That’s right, more UK media people share their Twitter tips. This time: Lee Hall, digital editor of the Sunderland Echo.

Do you recall your first tweet?
I don’t. As with most first time encounters I messed it up a bit, wasn’t too sure whether I was any good at it and came back to it when my confidence returned. Seriously, though – initially I found there was too much dead air as take up was low. I’m guessing it was my trademark social media bow – something like. “Erm, I’m trying this out because I heard it was quite good…”

How has your use of Twitter changed?
Significantly. I began under an @SunderlandEcho account, tweeting breaking news for the newspaper I work for. But as take up grew, more and more friends came online and I found myself catching up with old mates. As a result I quickly split my personality into professional Lee at my original address, and personal Lee @LeeHallTweets. It’s a balance I’ve broadly stuck to, and one which reflects my split professional personality between my day job at a local newspaper and my freelance work.

What do you want from Twitter?
To stay in touch with friends and colleagues without having to ignore 467 invitations to play Mafia Wars on Facebook. And to stay connected with sources of news and info, plus trending topics in the real world outside my office. RT back links to sunderlandecho.com help too!

Have you attended a tweetup?
Nope. It would bring back too many bad memories of school discos. I’d be left standing in the corner looking miserable with bad hair. Much better to hide behind the internet and pretend I have a personality, rather than disappointing people in real life.

Have you evangelised Twitter?
Yes. I’m always shouting at people about personal brand – trying to encourage reporters to build a following that they can take with them wherever they go. Some of them listen. Some of them just go for lunch and pretend they can’t hear me.

Do you have any self-imposed policies regarding your use of Twitter?
I have a horrible habit of tweeting when I’m bored – especially when I’m on a train journey. I try to limit myself to one tweet per hour on a train, but that’s tricky.

How do you see your use of Twitter developing this year?
I must harness it’s power as a crowd-sourcing tool. A colleague has several thousand followers and he is never short of material for his column in-paper!

[+] Lee Hall can be found on Twitter at @LeeHallTweets

More Twitter tips from UK media people, this time from Sarah Booker, digital and social media editor for the Worthing Herald series and Chichester Observer series.

Do you recall your first tweet?
Not off the top of my head, but looking back I discovered I wrote “working” – my traditional status in the real world. How did you use Twitter to begin with? For a long time I read before tweeting. I signed up in 2006 after seeing Twitter on DJ and musician Iain Baker’s blog.

After struggling to find my way, I eventually discovered a variety of interesting people and organisations on Twitter. It’s such a great source of information. I really got into it in early 2008.

When I started the Worthing Herald’s Twitter account, I posted selected stories from the web and searched for people in the area, reading what they had to say. I started the paper’s Twitterfeed just before I went on a fortnight’s holiday, because I could not find anyone in the office willing to take on what they thought was a “weird web” folly.

When I’m in the office I’ll make a few live comments to show there is life at the end of the feed.

How has your use of Twitter changed?
These days I’m running multiple accounts, personal, personal but professional, and four newspapers. When I started out with my first account three years ago, using my long-standing internet username, I had no idea what I was doing. Now I find myself responding to people directly as part of a conversation, as well as retweeting and reading so much more.

Having two personal accounts was an important move. Sarah_Booker is my working journalist self and the tweets reflect that. I leave my hobbies and other interests to my non-professional account.

I used to be skeptical about using third-party tools, but now I’m a Twitterfall convert, trying out Seesmic Desktop and a Twitterfox, Twhirl and Tweetdeck user. I’m also more willing to ask questions and get advice. It’s quite comforting to find people you respect also don’t have a magic way of doing something.

What do you want from Twitter?
Personally, I want inspiration and communication. For the newspapers I want interaction and shared information about what’s going on in the area.

Have you attended a tweetup?
I’ve been to a Worthing tweetup, and spent one evening at the Butlins Bognor tweetup weekend. I’ve also been to a Brighton Tuttle and Hove Tuttle. Apparently there’s two Brighton Tuttles so I’ll have to find the other one.

