This slideshow walks you through the basics of the Twitter platform, walking you through setting up your account, providing an overview of hashtags and at-mentions (@mentions), and going over some of the most popularly asked questions about this powerful social networking tool.

1. Jenn Scott @ccacjenn
The Absolute
Beginner’s Guide
to Twitter

2. Originally conceived as
an answer to the
question, “What are you
doing right now?”,
Twitter is a microblog*
that has evolved to be a
platform for sharing
information, musings,
links, promos, and
conversations—
provided they fit into 140
characters at a time.
*microblog: a blog that is
limited in scope, either by
subject matter or by physical
limitations. A Twitter account
can be both of these things,
but the medium, by its very
nature, is restricted by size.

3. -your friends and
family
-news outlets
-celebrities
-businesses
-organizations
-bloggers &
microbloggers*
-comedy accounts
-& many more!
*Twitter is a popular avenue
for people to talk about a
particular subject at length
and nothing else. Local
examples include
@soufoaklin4life,
@pghgraffiti, and
@yinzcantpark.

4. -Follow people who
interest you
-View news updates in
real time
-Connect immediately
with anyone on Twitter
-Contact businesses or
organizations
-Respond directly to
Tweeted conversations
Twitter’s strength is that it
allows you to have instant,
bite-sized conversations with
anyone who’s using the
service—try it!

5. Getting Started

6. Follow the directions to
set up an account. You’ll
need to pick a unique
handle*. It can be a
username you already
use, or you can make it
a business account
(ex: @ccacyourname)
You can change this at
any time, but may not be
able to revert back once
you change it.
*Handle is what Twitter calls
its username. It will look like
@username. This handle is all
you need to give people, and
they’ll be able to search for
you on Twitter!

7. @_CCAC_
@CCACAlerts
@CCAC_Admissions
@CCAC_LC
@CCACSouthPres
@CCAC_Veterans
@CCACjenn (that’s me!)
@CCACNorthLib
@CCACArt
@CCACBlackboard
@CCACOIS
@CCACNorth
@CCACStudentLife
@CCAC_AL_StdLife
@CCACSouthStLife
Twitter will require you to
follow at least 15 people in
order to proceed with your
account. Here are some
handles you might like to get
started.

8. Once your account is
set up and you send
the email to verify
your account, you’re
ready to hit the road!
Take a few minutes
and find more people
to follow. The more
people you follow, the
more Tweets you’ll
see in your news
feed.

9. 1. twitter.com
2. Twitter app on
smartphone or
tablet
3. A social media
management tool
(ex: Hootsuite)
4. Crossposting from
other services (ex:
setting up your
Instagram photos
or Tumblr posts to
also post on
Twitter)
Some websites will even allow
you to use your Twitter
account as a login application
the same way many services
currently allow you to use your
Facebook account as a login.
Keep this in mind if you want
to comment on a news story!

10. Short answer:
Whatever you want!
Long answer: What
you’re doing,
thoughts, ideas,
musings, things you
want to share with
other people,
conversations, tips,
business info, etc.
Tweets from a personal
account can be anything! But
if you want your account to be
a professional or networking
site, you may wish to keep
some personal information out
of your feed.

11. *You can set your account to
private in Settings. If you do
this, only people that you’ve
allowed to follow you will see
your Tweets, and they will not
be able to retweet your
Tweets to others.
• Default: anyone*
– Anyone who follows
you will see your
Tweets in their news
feed and can retweet
your Tweets to their
followers.
– Anyone who
searches for you will
find your account and
can look at your
Tweets, even if
they’re not following
you.

12. Twitter Recipes
Or: How to REALLY get started on Twitter

13. Simple. Elegant.
Devoid of fluff.
Main characteristics:
-140 characters long.
-Can be any characters, even
special ones.
-Character countdown: status
here is EXACTLY 140,
because the red number is 0.
-When you’re finished, hit the
Tweet button to post.

14. 1. Display name: The name your
Twitter followers see. This is
normally your given name.
2. Twitter handle: the specific
@username you’ve selected for
yourself.
3. Time since posting: Will update
as more time passes.
4. The Tweet.
5. Expand: Clicking on this will
show you the time stamp for the
Tweet, open a box to allow direct
replies, and offer a link for more
6. Reply: Opens a box for you to
reply to a Tweet.
7. Delete: Deletes your Tweet.
There is no “Edit” function for
Tweets.
8. Favorite: Adds a Tweet to your
Favorites, which you can go back
and look at any time. 9. More
options: Will open a menu for you to
embed a Tweet (if you want to post
it on another website) or report or
block a Tweet.
NOT PICTURED: You will see a

15. Main characteristics:
-140 characters or less, total.
-Contains one or more words
or phrases that start with the
pound sign, or hashtag.
-When you’re finished, hit the
Tweet button to post.

16. Once you Tweet something with a
hashtag, you can click on any of them to
bring up a search list of public Tweets that
also feature that hashtag or mentioned
subject. It works similar to the way a
Google search would for the hashtag in
question.
Narrow search
results by
selecting
modifiers from
the left hand
column. Some
subjects include
news, photos,
and people.

17. Hashtags may also be
used as the punchline
to a joke or an aside to
the main Tweet
content rather than as
an actual tool for
finding other like
Tweets.

