Oct 09
9
Twitter–A whole new world is waiting for you
Twitter–it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Just a few weeks ago I was totally confused, and today I am following the tweets of Giada DeLaurentis and Bobby Flay of the Food Network, Top Wine News, Prevention and Women’s Health Magazines, Central Market and many others in my interest groups. If there are over 18 million people who use Twitter, chances are you could find your favorite chefs, movie stars, fitness experts, and shopping discounts using the social media tool that is taking over the world of communications. A friend of mine even has a Twitter group set up for her family, and uses it to send quick messages to everyone.
Okay, the basics. Twitter is an online service that enables you to broadcast short messages to your friends or “followers.” It also lets you specify which Twitter users you want to follow so you can read their messages in one place. Twitter is useful for close-knit groups (although there also are some fairly large mobs on Twitter). If you follow your friends, and they follow each other, you can quickly communicate group-related items, such as “I’m going to the pub on Fourth Street, come on along. (cnet.com) Individual comments, or posts, are called Tweets.
You can follow Twitter on your computer, or on your mobile device if you are signed up for internet use. I primarily use my computer because I can see the tweets better (bigger = better with over-50 eyes) and I can quickly scroll through the recent posts and choose the ones I want to read. Some people tweet multiple times daily, and others only occasionally. I have stayed away from those who post mindless tweets about every moment of their days, and mostly stick to the ones who are informative or inspiring. By using my computer, I can click on the links that are posted and quickly read corresponding articles or blogs, which again are harder to read on my iPhone.
So how do you get started? Go to Twitter.com and click “join for free.” Use either your real name or your business name so you will be recognizable, but remember, tweets can only be a maximum of 140 characters, and your name is included in the count. So make it short, using initials or shortened versions of name. Your name will be something like “@fabfifties” or “@sktolles.” The @ symbol allows others to send you direct tweets if they want to keep it private.
After you get your user name set up, you can go to your profile and upload a picture from your computer. Including a photo or a logo will help people recognize you, plus it is more fun to put a face behind a tweet. Under “settings” you can choose the design of your own home page, using one of several themes on Twitter, or creating your own with a picture and background if you feel really creative.
You will be able to find your friends who are using Twitter by clicking on “find people” and entering their names. Another good reason to have a picture–there may be several people with the same name to choose from. The search will produce results for you to select from, and clicking on the person’s name will take you to their home page. Select “follow” and you are on your way! On the right side of the screen, you will see “following” where you will find a list of all the people you have signed up to follow. If you decide that you don’t want to follow someone any more, go to that list and simply click on “actions” by their name. Then click on “unfollow” and they will be taken off your list. You can experiment to see who has the most interesting and relevant tweets.
When posting your own tweets, remember the 140 character limit. You will learn all sorts of shortcut ways to say things, and watch others to see how they do it. As you are writing your “tweet” there is a counter in the upper corner that counts down as you type. It turns red when you’re getting close, and then has a minus sign when you’ve gone over. Very helpful so you won’t chop off the last part of your tweet.
When in doubt, go to the “help” selection on your Twitter home page for a great resource of support and “how-to’s.”
If you really want to dive in, there are huge lists of professionals who use Twitter, like this one from Mashable Megalists where you will find everything from comedians to “how to organize your life.” Or just search for your favorite people, from chefs to TV personalities to politicians, and enjoy meeting them “personally.”
You can check out my Twitter page here, and follow me if you’d like. Fabfifties
I don’t tweet that often yet, but I’m enjoying following others who give me encouragement, information and often a smile. And when you get your own account set up, I’ll follow you! Because I know you will have great things to share.