Have you evangelised Twitter?
If so, any success? My enthusiasm for Twitter knows no bounds and I’ve had success with colleagues in other centres in the division. However, the initial response from reporters was extremely negative. They couldn’t see the point of posting news information to a site they knew nothing about. This might change now I’ve picked up stories from it, we’re getting website referrals and stories have developed through reading the followed and followers. A couple of reporters are beginning to see the point; one took on the Littlehampton Gazette account. Getting them to set up their own Twitter accounts might prove difficult.

Do you have any self-imposed policies regarding your use of Twitter?
Always look carefully at someone’s profile and tweets before deciding whether to follow them back. Be helpful and friendly.

How do you see your use of Twitter developing this year?
It’s changing all the time. I’m sure I’ll use it at work much more than I am at the moment.

[+] Sarah Booker can be found on Twitter at @sarah_booker and @nimmykins, at the Worthing Herald’s Twitter feed @Worthing_Herald, the Shoreham Herald’s Twitter feed @Shoreham_Herald and the Chichester Observer Twitter feed @ChiObserver

More Twitter tips from media people, this time from Ben LaMothe, ePublishing posgraduate student at London’s City University, Web/social media consultant with United Business Media in London and part of an upcoming  project at the ‘watch-this-space’ stage.

Do you recall your first tweet?
I’ve tried to look this up to no avail. I started using Twitter using a different user name. I changed it to my name a while back. I suspect when I changed it, I lost the data from the previous user name. The earliest I can go is February. Apparently I joined Twitter on March 3 2008. I can only go back as far as Feb. 2008.

How did you use Twitter to begin with?
When I first began using Twitter, I had the same approach as many do when they first joined. I Tweeted about what I was doing that day, who I had talked to, the films I was seeing, etc. Nothing of any real value to anyone outside my most immediate circle of friends. I did Tweet a little about the journalism industry, but at the start my Tweets were about 30% industry and 70% here’s-what-I-ate-today.

How has your use of Twitter changed?
My Twitter usage has changed drastically. I decided one day last year to change from 30-70 to 70-30. Instead of talking about the banality of day-to-day life, I started posting links to interesting commentary on the state of the journalism industry. I also provided some of my own commentary. As a result my Twitter following has grown exponentially and I’ve been introduced to a lot of very smart people in the industry. People seem to see me as a source of information about the latest industry happenings, which is quite cool.

What do you want from Twitter?
Twitter is a fantastic source of information. It connects people in a way that no other service has. What I want from Twitter is the ability to meet more interesting people, to have my horizons continually broadened and to learn more about how the industry works. It’s allowed me to meet some great people, so I’d like for that to continue.

Have you attended a tweetup?
Yep – with @GeorgeHopkin and @JohnWelsh. I’ve had quasi-Tweet ups too. Meetings that weren’t facilitated by Twitter directly, but involved people whom I follow on Twitter.

Have you evangelised Twitter? If so, any success?
I have. I try to explain to people the benefits of it. Many approach it the same way as they do with Facebook. They assume people will find you and it will just take off. It doesn’t work that way. You’re responsible for building your own circle of influence and to surround yourself with people you think you’ll learn from. I’ve had some success, but as Twitter grows I suspect more will jump in. A lot will quickly jump out, but a few will get it.

Do you have any self-imposed policies regarding your use of Twitter?
Think before I Tweet. It’s very easy to get on Twitter and just talk rubbish. You don’t have an immediate sense that anyone is listening. But I’ve been burned by doing that. I also think to myself “OK, do I really need to Tweet this?” Over the last year I’ve picked up some fairly influential followers within the industry. I need to keep them in mind when I’m Tweeting. Will they care? Is this really important?

How do you see your use of Twitter developing this year?
I’m not sure. Twitter has opened a lot of doors for me that previously were closed. I suspect in the coming months I’ll likely be balancing more than one Twitter account, one personal, and one work-related. Twitter is an ever-changing thing. It’s becoming its own culture. The users made the rules. So I expect the rules will continue to change as will Twitter’s applications and uses in the real world. I’m going to try to keep up with that. My Twitter usage will evolve as the service evolves.

[+] Ben LaMothe can be found on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/BenLaMothe and at his blog, http://benlamothe.wordpress.com

The Twitter tips just keep on coming – this time from Tom Pegg, digital editor of one of the UK’s leading paid-for weeklies, the Mansfield Chad.

