I have recently noticed that there are quite a few people either joining Twitter, or starting to actually use accounts that they have had for some time now. I certainly am not an expert, but I will share what I know and use (and some of what I know about, but don’t use).

There actually are places where you can get a few tips on Twitter to at least get you started. This is one of them - https://support.twitter.com/groups/31-twitter-basics/topics/104-welcome-to-twitter-support/articles/215585-twitter-101-how-should-i-get-started-using-twitter. The first thing to remember is – the site is called Twitter, the 140 character posts are called Tweets.

Why Tweet? Twitter is a social network site. You can Tweet to get professional information out, or you can Tweet to get personal information out. In both cases you are networking and connecting. Your Twitter page can be a professional page, or it can be a personal page. Even with professional pages you may want to Tweet some personal information … enough to make you human enough that someone wants to connect with you, and with the work that you are doing. As far as personal pages … try and make the Tweets make sense. Tweeting just to be Tweeting won’t increase your credibility, or draw people to follow you.

Why do you want people to follow you? On a professional page, you will be attracting both clients/customers, and people in your field that you may want to collaborate with. On a personal page, when people follow you they are interested in what you are saying, and will often share their own thoughts. This is how we all learn and grow.

Who do you want to follow? People who share the same interests that you do. I also follow news sites, publishing houses, and a few shopping venues. I get tons of information on a daily basis – I have found connections on Twitter that I would not have found elsewhere.

What is Retweet? When you click the Retweet button you are sharing a post that someone else has placed on Twitter. I share a lot of posts, because I feel that the people in my timeline – the people that follow me – will be interested in it.

Here is a great link that will explain the terms used in connection with Twitter - https://support.twitter.com/articles/166337-the-twitter-glossary.

This is what hashtags (#) are all about - https://support.twitter.com/articles/49309-what-are-hashtags-symbols.

And what is this #FF thing? http://tagdef.com/ff. You will see this playing out every Friday, when people share the Twitter links to people that they feel are worth following.

Here are some great links on using Twitter: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Twitter, http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-use-twitter, http://news.cnet.com/newbies-guide-to-twitter/, http://technmarketing.com/web/ten-things-you-must-know-before-using-twitter/.

Here are some great links to Twitter apps: https://twitter.com/#!/download, http://www.squidoo.com/twitterapps, http://techcrunch.com/2009/02/19/the-top-20-twitter-applications/.

Have fun with this!

© April 2012 Bonnie Cehovet