By Jason Wagner, Oculus Inc.

In the last couple of months it seems as if everyone has been jumping onto the Twitter bandwagon. What started with a bunch of like-minded tech savvy, early-adopters has now grown by some estimates to over 15 million visitors per month. There are now thousands of blog posts on the subject, either describing what Twitter is, what it does, or why someone should or should not be on Twitter. None of which really focus on how an architect might use it. For an architect, Twitter can be a potentially valuable tool in your arsenal if you know how to use it effectively. By now you are probably asking yourself, "What can I get out of Twitter to help me as an architect: A) Get more business, B) Be more visible in the design community, or C) Meet and network with people who need architectural services." Twitter will not automatically do these things for you. With anything, reward comes after work. No one can tell you why you or your company needs to be on Twitter. You need to determine whether Twitter is something you are interested in. If Twitter is something you think you might want to pursue, these tips will help you get the most out of your experience.

1. When selecting your profile, figure out if you are going to BE the company, or if you are going to be an employee IN the company.

This is very important because it will give you an insight as to how much personal information and interaction you will need to provide in your tweets.  If you are a popular architecture firm like HOK, SOM, or Morphosis, you could essentially create a profile, link to your website or blog, sit back, and watch the followers sign up.  Tweet now and then about the newest project or an issue with a client (assuming there is not a non-disclosure clause), or your trip to Sri Lanka with a photo, and you are golden.  However, other companies will need to get more personal and interactive with their twitter profile.

If you tweet as an average everyday run of the mill architecture firm, here are the people that will most likely follow you:  architecture students, other architects, suppliers and product manufacturers, building and trade journals, and random spammers and people looking to boost their follower count.  You will probably tweet about issues as they pertain to architects and the industry. One idea is to snap a photo of your most recent project and tell everyone about a new client you just landed or a project you completed on time and under budget.  You can interact by getting more personal and interactive with your followers, but it will probably take you longer to get people to regularly follow you after you follow them.

If you tweet as an employee in the firm you have much more leeway with what people will accept and who will follow you.  People will see you as a person with an opinion not just another company trying to spread the word about their business.  You can tweet more about your life, which is the essence of Twitter, connecting with your followers, interacting with them, and sharing information.  Your followers can run the gambit depending upon who you decide to follow and what you tweet about.  If you are into sustainability it is possible to get a lot of environmentally conscious followers.  If you want to have more of a presence in your community you can find followers from your area, maybe people you know outside of the office.  Unless you are a “starchitect” or one of the more famous architecture firms, this may be a better route to take to get value from your Twitter experience.  If you have already made a decision to be an employee in a firm, and realize that now you want to switch to being a firm, you can.  Twitter lets you change your username whenever you want.  It knows who you are since a name is just a name. For example, one day when I log on I may see tweets from Jack Smith. If he decided to change his name to the firm name I would then be receiving tweets from JSM Architects.  Depending upon the conditions there is always a chance of follower attrition, but there will be others to take their place.

2. If you tweet it, they will come.

Before you can have followers you must have content.  You are less likely to be followed back if you only have a couple of updates.  That may have been fine in the early days of Twitter, but it has gone mainstream with at some estimates over 15 million visitors a month.  Now, users familiar with Twitter are more picky about who they will follow, with the exception of those who follow anyone and everyone in the hopes that they will get followed back to increase their follower count.  So, what is your content?  Well, as stated above, talking about projects that you are working on, or linking to some press release about something you have done is only part of it.  That is the selling part.  That is what people do not want to see.  While you might be following people and your contributions of the same content seem dispersed through the twitter feed of your followers. If someone were to visit your profile, all they would see are your tweets, and none of those from the people you follow. One can quickly see that all of your tweets were about the same things over and over again. To offset this, provide value to your followers. If you find something interesting, tweet it out. Again adding personal tweets, or responding to people you follow will help engage your community of followers and others who might not currently follow you. How you do this is explained in depth later.

3. Just because you follow someone, it doesn’t mean you are talking to them.

This is where Twitter is vastly different than say, a chat room.  Sometimes it’s hard to remember that not everyone is following everyone else.  If you see something that someone says, and they are not one of your followers, they will not see your tweet in reference to theirs unless you put @ with their username in the tweet.  Also note that unless they are following you, you cannot send them a DM (direct message).  If you see a person out there following 300 people with 3 followers, they don't get it.  No matter what they say, the only people seeing it are the 3 that follow them.  Some other follow tips: do not follow everyone in the “suggested follow” page when you sign up for twitter. Instead, find people by using key word searches and follow users who tweet about things you might be interested in. Using search.twitter.com or tweepsearch.com can help you in your quest. If I could give you one piece of advice it is to be judicious in people you choose to follow. Would you pay money to hear what they have to say? Do you think they will follow you back because they will be interested in you? Do not immediately follow 300 people. Other users will see the disparity in the follow to follower ratio and assume you are a spammer or someone who doesn’t understand Twitter. It requires work and patience to grow your followers. Take your time and you will find out what works best for you.

