Stargate Superdrive: Rules of Tweet Storm Engagement

Well, it seems our first tweet storm really did get some attention because rumor is MGM is ready to revisit the world of the SGC. With that in mind we at StargateNow teamed with the esteemed Mr. Joseph Mallozzi to organize this second-wave tweet storm. Sort of a way to show MGM we Stargate fans have never stopped waiting nor has our energy and enthusiasm declined one iota.

Since Twitter is all about hashtags and trends we want to try and craft this effort with you all to make it as effective as possible. If you were a part of the first storm, you remember there were some wonky rules and such we tossed out there to increase the likelihood of trending. Or at least we think it’ll increase the likelihood of trending. What we’re sure of is the more of us there are and the more noise we make the clearer MGM will hear us.

As you can see in the graphic above, the basic rules are simple – Only use the Secret Hashtag in your tweets, don’t start using it before we give the signal at @StargateNow. When you tweet tag Stargate Command (@StargateCommand) & Brad Wright (@bradtravelers) in your tweets. TRENDING TIP: It helps a lot if you also include a GIF with your tweet. There’s a link to a bunch on the @StargateNow Twitter Profile Page.

If you’re a Twitter veteran, this infographic may be the only set of rules you need (it really is, BTW). If you’re like most of us, you probably have some questions so we hope this article will help straighten things out.

Rules from the first tweet storm apply exactly the same way to this one

This graphic, used during the first tweet storm, has a tiny bit more information. Note the suggestions to add GIFs and make your account public (you can set it back to private immediately after the storm).

So your tweets might go something like this:

“I love Stargate & love #SecretHashtag forever! @StargateCommand @bradtravelers“

[Insert favorite Stargate GIF]

Or, if you wish you can sit at your device of choice for an hour simply retweeting (NOT quote-retweeting!) others tweets, but PLEASE only tweets using the single secret hashtag. That’s just as effective and eliminates all the typing! Of course we want as many people to participate as possible so please tweet away.

If you prefer a more visual-oriented approach to learning, @StargateNow has a quick and informative video to help you get your account optimized. It’s a slideshow video so you may need to pause each slide to soak it all in, but it’ll show you exactly where to click, etc!

It’s a really short video, coming in at less than 3 minutes. The things you have to do are really simple, just maybe a bit different, so we wanted to provide as many learning resources as we could gather together.

One more thing before we get to the really detailed, step-by-step instructions – Like we said earlier, GIFs really add to a tweet’s punch. They generate a lot of attention because people are visual creatures. Need some GIFs? Glad you asked! Click Here for Stargate GIFs or you can click on the below GIF of Homer Simpson backing through an event horizon.

Back on in to the Stargate GIF vault by clicking on this image of Homer

Okay. Here’s the detailed instructions you might want to look over:

• If you have a private account, during the tweetstorms you must make the account public or they won’t count.
• Go to your profile page and put in a location. You don’t have to get it down to the town and state. Even just the country is fine and then save it.  You can remove it after the events if you don’t want it there.
• Fifteen min before the time we start, we will put out the hashtag in a graphic (because we don’t want to tweet this in a tweet and/or start prematurely).
• DO NOT USE THIS HASHTAG UNTIL THE TOP OF THE HOUR WHERE YOU LIVE.  If we release it at 7:45 in your time zone for example, do not use it until 8 sharp or until you see us say “GO” on the account.
• Only ONE hashtag in a tweet–the one we ask you to use.  If you decide to use more than one, your tweet will not count in their trending algorithm.  Just type out the other things you usually hashtag during a non-trend event.
• REMEMBER: Please include @StargateCommand and @bradtravelers in your tweets. You can just put them in at the end of your tweet, but this is the best way for them to hear us!
• Example of a tweet that will trend:  ” My favorite character in Stargate is Carter.  She inspired me to go into science.  #SecretHashtag @StargateCommand @bradtravelers “
• Example of a tweet that will not trend (and may hurt the trend curve):  ” My favorite character in #Stargate is Carter.  She inspired me to go into science. #SecretHashtag ”  (b/c there are 2 hashtags in one tweet).
• Pictures and GIFs are weighed more heavily in the algorithm.  You can download GIFs on the StargateNow shared Google Drive and plan out what you might say on your tweets and what GIF/picture you might use.
• You don’t HAVE to use GIFs of the show.  If you want to use the GIFs that are on Twitter because it’s quicker, you can use those.
• PLEASE don’t put any hashtags in images you include in your tweets. They won’t count toward trending and can confuse others about which hashtag to use.
• When you retweet someone else’s tweet, do not add a comment to it (the “quote tweet” function).  Just point and click “retweet.”
• Replying to a tweet is fine, but it will only count in trending if you use the given hashtag.
• Try to limit your comments to short comments.  Concise tweets seem to trend better.
• We won’t control what you want to say (just ask that you use the assigned hashtag and ONLY that hashtag).  Sometimes if we see the tweets lagging we might give suggestions on what you should tweet about.  If you want to just talk about how you feel about the show that’s great.  Maximize your tweets–put one sentence per tweet to get your tweet count up.
• If you tweet a lot you may get locked out of your account.  It is what people refer to as Twitter jail. Sometimes it is only 10-15 minutes and sometimes it is an hour for the first offense. Some people create a backup Twitter account to use just in case that happens.
• We’ll give you examples of tweets of how to tweet using GIFs if you are new to Twitter.
• You do not need to let us know you are in Twitter jail.
• The biggest directive of all is to HAVE FUN!!!!  Tweet like you have never tweeted before. Stargate is counting on you.

Well, that wasn’t so bad, was it? I think that pretty much covers all the details. Not everything might make sense, it sure doesn’t to us sometimes, but just follow the rules and we’ll blow the chevrons of this Stargate Superdrive!

To stay up to date on the Stargate Superdrive Tweet Storm, be sure to follow @BaronDestructo and @StargateNow on Twitter.

I’m usually in the middle of things, so if you want to keep up with me, please follow over at @Thogar on Twitter. (I’ll try to make sure you regret it.)