Most organisations know they need to get on board with social media. Many organisations are giving it a go. Few (especially those of the larger variety) are doing it well.

Channel Nine is a good example of a botched attempt.

This summer during cricket’s television coverage, the commentators have made mention of Channel Nine’s new Twitter account – @9commentaryteam. The commentators have encouraged viewers to follow their account on Twitter, with (Ian Healey I think it was) saying – “you might even see one or two from one of the boys!”

They have lived up to their promises and provided only a few more than ‘one or two’ tweets throughout the summer. It’s been a disappointing effort.

• The first tweet came out on 21 January.
• Since then, a total of 16 tweets have gone out. Two of them use ALL CAPS – a pretty standard no-no in any written communication. For example:

“HOW MANY DO YOU THINK AUSTRALIA WILL GET? QUICK POLL AROUND THE COMMENTARY BOX SEES AUSTRALIA ARE LOOKING AT 300 PLUS”

• None of the tweets have been particularly interesting, insightful or re-tweetable. In fact, it’s hard to see why anyone would want to follow the @9commentaryteam.

This Twitter account has 781 followers without any effort or quality content. Channel Nine has a great opportunity to harness social media (obviously people want to follow them), but instead they have wasted it with poor strategy and/or implementation. So I’d like to offer two pieces of advice to Channel 9 and any other organisations (and especially churches) looking to enter the social media stage:

1. Social media is a two-way street, and this has two implications. Firstly, people will follow you because they think you’ve got something to say. To suggest that “you might even see one or two from one of the boys” reflects a complete misunderstand about the channel – if you’re not planning on tweeting, why promote the account? If I follow your account, I expect to see something from you. Secondly, you need to show an interest in your followers. The 9commentaryteam follows just two of their followers, and have replied to two tweets. Again, if you’re not producing content and you’re not interested in your followers, why are you using social media?

2. The second piece of advice is related very closely to the first. Train the people who will be tweeting. Untrained tweeting isn’t as dangerous as driving without a license, but it sure doesn’t do your reputation any favours. So show the tweeters the value and power of social media (for instance, check out ‘15+ resources to learn more about social media‘ and ‘Responding to the internet revolution‘). Show them how other organisations are using it (‘15 ways for churches to use Twitter‘). Show them how to tweet. Show them how not to tweet. Tell them that ALL CAPS are bad. Tell them that engaging with their followers is good. There aren’t any rules in social media, but following a few simple conventions will go a long way to getting the most out of it.

Let’s see how the team goes on Twitter this evening during the Twenty20 match!