I’ve been on hiatus from ianhillmedia.com for the past week or so to focus on writing entertainment posts for Recordnet’s LENS blog and building Twitter.com/209Vibe (left), a resource for music and entertainment fans in Stockton and Modesto, California. (Yes, there is such a thing as too much blogging and time spent on social media.) The latter is the fourth active Twitter account that I run or help maintain.

209Vibe on Twitter is designed to serve as a source for to-the-point local entertainment information and fun. Promoters and musicians Tweet or send me information about upcoming concerts and events and I (re-)Tweet it. I also re-Tweet entertainment stories from local news organizations and occasionally interact with performers.

My goal is to make Twitter.com/209Vibe the first stop for local residents who want to know where they can go for nightlife in their community.

In its first five days, Twitter.com/209Vibe attracted 85 followers and been added on three lists. It may not sound like much, but considering there are probably less than 40 active Tweeters in Stockton, I’m very happy with the results so far.

It’s gotten me thinking a bit more about best practices for print reporters who Tweet. Reporters who have a smart, realistic approach to Twitter can use it to reach readers and build the sense of community that’s vital in the new media world.

Here are some tips on how to accomplish that:

• Be realistic. It’s important to base your goals on a realistic assessment of Twitter’s penetration in your community and among those interested in what you cover. Understand that your Twitter followers will number far fewer than your newspaper’s circulation. You’re bound to be disappointed if you start a Twitter account expecting that your audience will quickly grow to match the circulation of your newspaper.

Instead, you might find that a good target to shoot for is 30 followers.

Sure, that may be a pitifully small number compared to your newspaper’s circulation. But you can expect that most of those 30 Twitter followers care the subjects you cover, as they’ve taken action to consume specifically what you produce. They are and will be your core audience. They’re the reason you work for a newspaper.

The average print reader, meanwhile, may have no interest in what you’re writing – he or she may have simply purchased a print edition to check out the funnies or coupons.

• Be useful. Some of the biggest Twitter accounts have succeeded by offering information readers can use. For example, some retail businesses have attracted followers by offering Twitter-only deals. Twitter deals have become so popular, in  fact, that they’ve spawned their own Web site: CheapTweet.com.

You might not be able to offer Twitter coupons for a better seat at a city council meeting, but you can provide contact information for city officials, notes about construction projects and street closures that cause traffic tie-ups and live coverage of meetings that address issues affecting the public. You can even offer funny anecdotes from your beat that Tweeps can pass along as dinner-table jokes. Providing that type of useful information makes you more likely to attract a following.

• Be unique. There are more than 60 million accounts on Twitter; to attract interest, you need to set yourself apart from the crowd. That means offering information you can’t find anywhere else but on your Twitter page.

It might require doing more than Tweeting your day-to-day beat coverage or notes from meetings. If you search for your community on Twitter, you might find public officials or regular citizens already providing the type of news you offer through your beat. Instead, consider posting Tweets that provide a behind-the-scenes or more detailed look at what you cover (“Mayor now speaking. City councilman Smith noticeably rolls his eyes.”). You also should link to exclusive breaking news stories on your paper’s Web site.

• Be conversational. While Twitter can be a powerful tool for sharing important news and information, it’s still largely a social media site. For example, here are some of the Tweets I’ve received this morning:

“So I’m layin here tryin to sleep and dammit if my ears aren’t ringing! LOL”

“ummmmmmm yeaaaa……..tht was an interesting night…..”

“Michelle Rodriguez, can you ever not play a completely dude-ish chick?”

“Watching nip tuck.”

“haha NOT SLEEPING =D Staying awake because if I dont I wil not wake in time to watch the parade… Tumblr is goin nuts”

“Lost a pound. That’s so much better than gaining. I bought a WW cookbook “Comfort Classics” for 5 dollars. Hopefully I will cook from it.”

“Nutella is yucky.”

You don’t necessarily have to pontificate on sandwich spreads to find success on Twitter. But be willing to loosen up and have fun. Try approaching Twitter as a conversation instead of as a news service, and you might be able to quickly gain a following.

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