favorite, and keep your eyes peeled for the update!
Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.
Dan McDonnell is a regular Saturday contributor to AEA365, where he blogs on social media-related topics for evaluators. You can reach Dan on Twitter at @Dan_McD.