Note: Last week the tweet gods themselves put out a guide. We’ve got a few points below to get you started, but for more info head over there.
Our previous posts primed and made you presentable. Technically, Twitter is much less friendly to everyday internet users. Jon calls it more “hardcore computer nerd.” Once, you get the lingo, however, it’s really very simple.
These guidelines should help:
- Know where you’re @. An “@” sign is computer language for identifying a user. My Twitter handle is @Katie_Bishop and Jon’s is @jon_bpi. Twitter search is not always the most thorough and advice you’ll find on any reputable tech blog, (e.g., @mashable) is don’t put you’re handle on the portion of your bio that asks for your name, put your actual name. This will make you more searchable.
- Bit.ly is your best friend. As you’ve only got 140 characters, sites like Bit.ly or Tiny URL (to name a couple) help you make the most of those characters by condensing links.
- Know your “R’s.” – the difference between “reply” and “retweet.” Reply when you want to address a specific person. These tweets will only go to mutual followers. Only retweet or RT when you think this information is important for all your followers to see. If you blast your every move on Twitter you are in grave danger of becoming a “twitter s***ter.” Not a title you want.
- You want to be Mentioned. A mention happens anytime someone puts your handle (e.g., @Katie_Bishop) in a tweet, be it a reply, retweet or just mentioning you in their tweet. When someone searches for you on Twitter your mentions will appear on the search results. You can check for your own mentions by clicking on your handle link on the right side of your Twitter screen. Programs like TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop make it easy to view mentions from your desktop.
- Hash Tags. These are key words that can help make you more searchable on Twitter. They’re often found at the end of a tweet with or without a “#” sign in front of them. For instance, if I want to know about tweets concerning Microsoft, I would put #Microsoft at the end of a post about that company or put it into Twitter Search to see what people are tweeting about that subject.
Have more questions? katie@bigpictureimage.com, @Katie_Bishop or post below.
Next post in the series will be on Facebook.