Do you recall your first tweet?
Can’t be sure, but an early one was ‘The children are revolting!’ – referring to a story we had about a pupil protest at a school.

How did you use Twitter to begin with?
As a newspaper we first harnassed it during that period last year [2008] when text updates were free – so it made an excellent way to send people news alerts by text. Unfortunately Twitter pulled the plug on UK SMS support just as we’d got a few hundred followers. After we found a new use for by syncing it up to our newspaper’s Facebook profile status bar and our RSS news feeds. Twitterfeed is a godsend! My own personal profile took a bit longer to get going – I think if you’re a journalist representing a newspaper, it’s easy to be a bit self-conscious about finding your ‘voice’ – striking that balance between being professional and yet informal and chatty. After a while I loosened up a little.

How has your use of Twitter changed?
It was only when I started accessing it with my phone’s internet connection that I really became invested in it. By which of course I mean ‘addicted to’. Now I often check up on the Twittersphere before I even get out of bed in the morning. I’m also finding it of increasing value as a helpdesk of sorts – when I need to find out about a new bit of software or get a quick bit of feedback, there’s usually enough of a response that I get what I’m after. The amount of sheer goodwill and willingness to help amongst Tweeters is without a doubt the site’s most remarkable achievement. Is this what the internet was like, back in the day?

What do you want from Twitter?
More followers! No, seriously. I’ve got a nice little network on there so far, but I really need to push myself to build on it. More followers = more sources of information.

Have you attended a tweetup?
Almost – I was planning on attending a Nottingham Twestival but was thwarted by the snow. Maybe I should arrange a Mansfield one…

Have you evangelised Twitter? If so, any success?
In my newsroom – every day. So far I’ve converted three colleagues, with a few more in the wings. It’s all starting to get a little bit competitive now. This is ok though (because I’m winning.).

Do you have any self-imposed policies regarding your use of Twitter?
Only one – always reply to an @TomattheChad tweet.

* How do you see your use of Twitter developing this year?
Not drastically – just bigger and better, hopefully.

[+] Tom Pegg can be found on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomatthechad and at the Mansfield Chad’s Twitter feed here.

More Twitter hints, tips, etc. from power Twitterers from the world of UK media. This time it’s Dan Thornton, Community Marketing Manager at Bauer Media (Heat, Empire and many others).

* What did you think about the concept when you first heard about Twitter?

The idea made sense for quick communications with friends, but like the founders, I couldn’t imagine how it would grow in terms of size – and especially the ways to use it. The uses of hashtags are staggering in terms of potential.

* Do you recall your first tweet?

Thankfully no. Probably ‘Hello’ or something similar.

* How did you use Twitter to begin with?

Like most people, I signed up, posted a couple of messages, and then ignored it for a bit because I didn’t see the value.

That changed with my first @ messages, and suddenly I became addicted to being able to communicate so easily with so many people

* How has your use of Twitter changed?

It hasn’t really. It probably should, as I’ve gone from a small group of friends to having over 2,000 following and followers. But I find it hard to only talk about marketing or the internet. And at least this way, people won’t be surprised or disappointed in the long term when I talk about motorcycles or Xbox instead!

* What do you want from Twitter?

From a personal point of view I just want to be able to interact with more great people, and be able to build better relationships with them.

From a business/tech point of view, I’d like to see more disclosure from businesses of their direct results to be able to build up a bigger body of proven evidence, and I hope the use of Twitter will speed up the changes needed in almost every business strategy to become more relevant and useful to consumers.

And a way to delete multiple DMs at once!

* Have you attended a tweetup?

Yep. Some small gatherings, and the Twinterval organised by the founders of Twestival – really annoys me I’ve missed both Twestivals so far due to work/family commitments.

* Have you evangelised Twitter? If so, any success?

I’ve promoted it to friends and colleagues, and seen a reasonable number join – although the mainstream media coverage has done more if I’m honest!

I’ve also introduced several titles to using it, and the early indications are that it’s becoming a valuable communication tool for marketing, PR, customer service and engagement.

Oh, and I do run a blog dedicated to microblogging (Including Tumblr, Seesmic etc alongside Twitter) at http://www.140char.com.

* Do you have any self-imposed policies regarding your use of Twitter?

