STEP 1. Find a name and create an account
It can be your name, nickname or company name. If you or your organisation are not well known in the sector, you might want to choose a Twitter name that says something about the topic you will be tweeting about, eg @woodfuelUK. Many good names are likely to be taken already!
STEP 2. Follow other people
Follow someone you already know and who is likely to tweet about things that interest you. Or, follow some of the individuals I suggest in the box (see next page). You will grow your network by seeing who these people follow. You can search Twitter for people you know, and after a while, Twitter will also suggest you people you might be interested in! There is always a clear “follow” button on people’s profiles, similar to “add friend” on Facebook.
STEP 3. Read tweets you get from the people you follow, like on the Facebook timeline!
You will be able to see your stream of tweets either when you log on to your account on the Twitter website or via the Twitter app on your mobile device. If you follow too many people and you want to filter out what tweets you see, you can create lists of the most interesting people you are following and decide when you want Twitter to notify you of tweets (eg only if certain people tweet). I follow over 1000 people but I only get notified of tweets of about 50 people I find most relevant. I have also saved some searches for hashtags, eg if anyone tweets UKWAS in a tweet I can see it easily.
If you need more information, visit the Twitter Help Centre (https://support.twitter.com)
and search for “using hashtags on Twitter”.
Join the UK forestry community on Twitter – something to get started
1. Some key people to follow and what they tweet about
@forestsandwood
Confor’s Twitter communications
@andyheald
General forestry issues, particularly certification and UK productive forestry
@johnweirFC
Great for UK forestry resilience, alternative commercial species and climate change
@woodlandsteward
Martin Jones forestry consultant based in Shropshire
2. Follow UK forestry organisations – get instant news
Institute of Chartered Foresters
@TheICF
The Royal Forestry Society
@royal_forestry
Grown in Britain
@growninbritain
3. Interested in International forestry as well? Have a look here
@FSC_IC
Main twitter feed from the FSC headquarters in Bonn
@CIFOR
Great for keep up to date on international forest research
@MxdWood
For the latest on certification issues; great blog
4. Search for topics, using hashtags #
In general these tend to be mainly used during a conference or event – eg #FSCGA or #APF2014.
However it is also worth searching for: