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Twitter 101

\’twit-tәr\ - verb 1: to utter successive chirping noises 2: to talk in a chattering fashion.

When you look up the word “twitter” in the dictionary you will find the above definition. In the past it usually cropped up in conversations referring to birds or groups of adolescent girls. Today it is being used to describe a massive communication platform where people, not birds, are doing the twittering.

So what is Twitter?

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you to send short messages 140 characters in length called “tweets” to your friends, or “followers.” People who choose to follow you are in essence “subscribing” to your tweets and will see them in their home timeline when they sign on. The inverse is also true – if you choose to follow a user, their tweets will show up in your home timeline.

Tweets have many functions and the purpose, intention, and type of content they are made of depends on the user and can vary between the user’s individual tweets.

Most users new to Twitter tweet their current physical status and keep them fairly simple. For example, if your name was Sally and your Twitter name/handle was @SallyQ you might tweet,

“@SallyQ: At home watching tv with my grandma.”

As user @SallyQ spent more time on Twitter, growing her number of followers and the people, businesses, shows, brands, and stores that she followed her tweet might look something more like this.

“@SallyQ: At home watching #DWTS w/ @CoolG-ma. #teambruno #obsessed. @steph I need a social life, or a boyfriend. #asap”

In the example above Sally was able to tag her mom, @CoolG-ma and @steph who would both be alerted that they had been “@mentioned,” or were being talked about or to, by @SallyQ. Sally also incorporated a few “hashtags,” the words after the “#” symbol. This allows other users who are looking for people talking about #DWTS, #teambruno or #obsessed to find @SallyQ’s tweet, and maybe follow her, or talk with her.

Why should I Tweet?

Twitter allows its users to customize their experience and exactly how or why they use it. For some, it is simply a way to connect and talk directly with people they actually know in real life. Others choose to follow their favorite celebrities, athletes, politicians to get a personal glimpse of the daily lives of people they otherwise never would have “met.”

Media outlets like radio stations, TV stations, TV shows, newspapers, and magazines all tweet breaking news and links to their most current articles making Twitter a stream of instant news if a user were to follow the right outlets.

Companies and brands tweet their latest inventory, coupons, specials, updates, etc. making their followers aware of these things months before the regular consumer in their stores.

I’m on, who do I follow?

So you want to join the conversation but you’re unsure who to follow. Pick who and what you are most interested in and follow those users. They can be people, sports teams, products, brands, restaurants, stores, etc.

According the rest of the “twitterverse” these are the most popular tweeps right now.