X (formerly know as Twitter) is a 'microblogging' system that allows you to send and receive short posts. Posts can be up to 280 characters long. Posts can include links to relevant websites and resources. X users follow other users. If you follow someone you can see their posts in your X 'timeline'. 

X users follow other users. If you follow someone you can see their posts in your feed. You can choose to follow people and organisations with similar interests to you; this would be other SSAFA accounts, military influencers, local regiments, organisations, or partners. Follow the accounts that will provide you with content opportunities. 

You can create your own posts, or you can re-post information that has been shared by others. Reposting means that information can be shared quickly and efficiently with a large number of people.

If you follow twitter.com/SSAFA (main SSAFA account), you will see all our posts as soon as we post. You can create your own posts, or you can repost information that has been posted by others. Reposting means that information can be shared quickly and efficiently with a large number of people.

X is a great tool to engage with key stakeholders. It is much more effective than Facebook for public communication engaging with stakeholders. It is also better for real-time updates and live-feeds, particularly during national campaigns such as Armed Forces Day. 

We have found that a lot of military influencers, regiments and serving personnel use X. It is also clear that the demographics of X are slightly different to Facebook, with a large number of younger people using the platform. This correlates to the fact that younger serving personnel and veterans are coming to us for support.

In the first instance, you should contact [email protected] explaining that you want an X account to be created for your Branch. 

Click the blue ‘post’ button on the left of your X profile and then into the box that says, “what’s happening”, type into the box and select photo by clicking on the image icon. Tag someone in the post by typing @, followed by the name of the account you want to tag into the post. This will send them a notification saying you have mentioned them.

Engaging with other users on X is very important in developing public relationships and ‘putting your brand out their’. The accounts you engage with – their followers will see your activity so it is important that you engage with accounts with followers who are likely to be interested in your content. When another account mentions you in a post, you will be sent a notification. To access this, click on ‘notifications’ (the bell icon) on the left-hand side of your page, under explore. Click on the mention and it will bring you to the post. You can then like the post, re-post it to share it to your feed, or ‘quote post’ which means you will retweet the original but add your own text with it to add a more tailored message/response. 

Use hashtags to find out what areas are being talked about the most. Being part of a trending hashtag will allow to place your X account and brand in the social media ‘buzz’. This could be particularly important with areas such as #ArmedForcesDay. If you use the hashtag, you will be seen by others using this hashtag. These accounts are likely to be interested in our Armed Forces community and therefore ‘warm’ to SSAFA. 

You can also search topics by clicking on ‘explore’ on the left hand side of your screen, under ‘home’. 

Type in #*topic* and then see content. If you want to follow account, click on account name.