Get started on Twitter
Getting started with Twitter is easy. The first thing is to sign up with an account.
You need to provide your name, email address and password, as well as a username which will identify you to other potential followers.
The name of your social media profile is how users will find you on social media, so you must pick a name which is reflective of you and your research. Due to character limits, it is not always possible to have your full title as your profile name, so you may need to abbreviate the title while still being descriptive.
You should avoid cryptic names, complicated acronyms, special characters (for example, underscores and dashes) and numbers. This will make your name memorable and easy to describe to people when promoting your channel in person.
For example: @StAChemistry not @St_Andrews_Chemistry1
Most social media channels require you to include a biography (bio) which outlines who you are and what your page is about. Different channels have different character limits for the biography section, so you will need to adapt your biography accordingly.
You should include the following information in your biography:
- who you are (name of School, department, centre, unit)
- the main purpose of your channel
- affiliation with the University of St Andrews
- relevant link to your website, blog, University web page, etc.
Good examples of current University of St Andrews academics profile and bios on Twitter: