Incase you can comprehend the title
a) you are a killer cryptographer \m/ (or)
b) you are one among the millions who use twitter!
I dedicate to this “twspecial twost” to many of my not-so-twitsavvy pals who I think should use Twitter ,which is without a doubt the best way to share and discover what is happening right now.Well..This is just a nice way of saying “I’m fed up of explaining twitter on our private chats”,with all due respect my dear friends 😀
To begin with.. Twitter is analogous to almost all social networks – facebook,flickr,youtube,digg et al.,. Simply put, its a place to shout out what’s on your mind,what you think of the state-of-affairs,what’s going on in your life,what you’re eating at the moment 😛 (@having),what you are reading,an interesting weblink you just clicked,what song you’re listening to,whether is laundry day or if you are bungee jumping or parasailing …. Guess you get the point!
The thing that makes twitter unique is the 140 character limit imposed on every tweet(your message) that you send.
>>Dufus : This is my first tweet.Its supposed to be interesting. link
08:30 PM Sep 13th from web
If someone (Simp) finds your tweet useful (incase you send out an interesting link/ info ) they can “retweet” (RT) yours.
>>Simp : RT @Dufus : This is my first tweet.Its supposed to be interesting. link
08:35 PM Sep 13th from Twhirl in reply to Dufus
On your public timeline(wat u see after u login) you see all the tweets sent by the people who you follow(friends / your fellow tweeps).
In case you wanna answer to one of ur friends you simply hit the reply button & type the reply.
>>Simp: @Dufus Wow that was damn interesting!
08:537PM Sep 13th from Twhirl in reply to Dufus
This implies that only dufus gets to see the message,simp sent (and those who follow both dufus & you-your mutual friends) Using @ helps people who are mentioned to keep track of tweets where they’re mentioned!Its good to mention ppl using their handles(twitter names) when referencing them in tweets.
>>Dufus: Hello @nitwit @macho @nerdy Come over to my house party #tweetdown
09:35 PM Sep 13th from Tweetdeck
However this is visible to all your friends(if there’s even a space /any character(s) before the @ )
Coming to the # tag…This is used in the searching of tweets containing the word after the #. Simply put..you can track all the proceedings of a meet from ALL users(not only ur friends) if they don’t fail to include the # tag in their every tweet regarding the meet/watsoever!
Incase you wanna say something more personal..Use the direct message option,None but the receiver will know.
Here’s a compilation of answers to #whatistwitter ?, by some of the @people I know on the best microblogging service 😀
The red jots – my best effort to highlight some of the features.
And my answer to this #whatistwitter is this :- Its a repository of information..since you share everything here,which makes it my shared notes,newsfeeds,foxmarks,public chat,poll daddy..More than all this its a place for like minded individuals to network,find friends & reach wide.
Twitter is not only popular among business people,moms,IT pros,bloggers,..But also among many many celebrities…Some of those who I follow are ShashiTharoor,Chetan_Bhagat,mileycyrus,bdutt..! It is quite an excellent way to interact with people who you normally can’t imagine having a conversation with..Although it isn’t normal for all celebs to reply to all tweets directed to them…there ARE celebs who reply sometimes \m/Watch this amazing slideshow …
Twitter Guidelines to Live By
The Twitterverse doesn’t have many rules, but there is such a thing as Twitter etiquette. Writing tweets of 140 characters or less isn’t the only guideline. Your experience on Twitter will be a positive one if you keep the following tips in mind:
- Say what you think and are doing.
- In general, try to keep tweets longer than one word so that your followers can understand you.
- Listen to what your Twitter friends are saying.
- Respond to Twitter friends when you can add value to the conversation.
- Update your status at least once a day.
- Fill in your profile and biography so that other people can know more about you.
