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Today’s lesson, boys and girls, is about how to maximize your Twitter space. What do you do when the message that you want to convey is more than 140 characters or can’t be fully conveyed in characters at all, such as an image?
The Good News
Well, the good news is that the Twitter gods have heard you. On June 14, 2012, Twitter released a tool known as “Twitter Cards.” Twitter Cards, simply put, are a method to paperclip attachments to tweets.
This new phenomenon boasts six different variations that allow news articles, pictures, songs and videos, as well as much more, to be included with your tweets. In addition to that, you get another 200 characters to say what you want to say. This application has a great deal of un-tapped potential that, if struck, could be an amazing tool for people to share pertinent information about their business with clients, family and friends.
The Bad News
The not-so-great news about Twitter Cards is that no one has heard of them! When super-savvy, data addicted gadget geeks don’t even know what that means, it’s not a good sign. Somehow, the good news about Twitter Cards hasn’t yet made it very far down the Internet highway or perhaps users just don’t see a need for it.
The Reality
There are several blogs that explain this new phenomenon. “Three easy steps,” is the website’s promise. However, that turns out not to be the case. The first problem that you’ll run into will occur when you click on the word “documentation” hoping for some clarification. That hyperlink only brings you to the page that you are already on. It literally gets you nowhere fast.
The second problem you’ll encounter is when you click on “meta tags” and subsequently stare at the screen. You’ll be certain that the site is trying to communicate to you in English, but the message is lost in translation. The “validator tool” is almost helpful. You can fill in the blank fields with helpful cues about what it’s asking.
However, the instructions for validating your Twitter Card and having your URL approved aren’t quite written in layman’s terms. In addition, if by some miracle you figure out what it’s asking you to do, there’s never a succinct confirmation or “here is the next step.”
This tweet tool definitely needs some tweaking. Twitter Cards may very well be an excellent resource for businesses, but until more intelligence is available about how to use them, Twitter Card lessons will be equal parts algebra and mythology.
BIO: Alicia Lawrence is a content coordinator for a variety of clients including Oil Scams. Her work has been published by the Association for Business Communication, Yahoo! Small Business, and Spin Sucks. Find Alicia on Google+