4. Fill out your bio.  Provide an avatar photo.

This one is not just for architects.  Every user should, at a minimum, have a good photo (or logo if you are a company), a link to something, (website, blog, or otherwise just no MySpace links- it’s a turn-off for other Twitter users), and a good bio with a short blurb about your company.  Note that the bio is searchable and indexed in Google, so instead of full sentences, organize keywords and terms how you would like to be found.  For example, if you are LEED accredited, put down LEED AP in your bio. The Twitter founders have optimized user profiles so they are better ranked in Google. Google searches for your username will typically turn up as the first entry, and if not, at least on the first page.

5. Start getting noticed by providing value, not tweeting about your lunch.

Twitter is more than just telling people what you are doing.  Your followers don't necessarily need to know that you just had tea.  Now, if you just had tea with the Queen of England that would be something to tweet about.  Some users choose to tweet about links they find throughout the day.  Others may have a special skill and tweet tips for other users. For example, if you specialize in dentist office architecture, tweet about issues as they pertain to dentists.  There are dentists on Twitter and it’s likely that they will do Twitter searches.  Your job is to guess at what your target audience might search for and tweet about it.  Tweets don't go away, so even if you tweeted about something a year ago, a dentist today is still able to find it.  Note:  I said tweets don't go away, so if you tweeted about that bender you went on last night, a year from now, someone can find it.  If it’s not something you would want posted on a billboard or sent to your grandmother you might consider not sending it or, if you do, remember to go back and delete it.   Finally, hash tags have been used if you have a particular theme so others can find info on that theme.  #dentist would be a good one for tweets about dentist’s offices.

6. Information is power- utilize search and set up RSS feeds.

Google is envious of Twitter’s ability to track, in real time, keywords in every tweet that is posted.  Considering that millions of tweets are posted a day, and the search goes back to the beginning of Twitter, that is ALOT of information. Information Google would love to get its hands on, along with the ability to perform real-time web search. Once you have figured out what you are looking for, start a search at www.search.twitter.com. You can try it out by selecting keywords.  Once you get one you can then get an RSS feed for it.  Click where it says "Get a feed for this query" and it will take you from there.  Once you get the hang of simple searches.  Click on "Advanced" in the same window and you can do many other things with your search.  Only interested in information that is happening in a specific area? You can localize your search by where tweets originate.  You can also search by specific date range, whether it contains links, even attitude : ) or : (  The possibilities are limitless you just need to work at it to get good results.  Some search terms I have set up are Revit, Building Information Modeling, Facility Management, and I even have client names in my searches so I know if something is happening with one of my national clients.

7. Encourage others in your office (or offices if you have multiple locations) to use Twitter.

The traditional response to social media in the office (if there is one) would be to block employee access at work.  Instead, be proactive and write rules about Social Media use. Here is a link to a great blog post regarding policies for Social Media in the Corporate Workplace with subsequent links to specific examples. Each office is going to be different, but it feels more real if more than one person tweets about your company.  This is especially true if it’s a larger company and they can provide different points of view and reach a different audience.  Identify these people early on who have an interest in social media.  This is not always a young person in the office, and it’s usually not a marketing person.  If possible it should be someone who is doing the work to give a firsthand account of the inner workings and understandings of the architecture profession.  Surprisingly the median age of the average Twitter user is somewhere around 34.

8. Get an application to manage your Twitter stream(s).

Twitter is great, but Twitter through an application such as Tweetdeck, Seesmic Desktop, Hootsuite, or a similar application is even more powerful.  If you have a hundred or so followers it’s easy to manage the conversations and stream through the web interface.  What you will notice though is that you have people you talk with more, or have different things in common than others.  Maybe there are a bunch of local people that you follow, but then you also follow a bunch of architects.  Applications such as those mentioned above allow you to split these people into groups.  Profiling is big on Twitter.  I have groups for architects, but I also have a local group, and other groups for things I am interested in such as news, stocks, celebrities, professional organizations, or whatever. Applications also allow you to more easily follow a greater number of people, search tweets, add and remove followers more easily, and favorite tweets for later.  I would encourage you to try a couple out before settling on one.  Even then I still find myself using Twitter from multiple sources.  I personally use Tweetdeck, but on my phone I have Windows Mobile so I use PockeTwit.  PockeTwit is probably the best out there for Windows Mobile.  Otherwise if you have an iPhone there are MANY choices.  I even use the web sometimes just to get a different view.  If you are already into social media with Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media outlets, try Peoplebrowsr or FriendFeed.  These allow you to aggregate your information into a single application so you can more easily manage announcements and information across multiple platforms.

9. CEO's of fortune 500 companies (and many other smaller companies for that matter) are not on Twitter.

Okay, that was an unfounded statement.  If they are, they are not looking to be marketed to.  This doesn't mean that Twitter is useless.  Just because you are not talking to the CEO of the company it doesn't mean you aren't making an impression.  Twitter is about buzz, it’s about relationships based on 140 characters, it is helping others so they can help others knowing that it will come back to you.  Twitter Karma.  That's what they call it.  What you will begin to find is that the same people on LinkedIn are on Facebook and also on Twitter.  By being visible and giving people information and sharing about yourself you improve your chances of marketing on Twitter. 

