My Twitter Tips!

Twitter Tips, How to Twitter and Twitter lingo and Dictionary

RuthAnne Anderson 7/23/09

Follow on Twitter @Twitter_Tips and @TwittPro for more helpful Twittering tips!

So Many Friends have asked me about Twitter. What, How and Why that I decided to write out my own tips on how to use Twitter.

If you’re using Twitter, you know it’s more than what people are having for breakfast. It’s more like “conference call using IM”. Link sharing, conversation, personal connections that break the ice before in-person meeting, & professional networking. It’s like having another phone on my desk in a different form.

If you’re just getting started on Twitter, you’re probably a bit overwhelmed and looking for a few ways to help optimize your experience.

Getting Started

User Name: Use your real name and a picture on your profile. It lets your followers know that there’s a real person behind the profile. You may use a business name for your Twitter name, but they can work if you have a real picture. In general, use a name related to your real name, other made up names can smell spammy to the casual observer.

Your bio should be real. Followers want to know who you are. Make sure you write something meaningful so others can learn something about you. A bio is your introduction as a person, not a 160 character “elevator pitch”. Sales pitches may turn followers away, especially if they think they’ll get pitched if they follow you. Personally, I don’t follow people who don’t have a bio or if they only have a Tweet or two posted, unless I know them personally and they just started Twitter. Bios are important and are searchable.

If this is purely a business account, the bio should be a description of your company.

Home page is Where Tweeting begins

· Status: Update your status and view tweets from people you follow in 140 characters

· Find People: Search for people to follow.

· Search: enter key words of your interests to find other people or topics and this will return tweets by people who have used these words. Then Look at their bio to see who they are and who their followers are. If you like what they Tweet about or who they are Click the follow sign to follow someone

· Following and Followers listed on Home Page Click to see who you are following or who is following you

· Read your tweets

· Profile page: Your tweets, You can see the tweets you have made here.

· Reply to other people’s tweets

· Click on @your name and you can see who mentioned your name or RT your Tweet. The @ symbol sends a reply. This symbol before someone’s name sends a reply that goes to their ‘reply’ tab. E.g. @Aruthanne

· Click the reply symbol. This will place the ‘@’ symbol in the status update box before their name. Then type your reply.

Following and Being “Followed”

You can search Twitter for people you know by entering their name, or any related word or description. Example: Photographer or photography. Twitter also has an option to search the contacts you have on Gmail, Hotmail, AOL and some others. If you have Facebook and go to FB Applications (Twitter), your FB friends now Twitter friends will appear. You can also select to update your Status on Facebook at the same time as Twitter on this application.

As you follower people and like what they are Tweeting, check out who *they* follow and connect to others in their network. That’s one way to build your network, and the people you follow will follow you back, most of the time.

If you start following tons of people, Twitter is very likely to mark you as an account with spam potential and suspend you. It’s not a race. Follow a handful of people, get to know them, grow from there.

A note about follower numbers: the philosophy is that more is better. I follow people who are personable, talkative, and multifaceted. They do more than talk about their business or drop link after link. If someone “unfollows” don’t worry. Each person’s has who they want to “listen” to Tweet. I “unfollowed” someone because I really didn’t care what they ate every meal and when they left the computer to go to the John. Too bad because the information, on occasion was good, so I found out who they were getting the information from when they RT - ReTweeted and dropped their name in by using this RT @NAME and I looked at the info on @NAME and started following them instead.

Consider following people as reaching out and shaking hands, connecting individually rather than just an accumulation of numbers. It’s not a popularity contest. It’s a communication experience.

Participating

Twitter like a conversation (because largely that’s what it is). There’s no “right” way to use it and your own purpose will emerge over time.

Twitter is conversing with other people. It’s sharing web links that are interesting or useful, personal or business. Your shared links are much more likely to get attention – yours web site or others- if you’ve spend the time to build the relationships with your “followers” before you ask people to Click Your Junk.

Participate – Tweet! Don’t beg for followers - if you’re interesting and interested in others, followers will show up. Talk, share, contribute and above all, have a little fun. It is the best way to build relationships and a community on Twitter.

