Twitter Tips for Healthcare Executives

If you work in the non-clinical world of healthcare, perhaps you're a healthcare executive. Maybe you're a physician executive. Regardless of your title, you probably appreciate the importance of social networking if you work in a non-clinical setting. What are you doing to build your social network?

Twitter is a powerful social networking tool that many healthcare executives are trying to leverage, but may people simply haven't spent the time to learn how to properly use Twitter. Here are a few practical tips that can help you grow your social network by using Twitter:

Follow back. You don't have to follow everyone back, but it will help you grow your network if you follow people who end up following you. This is especially true for people who are following more than 2,000 people. Why is this so important?

• Twitter has a "follow limit" for people who follow more than 2,000 people. This follow limit is calculated based on your followers and follows a 10% rule.
• So, if I have 3,000 followers, I'm able to follow a maximum of 3,300 people (3,000 + 10% = 3,300). If I want to follow more than 3,300 people, then I need more followers first.
  
• Therefore, if you want to be followed by people who have over 2,000 followers, make sure you follow them back. Otherwise, that person may eventually unfollow you and you'll be stuck with fewer followers.
  

Retweet, Interact, and Reply. It's important to interact with others on Twitter. Remember, it's a social networking tool. Retweet messages that impress you. Reply to others and start mini conversations. Interact with the community and build your network.

Follow Friday. Every Friday, people recommend others to their followers. You'll see tweets that have #FF or #followfriday included in the message. Take advantage of Follow Friday recommendations.

Start Early. I really wish I had started using Twitter a few years ago. I didn't appreciate the importance and value of Twitter until very recently. Therefore, I'm playing "catch up" right now. Start early and build your social network so that it grows exponentially.