CRASH COURSE TO TWITTER

Crash course to twitter.

Twitter is social media which allows sharing information in 140 characters or less (letters, numbers, signs and variety forms of attachment).                                     In other words, short text.

It can be difficult and intimidating for people to use it, especially if there is no #TwitterManual right on the front page, or if you don’t have a friend who can show you how to use it. The whole thing about twitter is not self-explanatory as it is the case with many things we use these days, ..but hey, cheer up. Here are a few tips about how to start using #twitter:

Under each person’s twitter profile is several tabs which say something like this:

26.2K
TWEETS: this is a number of tweets this person/account tweeted out so far.

92
FOLLOWING: number of people this person is following

57
FOLLOWERS: number of people that follows you, or particular account if you are looking at someone else’s twitter.

To begin using twitter:
Sign up for your account. Create your “handle”.
Handle: is (@YourUserName). Handle is essentially your address that will people use to interact with you and include you in conversation.
Add your profile pic, header image (background), and bio that reflect who you are.
Tweak your settings.
Twitter is much more fun if you connect it to your cell phone.

Once you sign up for your account you will see near the three numbers we were talking about above (Tweets/Following/Followers), another three symbols:

 Edit profile, Settings, Help, Sign out.

 Edit, Accounts, + (by which you can add another (different) account into your profile.

 Messages (which shows you all of your Direct Messages between you and other person)

Somewhere on the top, bottom, or side (depending on the device you are using)       you will find four signs:

Home/Timelines

    Notifications

    #      Discover

    Me

 

Home (house symbol): Homepage shows your “Feed” streaming tweets posted by people you follow.

Connect (@ symbol): shows other people’s interactions with you, such as: retweets, mentions, or if anyone favorited your tweets

Discover (# symbol): discover what topics are trending (becoming popular), discover other people..

Me (person symbol): This is your profile that shows everything about you, your tweets and dashboard.

All the way on the top right hand corner you find:

    Search bar

    New Tweet: this is where you type your tweets.

.

Profiles: Are (usually) “public” and visible. But you can change your profile to be “private”.

Users: (people) “follow” each other in order to see the other person’s posts and converse. “Following” doesn’t have to be reciprocal and it doesn’t mean friendship or endorsement.

Tweet: 140 character message that is posted on your profile and automatically appear on the “news-feed” of your “followers”. It is also visible to anyone visiting your profile.

Retweet: (RT): Sharing someone else’s tweet.

Feed: The stream of tweets you see on your homepage posted by people you follow.

Mention: @OtherPerson: A way to reference another user. This user is notified when mentioned. This is how people conduct public discussions with each other.
Example: Just because you mention @otherperson, that doesn’t mean they will reply. #twittermanual

Direct Message: DM: Private 140 character message between two people. You are able to DM only a user who follows you.

Hashtag: #: A way to link discussion with other people’s tweets (#elections #demonstration #ClimateChange #MothersDay). A hashtag is a discovery tool that allows others to find your tweets, based on topics. You can click on a hashtag to see other people’s tweets that use it, even from people you don’t follow.

Replies: You use if you want to direct your comments to one specific person: example:
@OtherPerson I bought the book downtown.
Everyone who is following @OtherPerson and you will see the message, but you are specifically directing it to @OtherPerson. (Those who are not following both of you will not see the message.)
By placing period or word in front of OtherPerson’s name you are making your tweet visible to all of your followers who don’t follow the OtherPerson:
.@OtherPerson I bought the book downtown.
Hi @OtherPerson I bought the book #downtown.
By adding hashtag to a keyword you are filling this tweet as visible under #downtown.
You have to keep empty one character in front of @ # to keep them active.

Keep checking on the hashtags you are using to make sure you are #relevant. Hashtags play significant role in #communication and flow of #information on twitter.

Add picture or location to your tweet to make your tweet more interesting or news worthy.

Under every tweet you should see several symbols: •••

 stands for: Reply: 1) @private_tweet  2) .@public_tweet

 Retweet, or Quote tweet (modify tweet)

 Favorite: let people know you like their tweet
••• Share: depending on your setting and device, you can share tweet across variety communication/social media platforms, or Mail/Copy/Send/Report/Delete tweet

List: When you start following too many people, or just want to keep close eye on certain topic/interest, you might want to create a “list” or “lists” and add people to it.

Follow Friday: #FF: On Friday  you can send tweet recommending your followers who they should follow as well: “Hey everyone, these are great people to follow regarding #ThisTopic @tweep_1 @tweep_2 @tweep_3 #FF”

 

#EnjoyTweeting 

@LiborVS