How to Use Twitter
February 27, 2009 | In: Internet
Twitter’s been around for some time now and it’s quite the handy little web app for those looking for quick ways to broadcast information to friends and friend networks. Bloggers can even use it to publicize new posts which actually is a pretty cool way to get some traffic.
Some people even regard Twitter as a “microblog” since it allows them to post messages (only up to 140 characters in length) that answer the very basic question, “What are you doing?” This does erradicate the need to blog about mundane details like what you’re eating for lunch. Still, the quick and constant updates of what people are doing make for interesting reads.
If you haven’t signed up for a Twitter account yet, then let’s show you how to get yourself Twitting in no time.
Signing up
All you need to sign up is an e-mail address and the rest are just short forms that ask for the basic details (user name and password) for you to get started with the site. Oh and it does have a CAPTCHA to prevent bots from spamming their registration.
Signing in
If you already have a Twitter account then all you need to do is to sign up using your user name and password.
The Twitter Page
After signing in, you’ll be taken to your home page where you can view the latest messages from your network arranged in chronological order. You will also be able to see the latest messages that you posted yourself.
Sending Messages
At the top of the page you’d see the message form with that bears the . There’s also a character counter that shows the number of available characters for the message. You can also place hyperlinks in your message. To save on space, lengthy hyperlinks are automatically converted to TinyURL.
You can also reply to specific people by appending the “@” sign at the beginning of their Twitter user names.
Clicking on the Update/Reply button broadcasts your message to the world.
Customizing Your Profile
While you’ve been asked to provide very basic information upon signing up, you can still add a few more details about yourself. Clicking on Settings will show you the other customizable information that you can tweak to your liking. Adding a little avatar of yourself would definitely help anyone to identify you among other users (Settings -> Picture).
Customizing the Look
If you think that the default look’s a drab, you can tweak how your Twitter page looks by clicking on Settings -> Design. Twitter’s got some ready themes to choose from. But if you really want a customized look, you can change the background and customize the colors for each of the page sections.
Adding a Device
If you’re always on the go, Twitter can also hook up with your mobile phone so that you’d be able to recive updates via text messages through the course of the day. You can also post message via text messaging. All you have to do is add a device by clicking Settings -> Device and entering your mobile device’s number. Standard rates of your mobile provider apply. If you don’t want to be inconvenienced by messages bombarding your device you can send commands like Off, Sleep, or Stop to Twitter. To turn it back on, send On, Wake, or Start.
Building Your Network
Any social network will be boring without anyone to interact with. Good thing you can always build a network of friends and contacts. At the sidebar, you’d find all of your contact’s avatars neatly chunked together.
If you need to add more, just click Add and you’ll be taken to several options to find you contacts – searching the Twitter network for their user names or even by checking if their e-mail addresses were used to make Twitter accounts.
If you find other people on Twitter, you can also follow them so that their messages appear on your home page as well. Just simply visit the profile and a button below their name and avatar would allow you to “Follow” them.
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There you go. These are the most basic things you need to go about using Twitter so sign up, sign in, Twit and follow your friends. The livelier the discussion, the better.
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