Useful Twitter Tags?

[Ghost #9]

I imagine that there are probably many like myself who never used Twitter previously, but eventually decided it might not be a bad idea to add it to the social media marketing drive. However, because I am so unfamiliar with it I do not have much knowledge on the proper use of hashtags.

Does anyone have a list of useful Twitter tags that would be of benefit to game developers and/or those in the visual novel community? Or even just general knowledge on how Twitter can be utilized to promote a developing game?

[firecat]

its like promoting your youtube videos, social media can only go so far. no hashtags in the 180 world limit can help you make any post go super virial. its better to post on forums games or publish it on a website, also it takes time to get people to like your novel just like how it takes time to like videos.

[Shinoki]

I'm pretty lost with Twitter (I'm not much of a social media person), but I think generally, I guess... tag with the genres and topic that you're talking about. You'll be able to reach the people who are on twitter and want to see xxx genre or xxx topic or visual novel games, most likely.
To make people pay attention to your game, show off assets, screenshots, something to show that you're working?

[Shaples]

I would caution against using Twitter (or any social media, for that matter) solely for self-promotion. Social medial is great for making connections with fans, potential players, and other devs, all of which can help draw attention to your work, but the connections you make should be social first - that is, making friends rather than advertising. Especially on twitter, people will ignore you really quickly if you're seen as overly self-promotional/spammy. People will be a lot more inclined to retweet your content if you're fun and interesting. For a strictly development-related twitter, post things your fans would want to see - sneak peeks into how the game is coming along, art or writing samples, or things like that. And be personal - reach out to people whose games you like and let them know! Twitter can be a great place to meet people, but it can also feel a lot like yelling into the void; even the best hashtags won't get you very far if you don't interact with other people.

This thread has a long list of VN devs who are active on twitter and very much worth following, and a few people over here have been talking about hosting a twitter chat for devs, so that's probably a good place to start. It's very hard to start marketing from ground zero, so start building relationships BEFORE you need to get the word out about your game.

[Ghost #9]

firecat - I hadn't really considered Twitter as marketing platform until recently, when I saw it mentioned somewhere on this forum. I don't believe there is really any one platform that will skyrocket one's work to instant popularity, but I do believe that the more places where one has presence the better. And, I think Twitter's tag system is useful in getting your work to where people who might be interested can see it. Ultimately, though, I do plan on having an actual website.

Shinoki - Thank you for the tips! I'd been thinking more along the lines of developer tags, but genre-specific tags sound like a great idea as well! I'd definitely planned on showing actual progress, though. Text updates will only get you so far.

Shaples - The first thing I did after making my Twitter account was follow a bunch of people involved in visual novel development. I'd actually come across that thread you linked to the other day, but I couldn't find it again for some reason. I must have been pretty thorough in my following endeavors, though, because after checking it out again I realized that I was already following about half of them. xD

I had heard that Twitter was good for networking, but I honestly wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. I have no real experience with marketing or networking, and indeed I question my general socialization skills from time to time. Haha! But, your advice makes a lot of sense. I will be certain to converse with devs outside of my own project updates, and maybe Retweet things that my theoretical future followers might be interested in...? I'm beginning to see why it has been said that marketing is half the battle.

[Hazel-Bun]

#gamedev / #indiedev is a great way to show off screenshots, little gamedev motivational quotes and the like

#indiedevhour is great and falls on Wednesday. Basically self-prompt the heck out of yourself here, post things, link to streams, etc.

#screenshotsaturday is simlar to indiedevhour but, it's reserved for screenshots rather than anything and everything. Some people post gifs. or and link to their games regardless though.

#30daydev/#90daydev is a great way to motivate yourself! Set a goal and aim to make daily, weekly, bi-weekly, what have you posts about it.

Finally there's #indieteamup which has its on site now. Here you post about gathering teammates and the like to help out with your project, or and offer services.

These are the ones I know off the top of my head. Be prepared to get a lot of bots at first though and always try and engage with other devs using the tag. You never know, they might link you to an awesome game of theirs or and be willing to become friends. Remember, it never hurts to be (or try at least) funny, but it does hurt if you just use twitter to self-prompt. Do so shamelessly when the time calls for it, but otherwise, try and socialize first and foremost.

[Ghost #9]

That is precisely what I was looking for, Hazel-Bun! I was sorely uninformed of Twitter's etiquette, so I'm glad I decided to ask here first. I'm not entirely certain how to go about striking up conversations with other devs, but finding people to network with through shared tags sounds like a good place to start. Thank you very much!