What is the policy of creating Twitter accounts for Drupal?

Hi Ilona,

welcome to Drupal. I work with The Drupal Association (https://association.drupal.org/about) as a volunteer and am social media lead for DrupalCon Munich. Thanks for asking this question, I will try and provide you some information.

In general there is no specific policy or guidelines in place for Twitter. This is not necessary since using the Drupal Trademark in a Twitter account name would fall under the "Drupal trademark and logo policy" http://drupal.com/trademark . Using such a policy enables the protection of the Trademark and ensures its proper use. It states that in short if you "foster the Drupal software" and usage is not for commercial purposes, a license is automatically granted without need for application.

So in short, anyone is free to create a Twitter account which is intended to help Drupal flourish. A good example of this is Tim Millwoods @Drupal_modules. He works for Acquia.com and has set up an automated account which announces new modules to the community.

Having an open and automatic licensing model works for Drupal because it requires no staffing. It also means people can be innovative and agile free from the constraints of a long winded application process. The Drupal Association and members of the community monitor the use of the Drupal TM and where appropriate would enforce the policy when a breech occurs.

Certain official Twitter accounts have been established to help communicate activity around Drupal. These include @Drupal, @DrupalAssoc (For the Drupal Association), @DrupalCon, @drupal_org (Drupal.org development team), @DrupalCore and others. These are either proposed by or staffed by pillars of the Drupal Community. Again in most cases no strict policy is in place, however we always have the "Drupal trademark and logo policy".

The Drupal Association accounts such as @DrupalCon, which I presently run, have policies in place. We have considered the tone, timing, appropriate subjects, what can be re-tweeted and importantly what to do in the case of complaint or negative sentiments. These accounts are more formal as they are the public face of Drupal. A limited number (4) of people have access to this account, messages are mostly sent out via Hootsuite so there is accountability in place. Jacob Redding is ultimately in charge here, though operationally I answer to Marta Betts https://association.drupal.org/about/staff.

Twitter is a valuable marketing channel for Drupal. More people are active there than on Facebook for example, however there is a presence here also. DrupalCon (https://www.facebook.com/DrupalCon) and Drupal (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Drupal/8427738891) both have 5 people as managers. Again, these are respected community contributors with a long standing and have responsibility by merit.

If you have any more questions please feel free to add further comment. I would also be pleased to see your article once it is written - we may even feature it on Twitter.