Tweeting the Station

This is a placeholder for something I hope to get to tonight or in the next couple of days – the uses of twitter in public radio.

We saw the power of KPBS News during the California wildfires, in the effective ways they used a variety of new tools, including Twitter… but what do you do when your city of license isn’t on fire?

Ken George at WBUR has turned the lights back on at WBUR’s twitter account and wrote yesterday (thanks, acarvin, for pointing me to it) about what the station twitter account should be.

I remain uncertain — to the point of apprehension — about what I should “Tweet” about. Do you want WBUR news updates? Irreverent musings? Programming information? Personal trivia? Shout-outs to my peeps? A running chronology of my day?

Early comments indicate people want a combination of all of the above.

I flipped the switch on WFPL’s twitter account today, and when I suggested to Andy Carvin that I’d emphasize the newsfeed over (but not to the exclusion of) the interactive element, he suggested I re-think that. And he’s right – twitter is more about conversation and engagement and less marketing, promotion and station bullhorn.

Anyway, I’ll write more about our plan for twitter later.