Not really – just apply a bit of common sense before I mention anything regarding work or personal items about my family. I’m pretty open about myself, but I have to respect my employers, colleagues and family.

* How do you see your use of Twitter developing this year?

I think the only change for my personal account is that I’m following less people – I’m reaching the limit of how many people I could hope to have meaningful interactions with.

For business use, I can’t really say until the Twitter monetisation plans are in place, but I’d expect it to be a core part of almost every digital marketing plan.

[+] Dan Thornton is responsible for Bauer Media’s social media strategy and tactical implementation into digital marketing, on titles including FHM, Heat, Motorcycle News and Car Magazine. He blogs at http://www.thewayoftheweb.net and http://www.140char.com. And you can follow him on Twitter here.

Another Q&A with a media professional making terrific use of Twitter. This time: Dave Lee, co-editor of the BBC Internet Blog. Dave also writes about technology, media and sport.

* Do you recall your first tweet?

Ha – I started how I meant to go on: “Ready for some pub action with Naomi! Bring it on” was my first tweet.

* How did you use Twitter to begin with?

I dabbled with general chit-chat. I was a student when I first started using it – and so I leapt at the chance to connect with potential employers.

* How has your use of Twitter changed?

I’m becoming more and more conscious that my tweets can have influence in certain areas. Given who I work for, I have to run my own internal legal check now. With over 1,500 followers, I think it’s important I keep tabs on my own social media presence.

* What do you want from Twitter?

Absolutely nothing – I don’t expect anything from it.

* Have you attended a tweetup?

Not formally, no. Although I have met people who I’ve met via Twitter – so I guess that sorta counts.

* Have you evangelised Twitter? If so, any success?

I think so. I’m not sure how much influence my evangelising has had, but I spent a little while singing the praises of Twitter to Sky News reporter Julia Reid while I was on work experience. This week [some time ago - my fault, GH] she’s been live tweeting from the Fritzl trial. At the BBC, I regularly engage in discussions about the Corp’s role on Twitter – as well as a little side project I’m working on with a colleague.

* Do you have any self-imposed policies regarding your use of Twitter?

I don’t follow people back automatically – there are too many. But I have set my replies feed to show all @davelee replies, so if someone talks to me I still get what they’re saying. Quite often I’ll follow someone once I’ve had at least a little piece of discourse with them.

* How do you see your use of Twitter developing this year?

No idea. After getting a taste of some live-tweeting earlier this month, I’d like to give that another go. But I’ve seen some twinterviews and so forth and I’m not a fan – I think I’d come to regret not conducting a ‘proper’ (sorry) interview with that person.

[+] Dave Lee is the co-editor of the BBC Internet Blog. More about Dave at daveleejblog.com.

Another Q&A with a leading media Twitterer, this time with Journalism.co.uk’s Judith Townend. And, yep, these are 140-characters or less Twitter-friendly answers.

* What did you think about the concept when you first heard about Twitter?

What? Why? I don’t get it. Suspicious.

* Do you recall your first tweet?

Please bear with me: I’ll be getting going with this soon. Good to know there are people already following!

* How did you use Twitter to begin with?

For purposes of picking up news leads & figuring out how people used Twitter

* How has your use of Twitter changed?

Set up interviews via DMs; get Twitter-fondness for people; offload more informally & 1st Twinterview last week (http://tinyurl.com/awzl3x)

* What do you want from Twitter?

A dip-in dip-out way of communicating with useful people

* Have you attended a tweetup?

Not yet. Tried to get to Brighton Twestival last week and despite @journalismnews being the top seaside Twit-dog we couldn’t get tickets

* Have you evangelised Twitter? If so, any success?

I try to keep the habit secret from my life friends tbh, but then find it creeping into conversations. And dreams. Bad.

* Do you have any self-imposed policies regarding your use of Twitter?

Nope. Don’t really like hard and fast rules like that. Ok, one actually, I block obvious spammers selling me real estate

* How do you see your use of Twitter developing this year?

bigger&more often though I’ve already got @jtownend @journalismnews @journalism_live @foodeyjudey and @press_freedom on the go

[+] @JTownend is Judith Townend, news reporter for Journalism.co.uk, who also has her own blog at fromtheonline.com. She is jt.townend on Delicious and can be reached via email: judith at journalism.co.uk.