#tweetsmart

Chapter 20. Twitter Trivia

Tweet this Project

Yes, I refuse to call the Twitter trivia project, “Twivia.” I hope you appreciate that.

Despite what its Latin definition might lead you to believe, trivia is not trivial. Trivia questions have created game show empires, reinvented the American board game, and breathed new life back into Wednesday nights at your local bar. Now, you can make use of our cultural fascination with trivia to light a fire underneath your Twitter audience. Engage while you educate. Pontificate while you promote.

As with all of the projects in this book, the concept is simple, and there are many ways to approach the task. You will need to define a goal for your trivia project before you get started. Your goals will determine not only your questions, but how you run the game.

First, decide if you’d like to ask questions based on your niche, your company, or your products.

If you’re a content-producing company like a news organization, a book publisher, a magazine, or a blog, you will probably want to ask trivia questions based on your niche.

You could, of course, ask people questions about your products, but “What is the ISBN for “Rainwater Harvesting, Volume 1?” isn’t very compelling. However, “Which is the only US state to make rainwater harvesting illegal?” has more teeth to it. People will want to know. “Collecting rain? In a bucket? Illegal?!”

Likewise, if your topic is gardening, and your audience is devoted to and familiar with gardening, feel free to fire away ...