One of the hardest things but also the most vital when using social media is a great Online Identity it's how others will find you and recognise you on Twitter and others services.
This should be as easy as typing in your organisations brand name and seeing if it's available, if it is great but here are a few things to consider when choosing your Twitter Identity.
Don't abbreviate your identity
It will make it very hard for supporters to know it's you unless you are commonly known by those letters RSPCA and NSPCC for example. The more chances you give your supporters to forget your username they greater the chance they will, abbreviations are a great way to cause supporter confusion Don't do it!
Never use spacer characters such as -- and __
Supporters will forget them and try explaining it verbally to someone it's just messy, also you will find it more difficult to display your identity in printed form in newspapers and magazines as it often looks like a printing error leading to the above problem supporter confusion.
Keyword overload
It can be very tempting to add an extra keyword that might be related to your field of work but not part of your brands core name, don't even be tempted it will lead to confusion among your core supporters.
@BullyingUK_Education would serve no purpose other than to confuse people it's @BullyingUK our core keywords.
Usernames must be 100% on message.
If you find you don't have enough space in the username to include all of your brands core name then reduce it down as best you can without abbreviating or using special characters, so for instance "Yorkshire Cancer Research" would become @YorkshireCancer it maintains as much of their core brand as possible within the limitations of Twitter or any other system.
Add Personality to your Online Identity
When spreading word of your new identity make sure to put the personality back into your username, it's never @bullyinguk it's always @BullyingUK
Llikewise it's @YorkskshireCancer never @yorkshirecancer you can see the difference it makes and how it gives your identity it's personality back.
Think, research and consider
Once you pick your Username it's your identity you can change it later but remember your building up brand identity in the network changing your name 6 months later is never a great idea, spend the time to research and consider lots of names before committing to one, speak to colleagues and get feedback from them.
Tell everyone what your Twitter identity is!
You would be surprised how many orgs register a username then don't tell anyone about it, people need to know your on a service to know you are their!
Sure people will discover you in time but it's always a good idea to get the ball rolling with your own supporters who will naturally tell their friends about you as they interact with your new User Identity so put it in your newsletter and on the bottom of your headed note paper. Following the above tips will remove potential problems and help more supporters discover you.
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