Are you a HR Twitter Virgin?

Apparently, Sarah Jessica Parker is a Twitter Virgin. But, are you a HR Twitter Virgin?

There is a lot of hype about Twitter, a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables users to send and read messages or Tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the authors profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers.

We know HR do use social media , see our article and the downloadable report on HR Social Networks UK Trends. HR needs to be all over social media trends to understand how its being used and the transformational impact on our organisations. See for example What a Social Media Policy Looks Like and Social Networking What HR Needs to Know

Many people who are interested in people management and HR use Twitter, however, our feeling is that only a tiny proportion of HR Professionals, Consultants and HRO Vendors that we know, for example on LinkedIn are getting involved. We thought we would try and move things along a bit by explaining why we like Twitter and a few tips on getting started.

We like Twitter because it provides a constant live stream of information including links to articles, blogs, resources and opinions from around the World. Subjects we are interested in such as leadership, HR, talent management, performance management, employee engagement, technology and outsourcing are well represented now on Twitter. Its a bit like having your own 24-7 live, personalised newsfeed. And its free.

In HR for example, some of our favourite twitter feeds include @HRMagazine , @CIPD , @HRBartender (one of our favourite HR Bloggers) or @MartinCouzins (from XpertHR).

We have noticed how ideas that often start as a short 'Tweet', get shaped from feedback and responses, develop into articles and some might even convert into actions in the real world. That is powerful.

It is reassuring in a way, that Twitter behaviour reflects the real-world. Watch out for the brand promoters, the witty, the controversial, the curious and the helpful. See for example The Six Twitter Types . Ignore the bossy Twitter evangelists who shout 'I tweet therefore I am – if you don't have followers you are in the dark ages'. This is just not true. It is a bit like saying you must read a newspaper every day. If you are interested in reading articles on the web or have lots of things to say and are happy to go public then great, if not don't. It's your choice.

Here is our Guide for HR Twitter Virgins with some useful resources to get you started.

1. Get a Twitter account, choose your username and upload your picture from LinkedIn . Add your bio and include words with which you want to be found with. There is no need to reveal who you work if you don't want to. Many people have more than one Twitter account for 'work' and 'personal'.

2. Search for topics you are interested in with keywords, e.g. HR, OD, Change, Leadership, Sarah Jessica Parker and you will see people who are into the same things as you. Follow them and you will see their tweets on your Tweet Stream.

3. The Twitter web-site is fine, but we use HootSuite which is free and allows you to view subject streams or group your followers. It also allows you to shorten web-links which is useful as you only have 140 characters.

4. There is an etiquette and terminology on Twitter, see for example, How to Tweet Politely but you will pick this up soon enough.

5. Finally, follow me @AndySpence and say hello.

If you need any more help to get started, here is the Mashable guide to using Twitter and Twitter Tutorials on You Tube

When you have your Twitter username up and running, why not join the London HR tweet-up and meet other people, in person, discussing topical issues in HR? If interested, register here Connecting HR: the London HR tweet-up.

When you get started, check out our article HR Transformers on Twitter with lots of lists of interesting people to follow.

Whether you are a first-timer on Twitter, or more experienced, please share your thoughts and tips by commenting below.

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