Twitter 101
December 1, 2011 in Marketing
Basic Overview from Twitter – Twitter gives this brief intro about it’s platform
Twitter is an information network. Millions of people, organizations, and businesses use it to discover and share new information.
On Twitter, anyone can read, write and share messages of up to 140 characters. These messages, or Tweets, are public and available to anyone interested in them. Twitter users subscribe to your messages by following your account. Followers receive every one of your messages in their timeline, a feed of all the accounts they have subscribed to.
When you combine messages that are quick to write, easy to read, public, opt-in, and accessible anywhere, you have a powerful, real-time way of communicating.
Mention – The easiest way to communicate directly with other users is through a mention. In speaking or referencing another user, simply add the @ symbol before the user name. Example: Excited about @syncsite implementing our BI and CRM solution this week.
Retweet – With Twitter being based on communication, you will find yourself wanting to share others tweets to your users. The act of tweeting another tweet is called a retweet. Click the Retweet button to share tweets with your followers.
Message – Not everything is meant to be public, so when you need a bit of privacy, you can send direct messages to users. Although you can mention or retweet about any user, you can only message users who follow you. To send a message, place a D and the user name at the beginning of your tweet. Example: D syncsite What time do you want to get coffee today?
Hashtag – Having conversations around certain subjects is easy with the ability to use hashtags. Hashtags can be as organized around events or activities or used to portray feeling in a tweet. Example: Great to be headed to #SageSummit for a week of learning and networking.
