This document provides an overview of Twitter, including how to sign up, create a profile, post tweets, follow others, interact with tweets through favorites and retweets, use hashtags and URLs, share photos and lists, save searches, and best practices. The key aspects of Twitter covered are posting short updates of 140 characters or less, giving and receiving information in real-time, and microblogging which combines text messaging and blogging on the platform.

1. Twitter 101
What is it? What’s New?
Presented by: @joanat
St. Edward’s University Instructional Technology Training

2. Post short updates using 140 characters or less.
Give and receive information in real-time.
Microblog = text messaging + blogging

3. Signing Up:
1. Register for an account.
2. Edit your Settings.
Best Practices:
• Pick a good username, keep it short
• Fill out your bio
• Provide a homepage URL and picture/photo.

4. Your Twitter
Profile
• Your name
• @username
• Bio and
homepage
• Newest tweets
at the top

5. “Tweeting”
1. Click “Home” from the top menu.
2. Type your message in the field.
3. Add a photo, or your location (optional).
4. Click “Tweet”. Easy!

6. Following & Getting Followed
• Find People to Follow:
1. Click on “Who to Follow” or type a topic in the
Search box (ex: “St. Edward’s University”)
2. On their Profile page, click the button
under their profile picture.
3. Their tweets will appear in order on your Home
screen.

7. Interacting with Others
• Two kinds of Messages
– @replies: public Tweets directed at you or that
mention you – “@MeganGarza”
– Direct Message: privately-sent “d MeganGarza”
• You must both be following in each other.

8. Favorites
• a place to save messages from others you’d
like to keep
– Quotable quotes
– Valuable links
– Positive things about you
– Good for online rep management
Click the star under any tweet to add to your Favorites list.

9. Retweeting
share interesting tweets from people you follow
Manual Retweet: If you’d like to comment
1. Copy and paste the original tweet.
2. To give credit to the original person, put “RT” plus
the originator’s username at the beginning of the
tweet.
Auto Re-Tweet: republish exactly as it appears.

10. Hashtags
• Community-driven “Tagging” convention
• Add additional context to your tweets.
• Prefix a word with a hash symbol: #globsoc.

11. URL Shortening
• URL shortening services share links while
conserving character space.
• Twitter.com and third-party apps all feature link shortening.
• Twitter apps
• Bit.ly
• Goo.gl

12. Sharing and Viewing Photos
• Attach photos to a tweet
• Take a photo, or upload one from phone/computer
• Popular third party services: TwitPic, Yfrog, Instagram, PicPlz
View photos without leaving Twitter or your
Twitter phone app.
Click to see photo

13. Twitter Lists
the long awaited “groups” feature
• organize people into themed groups
– Even if you aren’t Following them
– Follow other people’s lists
• limited to 500 people, maximum of 20 lists
• See who has added you to a list
– http://twitter.com/USERNAME/lists/memberships

14. Saving Searches
• Max 25 saved searches per account.
• View saved searches from your homepage.

15. Why people wouldn’t Follow you:
• No avatar, bio information.
• Disproportionate followers/following/tweet stats.
• Claiming to be someone you’re not.
• Constant shameless self-promotion.
• Fighting, drama, inappropriate language.
• Never engaging with other users.

16. Best Practices
• Be yourself.
• Provide value (like a blogger).
– interesting, surprising, funny, useful
• Update Frequently.
• Interaction.
– balance tweets, responses, re-tweets.
• Don’t Spam.
– inane messaging, unrelated info
• Integrate with other social/educational efforts.

17. Mobile Twitter Clients
the best way to get the most out of Twitter
• Send and receive tweets on phone, browser or desktop.
• Include URL shortening by default.
• Easier to keep up with than manually refreshing online.
Official clients available at twitter.com/download

18. Where to go from here?
• Start following people/orgs!
• Practice tweeting, replying, etc.
– Share your Twitter Badge and include the hashtag
#globsoc
• Study up, get questions answered:
– mashable.com/guidebook/twitter
– support.twitter.com
• Download a desktop client:
– twitter.com/download
• How influential are you?
– klout.com

19. Need Help?
Joana Trimble Gandara
IT Training Manager
joanat@stedwards.edu
@joanat