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The B.B.C. on why Humans Tweet Better than Computers

Here’s why the B.B.C. has switched off its auto-feed tweets during the day—human tweets are more likely to get people interested and engaged, retweeting and clicking through.
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What’s the Latest Development?

The B.B.C. has switched off its auto-feed during the day, instead using humans to write its tweets because the evidence is that people produce better ones. “They are more likely to drive engagement to get people interested in what you’re saying, encouraging them to pass it on, to click-through, and to talk about you.” 

What’s the Big Idea?

The B.B.C.’s Twitter advice for other news outlets: 1. You must add value, there’s no point tweeting the same line or a very slight variation on what everyone else has. 2. Play to your strengths. In the B.B.C.’s case that includes global reach and prolific content. 3. Think about your brand. How do you want to be seen? 4. Use hashtags intelligently, not just on every significant term in a tweet.
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