As part of Takeover Day or Teen Digital Takeover, why not invite young people to tweet on
behalf of your organisation? A Twitter Takeover is a great way to involve young people in your
work in a fun way and to create entertaining content for your channels. Here are our top tips to
get started.

A tweet can include up to 280 characters of text, images, video and web links. For an overview on how Twitter
works, take a look at this guide from Wired.

Before your Twitter Takeover

Make sure you’re following Kids in Museums. Our Twitter handle is @kidsinmuseums and our hashtag is #TakeoverDay. The hashtag has trended on Twitter on previous Takeover Days, reaching millions of people. When everyone who takes part shares the same hashtag, this reach is amplified – so remember to use it in all your tweets.

Look for inspiration. Have a look at our Twitter Moments from previous years or search our hashtag
#TakeoverDay to see what other heritage organisations have got up to.

Think about permissions. Don’t forget that if you are photographing or filming anyone, including any visitors in museum galleries, you should gain permission to do so beforehand. You might want to put up a sign to let people know you are filming and how they can opt out.

Download our materials to help you. Print out our TweetSheet, a tweet template with 280 boxes to help your participants to draft tweets. You can also download our ‘We’ve been taken over’ Twibbon and Twitter header to add to your profile.

Decide which device to use. Will you use a phone, tablet or desktop to do your posting? With a phone or tablet you can take pictures and post as you move around the museum. If you’re limited to a desktop, you could use a camera and draft tweets to schedule later.

During your Twitter Takeover

Make it clear that your Twitter account is being taken over. Change your Twitter bio and ask your young people to add a sentence to let people know they are taking over, including their first name, age and our hashtag #TakeoverDay. Change your profile picture to include the Twibbon and update your Twitter header.

Start posting. A good way to get started is for your young people to post a #MuseumSelfie introducing themselves and explaining that they will be taking over.

We’ve put together a series of challenges that your young people could take part in:

  • Share your favourite object.
  • Share your favourite place in the building or outside in the grounds.
  • Film a short interview with a member of staff about what they do and what they’re up to on the day.
  • Give us a tour of the museum or an exhibition.
  • Share something surprising from behind-the-scenes.
  • Find something in the museum that is younger than you.
  • Match an emoji with an object in the museum.
  • Ask followers to guess the painting or object using emojis.
  • Strike the same pose as an object in the museum.
  • Create a meme by taking a photo and adding text.
  • Share an artwork or something you have created during your visit.
  • Create a poll or quiz for followers of your account to answer.
  • Ask for followers to submit questions about the museum for you to answer.
  • Go live from workshops and events happening on site.
  • Contact another museum who is doing Takeover Day to see what they’re getting up. We will publish a list of Twitter handles before the day so you can see who else is taking part.

This is not an exhaustive list, but should give you a few ideas to get started. Your young people might have their own ideas and should feel empowered to get creative.

Sign off at the end of the day. Let your followers know that you are going to stop tweeting and thank them
for following. Remember to change back your Twitter bio.

Tips for your teenage tweeters

  • Remember to use the hashtag #TakeoverDay and tag @kidsinmuseums in all your tweets.
  • Use photos and videos in your tweets – tweets with media have a higher reach.
  • Be chatty, but don’t say anything you wouldn’t be happy for your grandma or the curator to read!
  • If someone says something negative, don’t respond.
  • If you’re sharing a hyperlink, check the link works before you tweet.
  • Have fun and be creative – what would you love to see from this Twitter account?

After your Twitter Takeover

Make it live on. After your Twitter Takeover, thank the young people who took part. Why not ask them to
schedule some tweets in for over the next few weeks, or over the course of your exhibition?

Create a Twitter Moment. This will be saved on your profile for people to look at easily. Kids in Museums will add the best tweets from the day into our own Twitter Moment, so make sure we’ve seen your tweets.

Use it to form the basis of future work with young people. You could ask your participants to blog about taking over your Twitter feed, or even ask them to take over on a regular basis – for example, Thursday Twitter Tours.

Take over another social media platform. Why not try taking over Instagram, Facebook or another digital platform?

Share your feedback with us. If you have any comments about what worked well on your Twitter Takeover, get in touch and let us know.

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