Now that you’ve got your account set up and are following some other twitter users, you might be wondering how to reply to a tweet (what those updates are called on Twitter). There are two kinds of replies – public replies ones that will appear in the Twitter newsfeed and anyone can theoretically read (if they have selected the option to see all replies) and Direct Messages that are private – no one can see them except you and your recipient.
The quickest way to send a public reply is as follows:
- Find a message you wish to reply to
- Hover your mouse on the area to the left of the message (see screen shot above). You should see an arrow appear.
- Click on the arrow icon.
- Now look at the box at the top of the page where it says “What are you doing ?”
You should see the username of the twitterer you are replying to, preceded by “@” - You may now type your reply message.
- Just hit the Reply button when you are ready to send it.
There is another way to reply that is a bit slower. If you know the username of the person who wrote the message you want to reply to, just go to the “What are you doing?” box and type in an @ symbol, followed by the username. For example, to reply to a message from nytimes, I would type: “@nytimes That story is untrue – I was there and it never happened”
Sending a Direct Message
Direct messages are private – no one can see them except you and your recipient. So if you don’t want your reply to be seen by other people, use this method rather than the one listed above. You can only send a direct message to someone who is following you.
To send a Direct Message (DM),
- Go to your Twitter Home Page, and on the left side of the page you will see Direct Message listed. Click on that to bring you to the Direct Message page.
- On the top of that page, there is a drop-down list of the people you are following on Twitter. Choose the person from the list that you wish to send a private message to.
- Type your message into the blank box that appears at the top of the page, and hit “Send“.
Note: If the recipient does not appear on the drop-down list, type an @ and their username before typing your main message. For example, I would write: @twelper “hi there, this is a private message”.
If you have received a Direct Message yourself, the quickest way to reply is as follows:
- Go to your Direct Message page and click on the Inbox tab
- Hover your mouse on the area to the left of the message. You should see an arrow appear.
- Now look at the box at the top of the page where it says “What are you doing?” You should see the username of the Twitterer you are replying to, preceded by an @
- Write your message in the box and hit “reply” when you are ready to sent it.
You can also send a direct message to someone through their profile page. Again, they must be following you. Go to your friend’s page, and see where it says Actions on the left of the page. One of the options listed is Message username. Click on the word “message” and a page will appear with that says Send (your friend’s name) a Message. Fill in the box with your message and hit “send”.
Replying Through Other Programs
For more advanced users, you can opt to use a third party desktop application like Tweetdeck, Thwirl or Destroy Twitter, all of which are free to download and use. The main advantages of these are their speed, since they connect more directly to the Twitter site’s inner workings, and their ability to stream tweets in real time to your desktop, rather than having to refresh your web browser when you want to see the latest messages from your friends.
There is also the option of using your mobile phone to reply, either though text messages, or through Twitter’s mobile web site. Lastly, if you are a member of Facebook, you can link to it to your Twitter account so that it will update whenever you update your Facebook status.
How do I know if anyone replied to my tweets?
You may not be sitting on the computer all day, reading every single tweet posted on your Twitter newsfeed. No worries, to see who has replied publicly to your tweets, simply go to your Twitter Home Page where it says @ and your username on the left side of the page. Click on that, and you will see any replies that you may have received to your posts.
To see if you have received any private replies or messages, look at the Direct Message link listed on your Twitter Home Page on the left of the page. It will have a number next to it listing the number of private messages you have received. Click on the words “direct message” to bring you to your messages Inbox.
How do I delete messages?
To delete the Private messages, go to the Direct Messages link on your Twitter home page and click.
There are two tabs “Sent” and “Inbox”. You can delete both the messages you have sent, and the messages you have received here.
- Find the message you wish to delete
- Hover your mouse on the area to the left of the message. You should see a garbage can icon appear
- click on the garbage can icon. A box will prompt you “are you sure you wish to delete this update? No Undo!” In other words, once deleted, you can’t get the message back. If you are sure, click “OK”.
See Also: How to Twitter
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