10. Retweets, Followfridays and Tweetups oh my!

Now that you understand the basic principles and how to use Twitter, have your Twitter interface set up, created RSS search feeds, and have some followers, it’s time to get real. Here are some other terms and features that you will see on Twitter.

RT= Retweet: This is typically used when you find a good link or bit of info and you want to pass it on to others who might follow you.  Note- just because you see something that has been RT'd a couple of times, it doesn't mean you are too late to send it out again.  RT'ing notifies the person that sent it that you are interested in what they have to say, at the same time allows people who follow you to see it where they might have not gotten it from the source.  Many times people will shorten RT's so it fits without going over 140 characters, or so they can add their own personal comment at the end.  Making your tweets RT friendly is important.  If you constantly use every possible character you will never get retweeted.  Leaving 15 or more characters available at the end allows someone else to send your tweet back out there, without modification.

Followfriday: This obviously occurs on Friday.  #followfriday is used in conjunction with other usernames to let people know that you find a particular user interesting and that they should follow them.  Good #followfriday suggestions usually include a few usernames with a short description why someone should follow them.  I typically "theme" my #followfridays, i.e. "#followfriday @breaking news and @cnnbrk for current up to date news information".  If you are using Tweetdeck each username is highlighted.  If you click on it you can pull up their profile right in the application, follow them if you like, and if you have groups set up, add them to the group straight away, without a lot of steps.

Tweetup: This term is reserved for an actual face to face meeting of Twitter users.  GASP!  Say it ain’t so!  Yes, as much as we like to use social media to stay connected with others, face to face contact is necessary to complete the bond and provide useful networking opportunities.  Many times it’s just a social gathering where you get to know other users at a local establishment over lots of alcohol and good times, but there are also LinkedIn tweetups that are more networking intensive where people come with the expectation that they may walk away with a few business cards at the end of the night.

Favorites: Favorites are a great way to mark something that you see to refer to it later.  If you are working on blog posts, creating favorites helps you bookmark tweets with links or other information that you can refer to at a later date without having to search for it.  It is especially helpful if you are busy at work but still following twitter, or on the road and are following from your phone.  Personally my phone cannot handle a lot of the links I get aside from the occasional Twitpic or two, so I favorite many tweets from my phone using Pocketwit.  I can then go back later when I have more time, read any links and then delete the favorite so I know I looked at it.  Many people do not use this option as much as they could, but if used more I think you would see more retweets later in the day, week, or longer.  As a for instance, you find a new architect friend who is just learning Twitter.  If you have made favorite a tweet that sent my blogpost out, you could then send it to them via RT (retweet) if you think it’s especially helpful info.  Thanks Traci for that great tip.  She is not an architect, but this just means that by only following architects and profession oriented tweets, you miss out on valuable info that others can provide.  If you want to see who made favorite your tweets check out Favotter, or from Google you can type the following in. { site:twitter.com/*/favourites @username } substituting username for whose ever username you want to see.

So how do you use Twitter?

I currently operate two accounts, one for myself that I use to stay in touch with local people and friends, find out about new ideas and people in architecture, stay current on news events, and keep up with various trends.  I try to center many of my non-@reply tweets on architecture, what is happening in St. Louis, news, and brewing since these are my passions. The other is a new page for my employer Oculus Inc. that is more industry related and focused on architecture, information, and users that the company might follow or have influence with.

Some people will be good at using social media tools such as Twitter, and some will not. Even though you may not find your next client directly through Twitter, it’s almost impossible to measure the metrics of viewers and people who might click through to the information you provide. Some of these might be future clients, existing clients, or even consultants looking to partner with someone on the next big proposal. Traditionally architects have been reliant on outbound marketing, traditional networking, and relying on relationships and referrals to promote their business. The new rules of marketing 2.0 will rewrite how architects must market themselves to stay competitive. While Twitter may not be the answer, a company must ask itself if not being on Twitter will adversely affect their chances for work in the future.

I am following you, but how do I find other Architects on Twitter to follow?

There are a few sources I use to find architects on Twitter.  The first being RSS feeds for particular topics I am interested in.  The other is here.  Thanks to @SuButcher for getting architects together across the globe.  She has a great blog too called "Just Practising". Even still there are online directories that one can add themselves to such as Wefollow, Twibes, or even Localtweeps where one can group themselves by zipcode.

Jason Wagner is a Project Manager at Oculus Inc., a 30 person architecture firm in St. Louis Missouri, who’s early adoption of technology, including BIM has helped them secure large projects from even larger competitors.  Realizing that younger less seasoned, or production oriented staff traditionally have fewer professional contacts, Jason began using his interest in social media as a networking tool to accompany the more traditional networking roles of The company’s founders.  This multifaceted plan helps gather as much information as possible about potential clients when going after project leads, and is designed to enhance the available information that these contacts might find when searching for Oculus inc. on the web. www.oculusinc.com