Twitter has gained a large portion of the social media market, with more than 10 million users. It is both addictive and an extremely useful tool in the right professional hands.
Because Twitter messages, known as 'tweets' are limited to just 140 characters, users need to convey sharp, precise messages and this, in turn, is less likely to bore their readers.
When you initially register for your Twitter account be sure to fill in all the details in your profile. It is also an advantage to upload a photo, or logo, as nothing points out a 'newbie' quicker than the default Twitter picture.
Unlike other social media where you acquire friends, on Twitter you will acquire 'followers'. As with other social media if you prove to be uninteresting, or unprofessional, you will lose followers. You can also follow others on Twitter by using the RSS feed, which is shown on the right side of any Twitterer's account page.
Twitter can be linked to your other social media sites.
Use the 'Find People' tab to find people you know, or use the 'Suggested Users' tab to find celebrities and others that Twitter recommends.
If you want to post a link to a web page and this takes you over the 140 character limit (and this includes spaces) you can use a url shortening site, such as tinyurl.com.
A hashtag - # - groups together related messages, or people. The site http://hashtags.org shows popular hashtags and has statistics relating to them.
Followers can send you direct messages which will show up on your home page. By clicking on the reply button you can send a direct message in response. However, for you to send a direct message to someone you must be following them.
The @ symbol followed by an account name is a link to the page held by that account. It is used as a way to send a public message, or to refer to that account holder on Twitter.
Retweets start with the letters RT and are simply messages that you repost. So if you see something interesting that has been posted and you would like all of your followers to see it as well, you can retweet. If you are retweeted a lot this is taken as a sign of respect on Twitter.
These are just a few of the common phrases and peculiarities of Twitter, much more advice can be found on the Twitter help pages which can be found at http://help.twitter.com. However, I hope this has, at least, given you a starting point.
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