Lessons I Learned from my First Time Live-Tweeting

Let’s face it, this digital era of social media? It’s confusing. Or at least, I’m confused (and I am indeed a Gen Z kid). While I feel somewhat a master at all things Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, Twitter had always been an unknown territory to me.

I love to write. I have been creating stories of my own as soon as I could learn to read them. So when Twitter started to gain popularity among my group of friends, I struggled to fit the fad of the platform with the harsh word count and character restrictions.

Consequently, that’s also why I decided to take this course. I wanted to gain familiarity with platforms that I hadn’t become accustomed to, and overall, improve my storytelling skills across all mediums.

So here are some of the lessons I’ve learned from my first time live-tweeting an event:

1. Provide more background context. My first tweet of the event dove right in to the action, which is a great attention getter and hook for short stories, chapters, and so on. A tweet? Maybe not so much. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It’s raining. They’re one player and team captain down. He’s subbing and has never met the team before… what could possibly go wrong? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/football?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#football</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680732607787720704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> While I’m aware that I’m talking about my boyfriend, my audience may not, so a little more context there (or in that thread in general) definitely could have helped.
2. Grab their attention, but be specific. I followed the initial tweet with some added context in a way which I felt may further hook the audience’s attention. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Did I mention he’s from Australia? And doesn’t have any of his equipment with him? No cleats, no shin pads, just a love for the game <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/live?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#live</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680733023711686657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
3. Stick to the basics of storytelling -how are you going to build your rising action? Just because you’re live-tweeting, doesn’t mean your thread can’t include a climax or rising action. I’ve created tension in my tweets but communicating the internal struggles of my main protagonist (my boyfriend) as well as celebrating his feats with my audience each time he (or his team) scored a goal. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CLEARLY IT DIDN’T MATTER! First five minutes in and he’s got the first goal of the game!!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gobilly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#gobilly</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680734471136636929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
4. Remove the clutter. Just as concise diction helps clean up a story’s main message, a simple tweet (or thread) is better for the platform… And perhaps not every update on the event is necessary. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2-0 for team subs! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680736915782524928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> (the tweet I probably could have foregone in my live-tweeting)
5. Add in perspectives/emotion. In the live-tweeting of his game, I shared the confusions I experienced with the sport’s formalities, the goals scored by the other team, and even the brief shoving-match (kerfuffle) of players to entice emotion from my audience. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There was a kerfuffle, some shoving, and several shots aimed. Some.. scored? Honestly we were both very lost on what actually went in there… <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccersub?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccersub</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680759465593937920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Overall, my first time spectating for my boyfriend resulted in some hard lessons learned on using Twitter for updates.

It may not be my most favourite platform, but it certainly has a place amongst the other social mediums and absolutely requires a different skillset for storytelling than I am used to.

Also, thanks Billy for allowing me to use your game as my homework assignment!