So if you are new to the world of twitter it can seem a little like you’ve just landed in another country. It’s got its own language, culture, people and strange sights. To help you enjoy this new world and make the best use of its marketing and social opportunities I’ve prepared a very brief guide to the language of Twitter. I hope it helps you to take advantage of this wonderful new world.
Tweet: the actual line of text that you publish, you only have 140 characters so need to keep it concise. Be aware that if you publish any text in here then it will be ‘out there’ for everyone to see forever.
Timeline: a list of all of the tweets from the people who you follow in chronological order.
@Mentions: tweets where your username is mentioned. Clicking on this link lets you reply to any tweets that are directed at you and shows if someone has replied to any tweets mentioning them.
Retweets: this is a tweet which has been re-tweeted by a user to all of their followers. This is also called RT.
Searches: searching twitter can let you know what’s happening in real-time and who is tweeting. From here you can often start a conversation with someone about topics that interest you.
Lists: helps you to organise people you follow into groups. Once done you can then look at all the tweets coming out of a particular group of people at the same time.
Follow: when you follow someone on twitter it means that all of their updates will appear on your timeline.
Trend: helps you to see what is being tweeted about right now. This is dependent on your location (which can be changed).
OH: use in front of a tweet to show people you’ve just heard something funny or interesting and it’s not your original thought.
#: hashtag (or pound signs as some people call them) are a way to indicate the topic of your tweet. Useful if you are tweeting from a conference.
Tweetup: When a group of people who tweet together meet up in person.
So… there’s the basics. The best thing to do is give it go, get tweeting and make some friends.
Follow Me
My twitter name is @RichardMBrooks > you can follow me by clicking here. Feel free to try out any of the above or tweet me a question. AND let me know how you get on!
Great post! Thanks for this insight of what is one of the most powerful tools in social media right now.
Thanks, there were a couple in there that I’d not yet heard :).
A minor quibble: “Timeline: a list of all of the people who you follow in chronological order” – strictly speaking, it’s a list of all of the TWEETS BY the people whom you follow, in chronological order (if I’m not mistaken).
Oliver – thanks v much for pointing that out… I’ve amended it.