18. Things to keep in mind
about hashtags:
• Must be #all1word
with no spaces.
• Cannot contain
punctuation.
#ItsAWrench, but no
apostrophes.
• #capitalsdontmatter
Common hashtags:
#FF: Follow Friday. Use this hashtag when you are promoting another user’s
account.
#ICYMI: In case you missed it. Normally used by news outlets to repost previously
Tweeted content or news stories, but can be used by anyone.
#TBT: Throwback Thursday. Usually used to post old pictures of yourself.

19. There are two ways to
@mention:
• In a public Tweet to all
of your followers.
• In a direct Tweet to a
person, or as a reply
to a person.

20. What’s the difference?
• Any Tweet starting with @username
will only show up in newsfeeds of
people who follow both of you (below)
• An @mention in the body of a Tweet
will go to all of your follower’s news
feeds (above)

21. Want to share a photo
or video? There are a
few ways you can do
this:
• Directly from your phone/tablet.
Select the photo/video you want
to post and select Twitter. Then
share it!
• Through a third party
photo/video hosting service.
YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr, and
Instagram all have options for
you to crosspost to Twitter when
you add new content.
• Share a photo you like from the
web on Twitter by using the site’s
share button.

22. *Did you seriously think we
would get through this
slideshow without a single
Star Trek joke? Yeah, right.
What can your Tweet
contain?
• Text, numbers, and
special characters
• iPhone emotes
• #hashtags
• Links to other pages
or accounts
• @mentions
• Photos and videos
• Any combination of
the above elements

23. Retweets,
Subtweets and
Conversations

24. Retweets are when
you see a Tweet from
someone that you like
and retweet that Tweet
to your own followers.
There are two ways to
do this: retweet and
quote Tweet.
Subtweets allow you
to post your own
Tweets in chronological
order.
A conversation, as the name
suggests, is a series of back
and forth Tweets between you
and at least one other user
through replies and
@mentions. It can be quite a
lot of fun!

25. A simple retweet will
send another user’s
Tweet to your followers.
It will retain all original
information, but say
“Retweeted by <you>”.
To retweet, click the
double arrow button at
the bottom of a Tweet.

26. A quote retweet (RT)
allows you to add your
own comments. Mobile
users will see a “Quote
Tweet” option, but
computer users will have
to copy + paste. Notice
your @username instead
of the original Tweeter’s.

27. To talk to another Twitter
user, hit the “Reply” button at
the bottom of their Tweet, or
start one of your Tweets with
@theirname. They will get a
notification that they were
@mentioned, and maybe
they’ll Tweet you back!

28. So, your ideas can’t be
contained in a mere
140 characters! You
want to post multiple
Tweets chronologically.
But how? With
subtweets!

29. How to subtweet:
1. Write & post your first
Tweet.
2. Hit “Reply” on your
own Tweet.
3. Delete your
@username from the
box, type your second
Tweet, and post.
4. Now your Tweet(s)
will show up nested
under each other in
order!
The easiest way to think about
this is that you are having a
Twitter conversation with
yourself. If you want to keep
subtweeting, always hit
“Reply” on the last Tweet you
posted to keep the chain
going.

30. Tips, Tricks, and
Best Practices

31. • Follow everyone who
looks interesting to
you
• Favorite Tweets
when you like them
• Retweet your favorite
Tweets
• Reply to Tweets and
start a conversation
• Tweet engaging,
interesting content
• Share photos

32. • You can make Lists to sort your followers by
types of Tweets (ex: Pittsburgh Schools, etc.)
• You can set up text alerts for certain
accounts or interactions. (ex: @CCACAlerts)
• You can edit your online profile
• You can alter/edit your account and even
change your @username if you want
• You can see a list of helpful keyboard
shortcuts or access the help menu
What can I do in Settings?

33. Easiest way: text ON
username (no @ or
brackets) to your
Twitter short code. In
the US, that’s 40404.
Example: Text “ON
CCACAlerts” to 40404
(no quotation marks).
This will enable text
notifications on your
phone.

34. You can also turn on text
notifications manually.
Make sure your settings
are set up to receive
texts and that
notifications are set to on
for the account in
question:Visit the profile of the @username you want alerts for and click
on the gear button next to the Follow button (NOT the one in
the top bar). If your mobile notifications are not currently on, you
can turn them on here.
Now click YOUR gear button up at the top and go to Settings 
Mobile. If your Twitter account has been linked with your phone,
you’ll see a list of options for text notifications. Make sure
“Tweets from people you’ve enabled for mobile notifications” is
checked off.

35. Even if they aren’t
following you,
EVERYONE can see
your Tweets if they look
at your page. Keep that
in mind as you post.
Google “Twitter
disasters” for more
examples of Tweets
gone bad.
Most Twitter disasters can be
avoided by remembering the Golden
Rule and remembering that you
probably aren’t as funny as you
think you are. Harsh, but bad jokes
are often the source of the most
intense backlash.

36. • You can set it so your
Tweets crosspost to
Facebook. This will
annoy your friends.
• You don’t have to use
all 140 characters all
the time. Leave some
room for easy RTs.
• Shorten your links
with a URL shortener.
• Check “Trends” to
see current hot
Popular URL shorteners:
• https://goo.gl/
• https://bitly.com/
• http://ow.ly/url/shorten-url
• http://is.gd/

37. Twitter can be a source
of fun, a powerful
marketing tool, an
instant networking
apparatus, a way to
speak directly with
businesses and
people, and a powerful
engine for creativity.
The only limit is you.
(And the character
count.)
Have fun!

38. Questions?