Wednesday, March 2, 2011

implicitly put: twitter.

twitter is like sushi. most hate it because it is weird. they come to love it, obsess over it and want everyone to try it once they too appreciate it. that's okay, ignorance is bliss and the unfamiliar is weird and hard for some.
I find myself wanting to and being asked to help people who don't know where to begin with twitter. so I thought I would post a few pointers. if you are an avid twitter user, this will come as nothing new. thanks for reading, and maybe share with that next person who calls twitter lame and a few months later asks what that 'number sign thing' is.


twitter I would best explain as a networking site to share information. a twitter relationship does not have to be mutual, you can follow someone and they do not have to follow you back. by following a twitter account, their tweets appear in your timeline. a tweet looks like this

@kalecooper says: you must try the pumpkin spice latte @starbucks #coffeelover
yes that is the boringness thing I could think of but it is for example's sake.
 the '@starbucks' means it will link to starbucks's twitter page and they will get a notification.
#coffeelover is a hashtag, which is a general topic that links to every other post of that hashtag.
for example clicking '#coffeelover' could go to other tweets about coffee.

#hashtags help you network and connect with people of like interests.
to RT a post means to retweet it, by doing so you share with your followers giving the original author credit. when you RT you can add to the tweet or leave it as originally posted. popular hashtags become Trending Topics worldwide.

some other pointers include...
- following back people who follow you
- supporting by RT'ing tweets you like or want to share and always give credit to the author.
- offer help where you can... maybe you can't answer a question tweeted but connect a user with someone who can.
- use anything but the original twitter (twitter would not appreciate me saying this). once you sign up for an account at twitter, download a service that will make twitter much more enjoyable. a couple of examples are: twitterlator for iphone, uber social for blackberries or tweetie for your desktop. they also allow you to post pictures which is most of the fun!
who to follow? people who interest you. it's not facebook you do not 'have to' follow anyone. follow whoever looks interesting. Friday is a common trending topic is #FF or #FollowFridays where you suggest users to follow.

happy tweeting :)

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