Tapping into the Power of Twitter: A Look at Its Potential in Canadian Health Libraries

In health libraries, it is becoming increasingly important to recognize and understand user interactions and expectations. Research suggests that more and more patients will begin to rely on online resources to receive health information. In response, many health organizations have turned to social media and micro-blogging services to try and meet those needs. The ease of posting and sharing information on Twiter makes it an essential tool for health libraries use to reach their users. However, libraries that lack systematic metrics for measuring success can find themselves pouring precious resources into social media upkeep without knowing if they are promoting their strategic vision. This paper first uses a literature review to summarize the best practices among Twitter researchers. The authors then measure the success of these practices among several health libraries using simple metrics for evaluation. By advocating accountable Twitter use, the authors hope to promote a goal-oriented social media strategy that ensures health libraries are maximizing their efficiency. Administrators and libraries can engage communities through active Twitter use by going well beyond just promoting their services. Through better Twitter use, libraries can show users that they listen to other organizations in the community, hear and respond to the questions and concerns of individual users, and send people links to information that go beyond the reach of their own website. Administrators can subsequently report accurate metrics to demonstrate what is working well and which strategies have not been successful. It is then possible to make immediate changes to maximize the impact that social media can have on that organization’s strategic goals. The objective of this paper is to provide every reader with the ability to head into a meeting about social media and confidently develop a strategy that will plan for success, with the metrics to prove it.