Analyzing My Growth From an Egg to a Bird

Posted on by Mason Harris

At the beginning of the semester, on August 28, I had 237 followers on Twitter. Now, my following has increased by 13 followers to 250, which is a 5.49% increase. While I did not have a Klout account prior to the semester, when I got an account on September 3, my rating was 24.45. On November 29, my rating was 28.68.

I think the reason for my increase in Twitter followers had to do with Klout. Once I really picked my niche I was able to compose tweets that had relevant hashtags that attracted people with similar interests, which is what I credit to my Klout score increasing as well. Throughout a 90-day period, I reached a high score of 31.56. I also think my Klout score increased when I identified influential people in the industry I am interested in and tweeted to them. A few of my new followers are some of my classmates, so I was able to network with them to create a following. In addition to hashtags about my tweets that were based on Klout, I tried to tweet things that were relatable to college students (people my age). With the tweets, such as the tweets for my meme, the tweet was relatable, but so were the hashtags.

However, I think my problem was that I was not consistent with tweeting people in my interest’s industry, or tweeting about it in general, which is most likely why my Klout score did not continue to increase.

My Top 10

For this tweet, I used the Google 360 camera to take a 360 picture of my room. I had had a very lazy weekend and had hardly left my bed. I felt that this was really relatable to college students my age because there are times where work just gets to be too much and you feel like it’s just impossible to leave your bed because you swear it has never felt so comfortable. That’s why I called my room my cave. A majority of my followers are college students from Syracuse or my high school, so they engaged the most with my post.

  • Impressions: 202
  • Engagements: 43
  • Engagement Rate: 21.3%
  • Media Engagements: 35
  • Profile Clicks: 6
  • Retweets: 0
  • Likes: 1
  • Hashtag Clicks: 1

This tweet got a lot of engagement because of the social movement. There is a lot of controversy right now with Planned Parenthood as the President is completely against it. Bringing recognition to an important cause and showing support will draw a lot of attention. Plus, I think the use of unique hashtags was engaging.

  • Impressions: 201
  • Engagements: 4
  • Engagement Rate: 2.0%
  • Retweets: 0
  • Likes: 2
  • Hashtag Clicks: 2

My initial tweet of my meme was successful and I think it had to do with the caption. While I was targeting college students, I think anyone can relate to loving food and not wanting to be judged for it. Plus, my hashtags are very broad; #food is very simple and #cantstopwontstop can be about anything. People have used the hashtag for eating, working out, partying, etc.

  • Impressions: 188
  • Engagements: 26
  • Engagement Rate: 13.8%
  • Retweets: 0
  • Likes: 3
  • Link Clicks: 23

When I joined Klout, my interest was basketball, specifically the NBA. Carmelo Anthony’s decision of where to go play was one of the most talked about moves in the offseason, so bringing attention to something in the industry was important for me to show my interest in the industry. Plus, when we were assigned to retweet one of our tweets, I chose to do this one, again, to give myself a voice in the sport’s world. I also think the #ICYMI is not a specific hashtag and can be about any news. In addition, I think that tagging all of the athletes and the teams really gave it the extra push it needed to make more impressions.

  • Impressions: 392
  • Engagements: 6
  • Engagement Rate: 1.5%
  • Retweets: 1 (myself)
  • Likes: 1
  • Hashtag Clicks: 2
  • Detail Expands: 2

Over the summer I had interned in Los Angeles at AEG Presents. Through someone at work I had the fortunate opportunity of attending the ESPYs (an actual dream come true). During the 2016 US Open, my mom, dad and brother sat in the ESPN box next to Odell Beckham Jr. Knowing how much of a fan I am, my parents facetimed me and I was able to speak to Beckham. When I saw him at the ESPYs I told him who I was and he completely remembered and said it was nice to meet me in person. When we were assigned to come up with our own hashtag, it was right after Beckham got hurt towards the beginning of the season, which ended his season. My mom and brother called me to tell me the news and I was devastated. I personally feel that I am more likely to look at a tweet when there is a picture, so I posted the picture of me with Beckham, reminiscing on happier days. I used the hashtag #craywithoutOBJ because I was going crazy without him (not literally). I think that by tagging him, the Giants and setting a location of Los Angeles, California, I brought attention to my tweet. While this is not a tweet about basketball, it does show my passion for sports and gives me a name in the industry.