What NOT to Do on Twitter
Twitter etiquette isn’t only about what you should do. Unfortunately, bad tweets and poor Twitter practices sometimes show up within microblogging communications. While you can’t really go horribly wrong on Twitter, you’ll make your life easier in the Twitterverse if you follow these guidelines:
- When you first sign up and before you start regularly tweeting, don’t follow hundreds of people. If you follow someone, he checks out your profile to see whether he might want to follow you back; if he sees that you’ve tweeted once or twice and you’re following hundreds of people, he may think you’re just a spam account.Start out slowly, following people you know and who know you. Then, as you start tweeting regularly, follow more people based on your interests.
- Avoid using punctuation in your username. Typing punctuation on mobile devices is difficult.
- Don’t share information that you might regret making public.
- Don’t think Twitter success has anything to do with your Followers count.
You can get news & updates on ur twitter too!Well,Now that you are all set to tweet about,first thing you need to do- Get a twitter handle(username) that is not too long..(Helps durin RTs)I didn’t realise the goodness of the short handle,when I started out…So am passing on my twitdom for your benefit.Come join me on twitter .I am @gracelynefdo there!
Incase you need any more help do shoot em!Hope this’d help you begin your,
Tweers,
Gracy
[Credits: What NOT to Do on Twitter,Twitter Guidelines to Live By sections written by Laura Fitton, Michael Gruen]
PS: Do leave yout twitter URLs in the comment section..You probably will get some traffic from here
// EDIT : Watch this super awesome funny video on Twitter 😛 LOL!!
The Grace Log 
good one…how to post links in a tweet? wen i try doin it, i get d entire url displayed not a short one…y?
I didnt know tat twitter is tat interestin grace..Gr8 post..Nowadays ur posts are less of pesonal rantings and more of social networkin?? 🙂
@Vaishu:
http://bit.ly/ and http://www.tinyurl.com are the most popular URL shorteners.
But..Usually in a tweet sent “from web” URLs do get shortened most of the times.. In case of apps like twhirl,tweetdeck you can choose your the shortener of your choice from the UI itself.
Reason your link may not get shortened could be:
1) Your tweet(including the URL) maynot have exceeded the 140 limit
2) some other reason I’m not aware of 😛
ANyway bit.ly -the official twitter shortener DOES shorten most links.
@ Rest:
vaishu is @vaishushakthi there
@Sudha:
Yeah sudha..It is quite an interesting place to lounge on 😀
Hop into the bandwagon & leave ur twitter handle here
>> less of pesonal rantings and more of social networkin??
Yeah..can’t help it.Mebbe I’m loosing the spice of life! 😛
Follow me @ http://www.twitter.com/sagarun 😉
helo atlst am here 2 kil u wit ma tweeeeeeeeeeeeeta:)
Good compilation Grace. Have been wondering if you ever got around to jotting down your findings.
I think I’ll direct my non-twitter pals out here now 🙂
quite intresting.. saw all the info in some magazine a coupla months ago..maybbbbe i should try it..sooner..gud article..keep postin’,…..
(remember Variety is the Spice of life) So..Do have a Melange of articles here…Expectin more.
Accolades
Ohhhhhhhhh………………..
LOvely 🙂 very informative 🙂
@Spitphyre:
Gee thanks Ree 😀
@Priya:
LOOK WHO’S TALKING !! I’D SUE U FOR NOT UPDATING URS ,IF I COULD *sigh*
😛 Ok now.. Leave your macro blog..try microbloggig(twitter) you’d like it 🙂
And yea.. I think I haven’t lost the spice..,only failing to sense it 😀
Cheers!
@Sreedevi:
So here comes @nellybuddy (sreedevi) Good to see u back there.. Lets see hoe long yo last!!
Cheers
Oh..sweet..I am tellin’ atleast you do continue bloggin’…thats wat i meant
You know, I get the same feeling sometimes.
A few friends have asked me what I’ve been doing
on Twitter and I find myself repeating the basics.
Twitter is a godsend. Some great advice here.
Courtney
@Priya :
🙂
@Courtney (a.k.a @ObviousWriter is a CANADIAN MARKETING GUY)
Hi 5 ! & thanks 🙂
a comprehensive post regarding twitter…….gr8 that u r able to compile a long post about a particular single topic without deviation 🙂 orkut->blogger->facebook->twitter->??? let’s see what is goint to be next.
