How To Use Twitter

Need Help Using Twitter?

Most people these days seem to know how to use Facebook, but a lot of people don’t get the how and why of Twitter.  I’ve heard a lot of people guess at what Twitter is without really ever having tried it. “Isn’t it like instant messaging?” No. “Don’t people tweet stupid stuff like what they had for lunch?” Not people I follow, unless there’s something significant about the food or place.

It seems like every brand on the planet suddenly has a Twitter account, but most still have no idea how to use it. The best users of Twitter?  Are bloggers. Twitter is often referred to as micro-blogging, and just like blogging about what you had for lunch won’t attract many readers, Tweeting about it won’t either.

Why I Use Twitter

The benefits I get from Twitter include

  • getting to know bloggers more personally
  • finding links to the most interesting and relevant articles
  • sometimes winning things and getting free stuff
  • crowd-sourcing answers to my pressing questions
  • hearing news as it breaks, not minutes or hours later
  • sharing my blog and photography content
  • learning about cool local events and gatherings

Ten Simple Tips for Using Twitter

Like the sound of that? Here are a few of my tips for new users to scale the learning curve and start realizing the benefits before you get bored.

Top Ten {Tuesday}1. Choose your user name carefully.  I can’t emphasize this enough.  You want something short, memorable, and easy to spell, so that people will be able to interact with you easily.  Remember you only get 140 characters per tweet, which includes your name when people reply to you, so the shorter the name, the more space for what you want to say.

2. As soon as you sign up for an account, carefully fill in your bio and upload a photo of your smiling face. Yes, I’m serious. People want to get to know you, and a smile is just that much more inviting. If I see the little colored birdie where your photo should be, chances are good I will blow you off.  Also it’s a great idea to put your city, so that local people can find you.  I have found Twitter to be awesome for not only connecting people in cyberspace but in real life.  When I see they are from Katy or Houston, TX, I am far more likely to follow them.

3. When you’ve got your account set up, start following some people. Twitter can help you do that by searching your email contact list for people you already know.  You can also look for the Twitter handle on some of your favorite personal blogs.  Once you have found someone interesting to follow, take a look at who they are replying to and check out those people.  It’s no fun to only see half a conversation.

4. Take a look at your favorite Tweeters Lists. Lists are groups of people set up by Tweeters in a particular category. I haven’t created a ton of lists, but I have a few…for example I have a list of people from Katy, TX, a list of Christian bloggers, a list of photographers, and a list of people who tweet mostly about Penn State football. I should really add some more lists, like one for mommy bloggers, one for fashionistas, etc. Sometimes it’s fun to find a list and simply follow that person’s entire list. I did that during the Olympics, I followed Twitters whole list of Olympians.

As an aside, this is where a third party Twitter software client like Tweetdeck or Seesmic really helps.  These clients allow you to set up multiple columns on your screen so you can see just the tweets in a given group or list of people.  This is a great way to avoid missing what interests you the most.  

5. As for your own tweets, share things you think people would care about. If you read a really great article or post? Tweet it with a link. Saw something really funny? Take a pic with your camera phone and use Twitpic or Tweetphoto to share with the world.

6. Twitter is a bit like a cocktail party…you wouldn’t walk in the door and start shouting to everyone “Hey, check ME out…I ran five miles this morning!” So your best bet is to jump into people’s conversations using replies. Don’t be afraid to reply to people, that’s what Twitter is ALL about.  Eavesdropping is not considered rude on Twitter.

7. Use the RT (retweet) button generously and wisely.  If someone says something really funny that you think others will laugh at…retweet it.  If someone shares an awesome link…retweet it.  If the tweet allows you room to add your comment, go for it. Promote other people’s blog posts. Expert Tweeter, Chris Brogan’s (@chrisbrogan) rule of thumb is promote others 12x for every one time you promote yourself.

8. I strongly believe that you do not have to follow everyone that follows you, automatically.  I’ve heard the arguments in favor of this and I don’t buy them.  I follow about 1200 people and I want my Tweet stream to be as relevant as possible since it flies by so quickly. (By the way, don’t feel the need to read every single tweet of those you follow.  Twitter is something you jump into and out of when you find a little time.) There are lots of people who follow me for reasons I don’t know, whose tweets are totally irrelevant to me.  I do give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and I check their most recent tweets before deciding whether or not to follow back.

