Welcome to all the folks I met at the HSUS Taking Action for Animals Conference in Washington, DC this weekend! I was truly impressed with the quality of the conference, exhibitors and presenters (and the food was pretty awesome, too!). This is the best HSUS conference I’ve been to so far, definitely.

If you’re joining us from TAFA, welcome! I know I talked to quite a few people who are a bit lost when it comes to social media, although you know it’s important and something you need to do. This reinforces my commitment even further to The Social Animal, to make it a resource for animal welfare professionals, to teach you how to use these tools.

It seems that the most mystifying social media tool for everybody is Twitter. Some people think that Twitter is really hard to grasp, but it’s really fairly simple. Here is a glossary of Twitter terms (only the basics) so you can get a handle on the vocabulary.  You feel a little silly at first saying the words… (“I tweeted!” sounds a little too close to another childlike proclamation) but it’s all part of the fun.

So what can you USE Twitter for? Chances are you’re not interested in telling people what movie you saw last night, how cute your boyfriend is or what you ate for lunch. But Twitter must be good for something, or millions of businesses and nonprofits wouldn’t be using it, right?

Here are some reasons I use Twitter.

• I don’t always have time to blog
• It’s happening in “real time“
• I can get answers immediately to just about any question I would ask
• People on Twitter are mobilized and plugged in. if you ask them to do something to help you (provided you don’t ask all the time) they WILL. Examples: calling legislators, taking an emergency foster, spreading the word about important news, last-minute volunteers
• To drive traffic to our main OK Humane web site

I’ll give you some examples of how I use Twitter on behalf of the Central Oklahoma Humane Society (I’m @okhumane on Twitter if you want to follow me). These are actual Tweets (messages) that I’ve posted on Twitter, and what my intended use was.

processing 5 adorable chi x puppies and their sweet mama at our clinic this morning. Available for adoption in about 6 weeks! (self-promotion)

@kyhumane Yes, the puppy mill legislation passed out of committee! Now onto the full senate; if it passes, it becomes law! (conversation/participation/advocacy)

@skinnyhorse Glad you’ll be at the Social Media Seminar at the HSUS Expo; I’ll be presenting and can’t wait to meet you! #TAFA (networking)

New blog post: HB 1332 Passes Out Of Senate Appropriations Committee http://www.okhumaneblog.com
(announcing new blog post)

PQA opponents are showing up in droves at the Capitol…will YOU show up to support Oklahoma dogs? http://www.okhumaneblo … (call to action)

Interested in puppy mill legislation in Oklahoma? Join the conversation http://is.gd/pHRc
(education/being a resource)

So there you go. And you STILL have no idea what I ate for lunch!

Soon I’ll put a video on this site that will walk you through how to set up a Twitter account and modify your settings. Check back soon!

So it seems like the tool you all most want to learn about is Twitter. There’s still a lot of mystery (and even animosity) surrounding Twitter, and I’m not entirely sure why. I think it’s easy to dismiss as something frivolous, faddy, and many people don’t see how it can benefit their nonprofit organization. In fact, I posit that it’s even BETTER for nonprofits than for regular companies, because Twitter (like all social networks) is about PEOPLE.

What are you more likely to send to a friend? A message about a mother cat and her kittens in need, or a company sending you a message about its latest product? People connect with issues in ways they never will connect with companies or products. And with animals, we have the distinct advantage of being able to show cute pictures of our “causes”!

So seriously, we need to all get with the program and learn all we can about using Twitter. It may be “the latest thing,” it may be a fad–for surely some even better tool will come out in a few months. But this trend is here to stay: the trend of social networks, the trend of people connecting with people in ever-unfolding ways.

I’m going to write a lot more about Twitter in the next few days, and of course, show you exactly how to set up accounts and get started with Twitter. But for now, I’d like to share this video with you so you can get the overall idea of what Twitter is all about.