By Spencer Kitley

The growing popularity of Twitter is undeniable and drawing fresh, live Twitter content into an event is an outstanding way to enliven live blogs, chat and Social TV events. Using Twitter with CiL allows reporters, journalists, bloggers or topical experts to inject live commentary from the field during breaking news or to add relevant third party analysis and opinion.

CoveritLive uses real-time Streaming API to provide faster, more reliable Twitter integration and ultimately create unparalleled experiences within CiL events.  There is no doubt that Twitter is a key platform for live coverage and CiL has harnessed this valuable source of insight for seamless event integration.  In fact, over 20 million tweets are pushed through CoveritLive each month and that number continues to grow.

If you are using a popular search term, CoveritLive's unique "Top Tweets" filter keeps readers engaged by filtering through the Twitter noise. The Top Tweets filter makes it easy to include tweets in your live event since it automatically provides only the most relevant and interesting content. Additionally, users can pre-load multiple Twitter usernames, lists, hashtags and search terms for ease of use during the live event. CiL also allows users to exclude content, including ‘@’ replies and ‘dirty words.

When conducting an event be sure to keep the following Best Practices in mind:

Set your Tweet filters to include the desired amount of information. For example if you are using the search term "Oprah" and you set the Top Tweet slider to the right-most position, only the most popular "Oprah" related tweets will show up in your event -- e.g. Tweets from @Oprah or from the most popular news sources, plus 'smart' or 'viral' tweets that have been re-tweeted and are popular in the "Twitterverse".

Live blogging an event with no television or internet video feed? Incorporate photos from your mobile device or photographer colleague into your event. Native Twitter photos appear as images in the viewer window and give further insight into the live event.

Be careful not to inundate readers with too many Tweets as events which are populated with a tweet every few seconds offer little value to the reader. Too large of a list of Twitter handles or hashtags can overwhelm readers, so management of your Twitter filters will ensure that the volume and quality of tweets fits the event.

Are you are using your CoveritLive event primarily as a ‘Tweet catcher’? If so, it is highly recommended that the event is set up as a CoveritLive Ticker. CiL Tickers are designed to host permanent or long-term events. Standard events that run for several days at a time with a high volume of only tweets may be auto-converted into a Ticker.

Pre-load the Twitter usernames, lists and hashtags that you are interested in prior to the event beginning, so you can focus on moderation once the event begins.  If a Tweeter gives cause to be removed or added during the event, settings can be adjusted on the fly in the console while the event is in progress.

Twitter should be a primary tool in your live coverage but not your complete strategy. The combination of Twitter and CoveritLive creates far more compelling real-time experiences and will build strong connections with your audience. To learn more about how you can use Twitter within your CoveritLive events, check out our support center and follow us at @CoveritLive.