  • Impressions: 274
  • Engagements: 46
  • Media Engagements: 37
  • Engagement Rate: 16.8%
  • Retweets: 0
  • Likes: 1
  • Detail Expands: 4
  • Profile Clicks: 4

This was my stock tweet, meaning that when I tweeted it this time, on October 4, it was relevant, and when I tweeted it again, two weeks later on October 14, it was still relevant. I was stressed about midterms and I saw a tweet with pictures of stacks of pancakes, so I said I’d chose the stacks of pancakes over stacks of books anytime. If this was not a stock tweet, I would have used the hashtag #midterms, however if I were to have done that and tweeted it a month after, it would no longer be midterms week and the tweet would not be as relevant. Simply choosing pancakes over schoolwork is always relatable. Again, I think the use of pictures is very helpful, so when I quote tweeted @FoodPorn, the pictures of the pancakes were seen by everyone. I thought this was a good tweet for college students, or any student, or person, for that matter, to relate to.

  • Impressions: 258
  • Engagements: 5
  • Engagement Rate: 1.9%
  • Retweets: 0
  • Likes: 1
  • Hashtag Clicks: 1
  • Detail Expands: 1
  • Profile Clicks: 2

There’s nothing better than a good gif, especially when it is from one of the greatest shows of all time. I was looking at my most influential followers, and was really touched to see that Applebees followed me, even though I do not follow them. I simply couldn’t help the pun and the gif.

  • Impressions: 218
  • Engagements: 7
  • Engagement Rate: 3.2%
  • Retweets: 0
  • Likes: 1
  • Media Views: 52
  • Media Engagements: 1
  • Detail Expands: 2
  • Profile Clicks: 3

This tweet that showed the list I created really showed to professionals in the sport’s world my interest in the NBA. This was a tweet that I am assuming brought my Klout score up, as my score was in the 31.08 the day of this tweet. The NBA regular-season was just under three weeks away, so I made this list with some of my favorite teams, players, writers and the league itself, of course, to prepare myself. I am a big fan of Steph Curry and his family, so I could not help but put his wife, Ayesha, in as well (she does cook his meals that give him the power to play, after all!). I think that tagging Ayesha and the league helped, but also, no one can avoid looking at pictures.

  • Impressions: 211
  • Engagements: 16
  • Engagement Rate: 7.6%
  • Retweets: 0
  • Likes: 1
  • Replies: 1
  • Media Engagements: 11
  • Detail Expands: 2
  • Profile Clicks: 1

For this tweet (the one that is the reply), I was trying to promote my blog for my public relations class. In the first tweet I was encouraging people to click on the blog, but with the reply I put the link for a specific blog post. Taylor Swift is a huge artist with an equally huge following. Tagging her and using her name as a hashtag brought a lot of attention to the tweet. That is not the reason I chose the subject for that blog post, but it certainly didn’t hurt. Plus, I think it helped that it was my own writing. People, especially friends, definitely ones from home, are always interested in seeing what you are doing, so this was a good opportunity to showcase what I am up to.

  • Impressions: 250
  • Engagements: 12
  • Engagement Rate: 4.8%
  • Retweets: 1
  • Likes: 2
  • Link Clicks: 4
  • Detail Expands: 3
  • Hashtag Clicks: 1
  • Profile Clicks: 1

This tweet was my first opportunity to showcase my interests before I even had Klout. I like having my Instagram feed filled with great pictures. I am interested in all types of entertainment: music, sports, fashion, film, etc., so the photographers I follow are in those categories. Mark Seliger was a recent discovery of mine. He photographs athletes, actors, musicians and models in beautiful portraits. Over the summer, I also did social media for a family friend, who is an artist. She is really inspired by Ruven Afanador, so it was only natural I developed a love for him as well. Margaret Zheng photographs a lot of models I follow on Instagram and when I looked at her profile, I really liked her grungy style when it came to fashion photography. All of these photographers intrigue me in different ways, but I like seeing things that I think are impossible for me to achieve. I could never take pictures like those. The pictures are placed really well in the tweets because nothing is awkwardly cut off. Plus, the pictures are just really stand out. Even though the picture of Steph Curry isn’t very bright, he has a face that people just recognize, so they might wonder why I am tweeting a picture of him. Follow Friday is also a great hashtag for people to look around and discover new people in the field that they are interested whom they may have never heard of. It is very engaging and interactive. You can find people in almost every field of interest.

  • Impressions: 281
  • Engagements: 23
  • Engagement Rate: 8.2%
  • Retweets: 0
  • Likes: 1
  • Media Engagements: 16
  • Detail Expands: 4
  • Hashtag Clicks: 1
  • Profile Clicks: 1

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