9. Use hashtags to find people talking about things you are interested in.  My husband has recently found it enjoyable to follow the hashtag #nascar during races and banter with other folks watching the same race.  This is similar to how I enjoy watching big awards shows while tweeting about them.  Twitter has a function that will allow you to simply see the tweets of everyone using that hashtag, not just those you follow.

10. Be careful not to over-tweet.  I’m guilty of this a lot.  You can tweet by replying to people as much as you want, but if you tweet ten times in an hour about whatever TV show you’re watching…it can get irritating to people following you.  It’s called polluting or flooding their tweet-stream. 

I could go on about this forever, and this was probably information overload, but I hope it helps someone out.  I am on my laptop all day and I keep Tweetdeck up in the background. In between projects I flip over and interact for a few minutes before hopping back to my work.  It’s my way of keeping from being too isolated in my home office all the time.

Still have questions about Twitter? Hit me up in the comments and I’ll be happy to respond!

Like this post? Follow me (@MainlineMom) on Twitter!

37 thoughts on “How To Use Twitter”

  5. Thanks for the lesson. I still don’t get the hashtag thing. A further lesson on that would be excellent! 🙂 Lisa~

  6. Thanks for the lesson. I still don’t get the hashtag thing. A further lesson on that would be excellent! 🙂 Lisa~

  9. Thanks! Even though I do tweet my blog posts once or twice a day, it doesn’t seem like I get THAT much traffic from there…but every little bit counts, right? 🙂

  10. Thanks! Even though I do tweet my blog posts once or twice a day, it doesn’t seem like I get THAT much traffic from there…but every little bit counts, right? 🙂

  11. Duly noted! I would love to do some follow up posts to this, and I’m sure I could make a whole post out of how to use hashtags! Thanks for the comment! 🙂

  12. Duly noted! I would love to do some follow up posts to this, and I’m sure I could make a whole post out of how to use hashtags! Thanks for the comment! 🙂

  16. Does help. I’ve got a twitter account I rarely use. I’m not connected to the net by phone so that’s most of the reason.

  17. Thanks for all the great Twitter advice – I’m starting to get into the “swing” of using Twitter on a regular basis. Now I just need a phone that allows me to tweet faster than a tweet every 5 minutes!

  18. I’ve noticed the same thing – I get a small percentage of my hits from Twitter, but usually only when OTHERS tweet my link. I do, though, try to tweet at least once a day… I notice I don’t get a lot of hits on the days I’m not on Twitter much.

  19. Great post! When I first joined twitter, I was the most confused by hashtags. It was also confusing learning to “find” what people where saying to me (I eventually learned to “search” my twitter handle…and now I use Tweetdeck which has a “mentions” column).

  20. Thanks for the great info…very relevant info on such a confusion subject! I’m actually going to a Twitter conference on Thursday…hopefully I’ll learn even more!

  22. Got home from office meeting and there were what appeared to be 20 tweets in a row from someone I follow. Wanted to pull my hair out.

  25. I will admit that since I got my smartphone I’m much more connected…but I like that even with a regular phone you can post tweets and twitpics!

  26. A good phone does help! I use twitter to pass the time on my Blackberry if I’m waiting somewhere, like the DMV or doctor’s office.

  27. Yes, I almost never use the browser interface anymore so I forget how functions work there sometimes. I personally use Tweetdeck and LOVE it.

  28. It does take some practice! Can’t wait to get over and read your link 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  29. I’m very extroverted but I’m home alone a lot so twitter is my way of getting energy from other people…so yes, totally addicting.

  32. Great information. And I stopped by from someone’s re-tweet, so somebody’s doing something right 🙂 I definitely do not use twitter very well. I go through spurts, and find it hard to enter the conversations already in swing. I definitely enjoyed reading your tips

  33. GREAT post! And secondly – LOVE that your hubby is a NASCAR fan – we are too and I love following the #NASCAR hashtag on race days =)

    Hillary

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