Tutorial: How to Work "the Twitter"

I must confess, after originally writing this post for my Lilly Bunns blog I haven't gotten much better about using twitter.  I'm getting better, though.  Hopefully this little guide will help you out too!

Twitter is so hugely popular, and is actually a great little social media platform.  Who'da thunk that posting short little blurbs would have taken off so much?  I've been on it for a while, but still have so much to learn when it comes to what all the darn symbols mean. Sometimes it looks like someone is speaking gibberish on their posts.  So I've decided to finally learn the lingo, and let you all in on it!  

Before we really get started with all the info, you'll need to set up your account.  It's so simple I'm not even gonna walk you through it.  Just follow the steps and you'll be great!  But if you just can't figure it out, here's a great tutorial on YouTube

Now that your account is all set up, it's time to change the appearance of your profile. You'll get to a page that looks something like this.  Just follow the links on the right to set up your avatar, and change your profile appearance.

Now your all ready to send out your first tweet!

The Jargon (click the term to see Twitter's definitions):

Tweet: The little 140 word message you send out.  

Hash tags: A hash tag will have the # symbol followed by a word.  For example #etsytreasuries might be one. it's a way for twitterers to post things according to a topic.  Popular hash tags, get moved up to "trending topics."

Mentions and Replies: Just like on facebook, you can mention someone in your post by putting the @ symbol in front of their username.  You can also reply to a tweet by doing the same. Twitter keeps up with replies and mentions under the mention tab on your account home page.

ReTweet: Shown in the tweet with an RT in the message.  

Following: Following is pretty straight forward.  It simply means that you choose someone who you'd like to see their tweets!  Don't forget to follow @lillybunns!

To get noticed in Twitter, it's a good idea to follow lots, retweet, and mention lots, and do hash tags on the trending topics.  

I hope that clears up a few things for you.  Twitter can be such a great way to communicate with others, and publicize yourself to the world!