Good question. It seems to be sort of like a blog meets Facebook “status updates”. Or for you Internet neophytes – it’s like someone giving you constant updates about what they are thinking or doing at this very moment. The key is that each update is short – 140 characters or less. In this way, it differs from a blog, which is more like an online newspaper column.
Twitter posts – called tweets – are concise and to the point. They scroll across your Twitter page like a news feed, updating you on the people that you are following.
What do you mean “following”?
Twitter is all about building a network of people that you wish to interact with. On Twitter, you choose to follow people that you would be interested in receiving updates from on your twitter page. You can start with people that you actually know, and then later add people that you don’t know yet, but would like to – media outlets, movers and shakers in your business sector, writers and filmmakers that you admire… it’s as simple as finding their names in the Twitter directory and then clicking the accompanying follow button.
(Important to note: there is no guarantee that anyone who you choose to follow will interact with you in any way. However, you will be able to read their updates on your Twitter page).
Twitter sounds like a headache, why would I want to use it?
Well, having a constant stream of information about hundreds, if not thousands of people, can be a little overwhelming. But on the other hand, it does offer you a way to stay in close contact with friends in real-time, plus actually make contact with people that you otherwise would never have had the opportunity to connect with – a great way to network for business and for pleasure. Plus, with the Twitter Search page, you can type any topic into the search engine, and see what people are saying about it right at this moment – sort of like taking the pulse of the nation(s).
How do I get into the mix?
After you choose people to follow, they often reciprocate and choose to follow you back. That means that when you post your own updates, they will appear on your followers’ own Twitter pages. You can then reply to people’s posts (publicly or privately), getting a nice dialogue going.
Don’t worry if you are still a bit confused – I will go through each subject in detail as we go along. We will figure out this thing called Twitter together!
By the way, it’s completely free – the one thing they require is that you are over 13 years of age.
How do I start?
1.
2. Sign up. First you will enter your real name. Next you choose your user name and type it in. Then you will be asked to type in a password, and your email address. Don’t worry, you won’t get any spam email – it’s just in case you forget your password or something. After entering an anti-spam code, hit “Create My Account”, and that’s it.
Congratulations! You’re now on Twitter!
Now, it’s time to personalize your account…
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