Comments on: Twitter Engagement: Some Lessons from AIDS.gov

By: Carmen Gonzalez

Carmen Gonzalez — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:11:04 +0000

This post is spot on, Michelle. I’d add that it is important to reference the how some social media sites reflect different demographic groups. For example, African-Americans comprise 25% of Twitter users in the U.S., which makes it a great forum for outreach among that population for HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns. I hope you are targeting these new mediums strategically to get the greatest reach possible. Keep up the good work!

By: Jirair Ratevosian (@jratevosian)

Jirair Ratevosian (@jratevosian) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:47:26 +0000

Thanks Michelle and AIDS.gov for another great post and your continued leadership to engage with us using new media.
I would just underscore the importance of understanding your audience: who they are, where they’re from, why they follow you, who else they follow, what they care and tweet about, etc. Taking time to understand your Twitter following enables you to make informed decisions about all of the above mentioned strategies and tactics.
What’s more, twitter is changing grassroots mobilizing as we know it. Gone are the days we alert people to email their member of Congress about an issue. With twitter, every tweet is an opportunity…an advocacy opportunity to educate about an important issue to you, advocate for a cause you care about, and alert media and influential bloggers about what you message. To the extent that you’re able, be sure to tag members of Congress (yes, most of them are on Twitter!), the media (reporters, bloggers, tweeps), the State Department (@StateDept), the White House (@WhiteHouse), or other influential targets to amplify your message and ensure your voice is being heard.
Thank you again to all at AIDS.gov for your service and passion.

By: HCLUganda

HCLUganda — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:35:12 +0000

Hi AIDS.gov, The twitter feed at the Vienna AIDS2010 conference was an excellent realtime form or reporting of what to see and attend, or read online afterwards. In advance of the conference, Hope Clinic (for whom I tweet) was able to use Twitter to identify tweeters and humans behind that profile and evaluate who to follow (you note the importance of personal amid the sea of tweets). A huge benefit of twitter has been accessibility to people with information - eg the Uganda ARV supply story - or to link the policy end to the real life implementers. An outcome of this has included a re-issue by IRINNews of an article on Uganda and the current MassiveGood case study example http://www.massivegood.org/en_US/news-feed/220 If there is a downside, the person tweeting may be entirely in the communications team and not a programme person. Thanks.