How to use Twitter

Sep 11, 2026

Upload by Aladdin

A practical guidance document for community pharmacy teams and LPCs on using Twitter effectively and responsibly. It explains account setup requirements, profile customisation, selecting relevant organisations to follow, and searching for users and accounts. It also covers key considerations around following patients, configuring notification settings, and posting within character limits. Additional sections address sending posts, adding links and hashtags, sharing images, pinning tweets, and mentioning other users via @usernames.

LanguageEnglish

CategorySocial Media

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

Getting started

Account sign-up and profile setup

Following users and search

Should you follow patients?

Notification settings

Sending posts

Writing tweets and character limits

Adding links and hashtags

Posting images and pinning tweets

Communicating with others

Mentioning other users via @username

January 2017 How to use Twitter This guidance document has been created to help community pharmacy teams and LPCs learn how to use Twitter and should be used in conjunction with PSNC Briefing 001/17: Social media guide for community pharmacy teams and LPCs. a) Getting started You can sign up for an account at [twitter.com/signup](twitter.com/signup) and will need to provide: 􀁸 An email address – it would be best to use a generic pharmacy email account rather than a personal one to ensure others have access when someone is off sick or on holiday, for example. 􀁸 A username – this should be simple and tell others who you are (e.g. NamePharmacy or NameLPC) . However, it must be unique so think of a back-up to use if your first preference has already been taken. 􀁸 An official account name – this will be visible so the name of your pharmacy (or LPC) would work well. 􀁸 A ‘profile’ photo (ideally 400×400 pixels)– it would be a good idea to use the pharmacy’s (or LPC’s) logo. 􀁸 A ‘header’ photo (ideally 1500×500 pixels)– perhaps use a photo of the inside of your pharmacy. You can customise your profile page by clicking the ‘Edit profile’ button. This is where you can edit your account’s photos, name, location, website, theme colour, and most importantly your bio. Your bio gives visitors to your profile page a brief description (maximum 160 characters) of what your organisation does – keep it simple and professional. Look for other Twitter users you might want to follow, such as relevant organisations, so you can see all their tweets and you can easily share their messages with your own followers. Some suggestions are: @PSNCNews for pharmacy news; @NHSChoices for health assistance; and @DiabetesUK/@AsthmaUK for patient support. There may be other local organisations you should consider following but it is good to be selective so you aren’t overwhelmed with a packed timeline: will those you are following have relevance of their messages to you and/or your followers? LPCs may wish to refer to our template LPC stakeholder map. Find these accounts by typing in the person’s (or company’s) name, or username if you know it, into the search box atthe top of your Twitter timeline (the first page you see once you have signed in) . Your results will show a combination of people and tweets related to your search – click ‘Accounts’ to filter your search results. When you find a user you want to follow, click the ‘Follow’ button on their profile page. Thinking point: should you follow patients? This question is worth considering very carefully. If you do choose to follow a patient, they are then able to send you a Direct Message and could use that private messaging service to send you urgent or sensitive clinical advice. However, Direct Messages don’t meet the necessary NHS data protection criteria and important information could be missed if it is sent to a pharmacy account that is only checked say once a week. It is recommended that you don’t follow patients for this reason and because it could fill up your timeline with irrelevant information because you would see all their posts, healthcare related or not. Once the pharmacy account has been set-up, check the settings to see what notifications you will receive about your account’s Twitter activity. This can be done by clicking your profile icon in the top-right corner when you are on your timeline and then selecting ‘Settings’ from the drop-down menu. Now select ‘Email notifications’ from the left-hand sidebar, check or uncheck the notification boxes to reflect your email preferences, and then click ‘Save’. It’s recommended to start off having everything ticked to make sure you know when someone is commenting on or retweeting your posts. These emails may become too frequent as your account becomes more popular, but you can easily go back into this setting and turn them off. Click here for further guidance on signing up for a Twitter account. b) Sending posts T

FAQs

What details are required to sign up for a Twitter account in this guide?

The guide lists an email address, a unique username, an official account name, and profile and header photos. It also advises using a generic pharmacy email and suitable branding imagery.

How should a pharmacy team choose what to post within Twitter’s limits?

Tweets must be 140 characters or fewer; extra characters display in red and prevent posting until removed. Links can be pasted into the tweet box, and hashtags can categorize posts for easier discovery.

Why does the guide recommend not following patients?

Following patients enables direct messaging, which the guide notes does not meet necessary NHS data protection criteria. It also warns that it can lead to missed important information and an overwhelming, irrelevant timeline.

Sep 11, 2026

Upload by Aladdin