Hertfordshire County Council

Transcription

1 Using Twitter for Communication A Guide for Schools The Hertfordshire ICT Team Updated October 2012

2 Disclaimer This information is provided 'as is', without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, noninfringement, compatibility, security and accuracy. Information here is provided in good faith and presumed to be accurate at the time of writing. We do not warrant that the information contained in this material is correct. In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damages whatsoever arising from use or loss of use of, data or profits arising out of or in connection with the use of this information. Hertfordshire County Council has no affiliation with Twitter in any way. We evaluate the relevant sites which we provide links to but HCC does not give approval or endorsement of those websites and we are not responsible for their content or accuracy. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute arising under these Terms and Conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. Hertfordshire County Council

3 Using Twitter as a tool for school communication Twitter is a popular micro blogging service which is used by millions of people around the world. It allows the user to post online a short item of news, be it personal, business etc. Each post is known as a tweet and cannot exceed 140 characters. All the posts made by a user are displayed on their Twitter feed which is a webpage that can be accessed, if it is made public, by anyone, regardless of whether they have a Twitter account or not. Users can decide to have their Twitter feed private, in which case only people who have their own Twitter accounts, and have been allowed to see your feed, can access it. People who have their own Twitter account can choose to follow another user. When they are logged in to Twitter they can see a feed of the updates posted by all the people they follow. If you choose to have your tweets protected or private, then only people you have approved will see your updates in their feed. Schools that use Twitter report that is an easy way of keeping the school community updated with short pieces of information. Because Twitter is accessed by many from mobile devices such as smartphones, it means they can receive your news any time and any place. Similarly, it is possible to make tweets from mobile devices, so you do not need to be sitting at your desk to be able to share important information. Sometimes Twitter users direct their tweets at another user, e.g. to ask them a question. This is done by putting sign before their username in the tweet. You can set your account so that if someone sends you message, you will receive an or text message. Twitter account holders can also send private direct messages to another user who follows them. You cannot send direct messages to a user who does not follow you. Using services such as Twitter can be particularly beneficial when groups have gone away on school journeys. Short, regular updates are usually very well received by parents back at home, anxious to hear that their children are safe and well. Facts you should be aware of: Unless you make your updates private, your tweets can be seen by anyone online. Children under 13 should not be using Twitter. For school use, this is a tool for adults to use to communicate with parents, governors, teachers etc. You should give your Twitter account an official name to keep it formal and anonymous.

4 You should not follow other individuals from your official school account. It is best to keep it impersonal. People can follow you, but do not follow them back. It is possible to send direct private messages to other Twitter users who follow you. It is possible for other Twitter users to post tweets which are tweets aimed at you. You cannot prevent or delete these unless the person who made the post agrees to delete it. People who follow the person who made the post, or anyone searching for tweets including your Twitter name, will be able to see (if the tweets are not protected.) If your tweets are not made private, anyone with a Twitter account can retweet your posts. This means that they share your tweet in their own Twitter feed. Other users of Twitter around the world may post inappropriate content, use inappropriate language etc. This will not be displayed as anything to do with you, but users may come across this when using the service, just as with most public webbased communication tools. This reference is for general information and is not intended to be an in depth user guide for Twitter. When posting content, the school should follow the same guidelines for the safe use of images, video and information that it would use for a school website or any other form of electronic communication. Guidance on the safe use of images, from Hertfordshire County Council, can be found in document CSF0072 which can be downloaded from: Creating your school account 1. Go to and fill in the New to Twitter? information. Then click the sign-up button. 2. You will be taken to a confirmation page where your chosen details will be confirmed. Check them and click on Create my account. 3. You will then be taken to a short tutorial, with suggestions of famous people to follow, as well as a tool for finding people you know. You can skip these steps if you wish.

5 4. A confirmation will have been sent to the address you specified. You need to access this and click on the confirmation link to validate your account. Adjusting your privacy settings 1. From your username at the top right of the screen you can access the drop down menu. Choose Settings. 2. There are a number of settings you can choose from, accessed from the menu at the left of the screen. 3. Suggested settings are as follows. These are, of course, just suggestions and you may choose different ones according to your needs. Account: This is where you choose whether your tweets are public or private. Your username provides part of the web address people will need if they want to see your tweets without needing a Twitter account. For example: (note, this is a fictitious address.) Check this box if you want your tweets to be private.

6 If you want to deactivate your Twitter account you can do so from the link at the very bottom of the Account page. Mobile: You can set up your account to be linked to your mobile phone, so you can tweet via text message and receive texts when other people have mentioned your username in their tweets. With smartphones now having internet access, you should be able to download a mobile app for your smart device. Notifications: You can choose which notifications you will receive from here. You should probably leave all the Messages and Activity notifications enabled, so you can monitor the account most efficiently. Profile: This information appears on your public profile, so consider this when completing the page. You can upload your school logo to use as your profile picture.

7 You might want to put your school website address here and a short biog about the school. Using Twitter 1. Now you have set up your account and are ready to start using Twitter for communication. If you have set your tweets to private, you will receive an when someone requests access (assuming you have left this option enabled, see above.) If you want to see who is following you, whether your tweets are private or not, click on the View My Profile Page link at the top left of the page, under your username, which you will see if you are logged in. From this page you can see who follows you, who you follow and more. 2. To make a tweet, click on the home button at the top of the page and write your tweet in the Compose new tweet box. Remember to keep it short. You can see how many characters you have left at the bottom right of the box. When you have written your tweet, click the tweet button! You can attach a picture using the camera icon beneath the tweet box. 3. To see if anyone has mentioned you using symbol, click on