Your post is supposed to be “why would use twitter”, not “why micro-blog”. All the stuff you mention like status updates and whats happening can be done using any micro-blogging service. Why not tell me how twitter compares to the other services? For e.g., with facebook you could do the same thing and tell your friends(the ones who really matter) about your updates or whats happening. Maybe you could use friendfeed with threaded comments/replies and no 140 character limit(and maybe less downtime). Maybe you can use identi.ca, a service similar to twitter arguably less spambots and possibly a more reliable service(questionable). You could use tumblr which has different types of “posts”(even twitter uses it on status.twitter.com). Why not use good old blogger? It also has a “followers” feature. Why not use so many other services out there? or rephrased, why would I use twitter again?
Maybe you could come up with why not use twitter which I am sure would be to the point 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_micro-blogging_services maybe of some use 🙂
The other day I read one a post about why google should buy twitter: so that it would die just like jaiku.
There are hardcore users who have to use tweet deck or a similar app due to the lack of groups on twitter. The above link does show you that twitter is the not the most feature rich. If you are a facebook user(like almost anyone who uses the “social web”) what exactly should make twitter the best choice for microblogging(if at all)?
To start out, I have to admit, I had the same question(Why twitter? & since this post was targetted @ twitter basics I didn’t get to WHYtwitter?..Rather twas Why twitter? ). I made fun of Twitter for a year before I started using it.First of all, I don’t like the way Twitter explains itself. They say it is a network of people answering the question, “What are you doing right now?” However, the people who only do that have few followers since nobody wants to read “I am eating a burger” 4 times a day.
The best description for Twitter is that it is THE aggregation tool. It is one of the best tools available for short snippets of content along with links to rest of the content. It is a phenomenal tool for blog promotion. It is a great tool for finding and sharing great content with others. I read all of my news and blogs on Twitter. It is the portal to all great content.
But like you said.. “it can be done using any micro-blogging service.” You can send out emails using any mail service but Gmail is the best 😀 Likewise I feel that Twitter is gr8t for its ease-of-use, simple GUI, first to market& more importantly rate of growth
But don’t take my word for it. I threw the question out on Twitter and Facebook and asked, “Why do you use Twitter?” Here are some of the answers:
“It’s so quick to connect with people within your industry for networking. You can see what other local professionals are working on. It’s just another great tool.”
“Because those are the people I REALLY want to be around.”
“Simple and real-time communication with industry experts.”
No matter what your reason for using it, there is value in Twitter for many different purposes. The only thing I can say is try it. I’ll be your first follower. 😀
@derek :
>> If you are a facebook user(like almost anyone who uses the “social web”) what exactly should make twitter the best choice for microblogging(if at all)?
I guess One look @ ur FB stream ‘d make u realise that TWitter is much cleaner & neatttt!!! 😛 😀
PS: thanks a lot for droppin by & sharing your views 🙂 I could agree with most of it 😀
Wanted to share this funny video:
Twouble with Twitters: SuperNews!
That video deserves a page of its own! You need to highlight it in bold so that everyone will notice it.
nice twitter gyan
Hey Grace,
That twat ta tnice tpost!!!
U have mastered Twitter!! N these tweeps (tips) are gng to help the novices…
(Read ur blog tht day itself, n i thot tht I had commented already!! Sry for late comment)
take care 🙂
wow this is good stuff…..I usually use the commoncrafts video to show people “what the f is this twitter thing?” 🙂
@Priyanka:
Ya Im also hoping it benefits them, to-be-tweeps! 🙂
@The Anand,@Toonindia :
THanks for stopping by 🙂
come again 😀
I dont like making generic comments so i say your post was like true nice coconut biscuit 😛
And I am working this post called WT20 twitter style which is an imagination how it would if cricket teams had twitter accounts and interacted with each other. I will link this post because you seem to have covered up almost everything. Thanks for decreasing my job 😀