Twitter+-+Getting+Started

Getting Started

Don't be shy Keep it clean
 * don't lock your account
 * use your real name
 * as soon as possible, replace the Twitter egg avatar with your photo or cartoon.
 * don't use someone else's photo!
 * complete and refine your bio
 * complete the geographical location

Religion, Politics, Sex On Twitter you are judged by who you follow and who follows you. - Why follow? Mentioning
 * your child or Grannie may be reading
 * If you must talk about them, consider using a separate account
 * Review your followers: unfollow and block as necessary.
 * Follow leaders in your field of interest. Follow who they follow.
 * Ask people you trust who you should follow.
 * Tweet that you're a newbie and ask for followers.
 * Following a person allows them to Direct Message (DM) (private message) you
 * Following people means that you receive all tweets from those people

Hashtags! The power of Twitter will only be revealed when you understand/use them. Twitter is NOT enough. You need an interface app to make it usable. Retweet anything you find interesting to make it more visible. Use Twitter to share. Take extra care when authorising other services to use your Twitter account The 140 character limitation of tweets raises the quality of messages. Requests for help Consider your audience
 * Discover hashtags by watching what others use.
 * There is no official register of hashtags.
 * Some hashtags have discussion hours where voted-on topics are discussed.
 * If someone is abusing a hashtag, use Twitter to report them for spam.
 * Do not hashtag every word pointlessly.
 * Only use relevant hashtags
 * Don't sacrifice message clarity for hashtag number
 * Use Tweetdeck or Hootsuite as the interface to Twitter.
 * Retweeting does not imply endorsement but express yr doubts if necessary.
 * Retweet many more posts than you originate.
 * Use Twitter to invite comments on your blog
 * Use Twitter to tell others about interesting blog posts of others
 * Make your Twitter ID very visible on your blog
 * Use Twitter to share interesting web articles
 * Some services are scams, will take over your account and spam others
 * Some services will lock out your account
 * If you revealed your password, some services will go phishing
 * regularly review your Twitter profile and remove unused services
 * Get to the point. Do not waffle.
 * Learn abbreviations and use them.
 * Less is often more but be sensitive to ambiguity
 * Be aware that humour can very easily be misunderstood
 * Do you talk too much?
 * Do you listen enough?
 * Support anyone starting out on Twitter
 * Support anyone requesting help
 * Point newbies to this guide
 * Twitter = global conversations
 * If you mean national, don't talk global
 * Use at least UTC and 24hr clock for global meetings
 * Understand that UTC is the global time reference, not EST
 * Understand that UTC is a fixed reference & does not change with "daylight savings"
 * What is your current timezone in terms of UTC?
 * Understand that there are more than 10 ESTs in the world and they're all different
 * Be sensitive: some terms are meaningless outside your country
 * Be sensitive: some abbreviations may not translate across national boundaries