Been thinking a lot about the learning curve twitter…
I’m sure things like this already exist but I just feel like writing my own. I am NOT an expert by any stretch, and I’m trying to keep things to the very basics – there are a lot of people out there who talk in more detail about strategies for using twitter effectively but there is a lot of ‘mileage may vary’ aspects to that and I feel like most people find their own way of tweeting that feels right for them if they can understand the basics.
Twitter is super-useful for people who want to network, read what other people in their area of interest are doing and can say what they have to say in 140 characters or less. If you are not sure if Twitter is for you, guru of the social web Guy Kawasaki has this fabulous infographic flowchart.
What is super cool about Twitter (in comparison to Facebook or even Google +) is that the platform is so simple, and pretty open, so users started to use it in really interesting ways that spread like crazy and have now become everyday features of the platform.
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Vocabulary
There are some basic terms that you need to know if want to speak the lingo of twitter. Thankfully, not too many!
Stream
this is on your ‘home’ screen where you will see the list of all of the tweets by people you follow with the most recent at the top. The more people you follow, the faster this stream will fill up.
RT (retweet)
this is the method of repeating what someone else has said to your own network. It is a way of spreading a good tweet around. Sometimes people will RT spontaneously, other times the tweet will be about an event or important piece of information and will include the words “please RT!” to encourage sharing.
Sometimes you see it done in the “old” style where the letters RT are included to mark the start of the other persons words.
@user123: RT @JenArrr I love twitter, it’s so simple yet so powerful!
These days if you are using twitter online or one of the official desktop or mobile applications you are more likely to see it show up in your stream as if someone you are not following posted to your ‘stream’ but if you look carefully you will see a little note that says “retweeted by @whoever”
# (hashtag)
this was originally started as a way of helping people to follow conversations on a topic, for example #apple for things about apple computers. It is added on to your tweet, usually at the end unless the word itself appears in your tweet.
@user123: So excited to get my new #iPad. Any suggestions for applications to buy in the appstore? #apple
Since then, the use of hashtags has exploded. It’s not an exact science (you could hashtag anything if you wanted to) but mostly it is used as described above to be a way of following many people who you may or may not follow who are discussing something.
Probably one of the most interesting things that has evolved out of hashtags is using the airport codes to mark things that are related to a city. For example #nyc or #sfo.
@user123: Hosting a big street festival this Saturday as a fundraiser for AIDS and HIV Research. Follow me for more info #nyc
When big events happen, several hashtags may be used to follow one thing but over time one tends to become the most ‘popular.’Sometimes people putting on conferences or events will create a hashtag to help people who are there to connect, for example #ted2011 for the Ted conference 2011 (or whatever).
Sometimes, a hash tag may be used to make a joke, or make it clear that your tweet is a joke or not serious.
@user123: Oh man, I’m out of my favourite espresso beans and I forgot to pick some up last night! #firstworldproblems
@ (at) – also called ‘mentions’
The @ symbol is the way of sending a (sort of) public message to someone else on twitter. This can be a way of engaging in conversation, or directing others towards another user to follow.
@user123: Hey @pmharper please restore funding to @matchintcentre they do amazing work.
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Features
These are ways that twitter have built in some feature to help users sort through the copious amounts of data they are seeing.
Lists
When you follow a user (or not) you can add them to a list. There are various ways to do this depending on if you are using the web, a mobile application or a “third party” application (not designed by twitter, but using the information on twitter with a different user interface).
Lists and their names are public and can be followed by other people. Lists can be a useful way to find other similar people to follow. For example, if you are interested in topics about social media and you find someone whose tweets you like you can see what lists they are included in and see if there might be other people on that list who you want to follow.
I also find lists useful because I might not be able to check twitter every day all day and after a certain point there is just way too much information to catch up on unless it’s your full-time job. If you make some lists of the people whose tweets you absolutely don’t want to miss then once things start to get out of hand, if you just want to do a quick check you can make sure not to miss things. This probably only applies once you get past the level of newbie, but keeping it in mind is probably not a bad thing.
Who to follow
This feature shows you users who are similar to other users you follow. This can be really useful sometimes, but other times I find it’s a bit too broad than how I use twitter – which is to tweet and get news about a very specific topic. A more average user might find this more interesting and useful!
Private messages
There is a part of twitter that is Not public, and that is your direct messages section. You can only have private back & forth conversation with people who follow you, which is different from @ replies which can go to anyone.
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Contrivances
These are ways that people ‘hack’ twitter or are using it in interesting ways. I can only think of a few right now, but I’m sure more will come to me and I will try to update.
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Remember how above I talked about @ conversations being mostly public? This is a (somewhat?) recent change in how twitter works. If you reply to a tweet someone else write, it puts their twitter handle at the top.
@JenArrr: Ahhhh… friday afternoon beer in the sunshine is a great invention
@user123: @JenArrr I agree! What are you drinking today?
In this example, only people who follow both @user123 and @JenArrr will see @user123’s reply.
However, if you put something in front of the username, the tweet shifts from being more ‘private’ to being seen by everyone that follows you.
@JenArrr: Hi @user123 I’m drinking a fantastic Hop Circle IPA from @phillipsbeer
This can be as simple (or short) as putting a . in front of the @ symbol
@user123: .@JenArrr I love @phillipsbeer but the Slipstream is my favourite
URL Shorteners
Because you only have 140 characters, trying to share a link can sometimes be a challenge, especially if it is very long or complicated. Several different platforms emerged to fix this including bit.ly and tinyurl.com (the two most popular). The idea is they take your link, shrink down. When you click that link, it is re-directed to the main link automatically.
@user123: Check out this great blog by @JenArrr http://bit.ly/qlqJRS
This has been both a blessing and a curse. The curse part is that spammers quickly used it to trick people into clicking links that are malicious. The bottom line is: if it says “HAHAHA look at this picture of you” or “check out bikini babes on the beach” or you think it’s suspicious don’t click it. If you accidentally did and don’t know what to do, the first step is to change your password.
Twitter has recently added in a feature that will automatically shrink URLs with their own twitter version. It is supposed to help stop malware, but lots of people still use the other ones.
#ff
This is a way of suggesting who you think should get followed. Sometimes you might do several people, sometimes just one. It’s a warm & fuzzy gesture if you think someone is cool. You can reciprocate if you want to!
@user123: #ff to some awesome nerds @JenArrr @wilw @feliciaday
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Social Norms
Reciprocation
If someone follow you, it’s only polite to consider following them back. You don’t have to, but it can be a nice way of respectfully saying thank you for them thinking you have something interesting to say. That being said, some people will follow people with the sole purpose of getting followed back and boosting their numbers. This isn’t really cool and is really a form of spamming.
Thankfulness
When someone does something nice for you on twitter, it is expected that you thank them for it! If they RT your tweet, follow you, suggest you for a #ff or give you some useful information it is nice to thank them for it. Obviously you don’t have to.
Authenticity
Do your best to be yourself online. Like I said, there are a lot of people who say things like “oh it’s rude if you don’t do this” or “you should do this because it gets you more attention” but if it isn’t something that feels right to you or how you would interact in another social situation, then don’t feel like you have to. People will respect you being quiet a lot more than if you are doing things that clearly don’t fit with who you are or feel fake.
Academic Pointillism 