Guest Blogger social media

Twitter 101 | Part 2

Part Two - The Basics

Finally, the moment you’ve been anxiously awaiting: the Twitter basics!

(This article is meaty- no images... but a SHIZ ton of useful info! - brooke)

Tweet - When you post something to Twitter, it’s called a tweet. The action verb is “tweeting”. You’re not “twittering”. A little known Twitter rule is that if you catch a fellow Twitter user saying they are “twittering”, you have their express permission to sign them up for Viagra ads and sex newsletters.
Followers – These are people that, for some reason, like what you have to say and want more of it.
Following – These are people that, for some reason, you like what they have to say and you want more of it. For instance, you should follow @DudeImbibes.

@ - This is what you use when you want to mention someone by “name”. If you want to well wish them, tell everyone what a jerk they are, or send them a (non private) message, you can use this. Here’s an example “I think @DudeImbibes is the coolest mofo in the whole world.” When someone does this, they are mentioning you. They are not “ating” you, nor did you just get “ated”. Ated is just really poor grammar for what you did with your food.
# - This is a “hashtag”. You use this when you want to mention certain topics, places, things, ideas, etc. Here’s an example for you “Now that I read @DudeImbibes post, I know everything about Twitter. #DudeImbibesisaGod.” Note that you don’t use spaces here. Otherwise, you’d just tag the first word. Tags are quick ways to see what else is being said about something. When you click a tag, it automatically searches Twitter for said tag. Neato.
Retweet – If someone says something really cool, you have the option to retweet it – just hover your cursor over the message, and a little “retweet” link will appear. Click it. Now you just said that same gloriously clever thing as your friend. Here’s an example: I post on Twitter “@DudeImbibes is the best thing since sliced bread. I want to have his babies.”If you’re a follower of mine (and you should be), you can retweet that message. Now everyone that follows you will be able to see that @DudeImbibes is the best thing since sliced bread. If you do this a lot, people will find you obnoxious.
Reply – Come on, does this require an explanation? This option is right next to retweet. You click it when you want to, you guessed it, reply. This isn’t rocket science. Well, unless you’re following NASA, in which case it is. You should reply to people that mention you – thank them for the mention, thank them for the love, answer their questions, whatever. For instance, I see a post where someone has mentioned me – “Hey @DudeImbibes, how did you become so talented and charming?” and I reply “Years of hard work, hotcakes.”
#FF – Follow Friday. Every Friday, Twitter users unite and use this tag as a way to promote people they think deserved to be followed. So if it’s a Friday, you should post “#FF @DudeImbibes.” There are probably other people out there worthy of being followed too. If you do this a lot, people will find you obnoxious.
Bit.ly – is a “URL shortener”. You don’t want to use up valuable characters tweeting about a long a** URL – so you copy it, go to www.bit.ly , paste it, and bit.ly shortens it for you. Things like this are super.

There you have it. Some basics about Twitter. Now you’re just prepared enough to get online and embarrass yourself. Stay tuned for part three – Twitter for Photo Geeks. That’s you.

Miss Part 1? Scroll down. :)

Article Written By: Adam Lowe

Follow Adam on Twitter! @dudeimbibes

Questions? Let us know in the comments! :)