The Twitter Lingo

Tweet: A post to Twitter - text only, 140 characters maximum (including spaces). If you’re just learning to use Twitter, start by posting your tweets from the box at the top of the page that asks “What are you doing?” Notice that while you type your post, the character counter (the number above that box, to the right) keeps track of how many characters you have left. When done, click the “Update” button - and your post goes live on Twitter!

Tweeter/Twitterer: Someone who uses Twitter. Once you Tweet you are now a Twitterer!

Follow & Your “followers” When you follow someone on Twitter means you elect to see in your timeline the tweets that they post. Your “friends” are the people who you follow (get updates from). Twitter lists this in your profile as your “following” statistic, but “friends” is the more commonly used term. Your “followers” (aka, your “posse,” “tweeps,” or “tweeple”) are the people who have chosen to see your tweets. TIP: You can click on any user’s stats to see who they follow and who follows them. This provides perhaps the best way to find people to follow: When you find a particularly interesting or relevant Twitter user, go to their personal page and click to see who they’re following. You can then choose to follow some of the same people directly from that list

@ replies: At Reply, or "@reply": A direct tweet sent to another Twitter user. This symbol precedes people’s “handles” or screen names on Twitter when a tweet is directed at them. Want to reply to someone’s comment? Start your tweet with @ so they’ll know your reply is meant for them. You can track your own replies in the “@ Replies” tab on your Twitter page, or many of the Twitter clients will do so automatically for you. CAUTION: Using @ replies to get someone’s attention isn’t completely reliable. Users can configure their account to see @ replies from no one at all, only from their friends (people they’re following), or from anyone.

RT: Stands for “retweet” and means that the tweet is being reposted from someone else. If I retweet something of yours, that means I’m passing it along for others in my network to see. When you see a tweet that starts with these letters, it means that the person is passing along something that someone else wrote. Many of the third party applications have a one-click button to retweet a post. Tweet Etiquette by "RT" and "@[username]," to give credit to the original poster.

Hash Tag: The "#" sign. Allows Twitter users to group tweets by topic, making it easier to search particular conversations using Twitter Search. You may often see tweets that end with a hashtag, or a pound sign followed by a term, such as #conference. The purpose is to keep track of tweets that are all part of a single subject, event, or topic. If you head to Twitter Search and type in the full hashtag, you can track all the tweets related to that term. You don’t need to do anything special to use a hashtag, just make one up and tell folks to use it if you want them to tag their tweets for your event or discussion.

Link: Including a URL in your tweet.

link shorteners: Twitter’s 140 character limitation makes posting big links impossible. So you’ll see shortened urls from services like TinyURL, Bit.ly, is.gd among others. They take a long URL and condense it down to a short version. Again, clients like TweetDeck have this built in, but you can use the web versions as well, many of which have a bookmark button you can use in your browser.

DM: This stands for Direct Message and is Twitter’s version of a private message. If you DM someone, you send the message directly to them and no one else can see it. To send one, type the letter D and a space followed by the person’s Twitter name (or use the Direct Messages tab on your profile page). The recipient of the DM needs to be following you for the message to go through.

Favorites: If you “favorite” a tweet, it’s like your bookmarking it for yourself. You can see your favorites on a separate tab on your profile, and others can see them too.

User. Typically this means an individual person with a Twitter account - but appearances can be deceiving. Some Twitter names are used by organizations or publications (such as NYTimes), or by groups of Twitter users (such as COtweeters, a communication channel for Twitter users in Colorado). One IBM engineer even has a Twitter account for his house.

Timeline. A series of tweets displayed on a Twitter page. When you refresh the page, new tweets appear at the top of the timeline and older tweets scroll down off the bottom.

Personal page. Every Twitter user gets their own page where all their tweets are archived in a timeline. If you click on the username of a person who posted a specific Tweet, that takes you to their personal page.

Short URLs. You can include links in your tweet simply by posting the complete URL, including “http://” - but you only have 140 characters total to work with, and some URLs are very long. Fortunately there are free online services that will create short, permanent “redirect” URLs that can replace long URLs. Three popular ones are snurl, tinyurl, and urltea. They all work basically the same way: You enter the long URL, and the service generates a short URL that you copy to your computer’s keyboard. You then paste the short URL into your tweet.

How to Speak Twitter

A TWITTER GLOSSARY

Dweet: Tweet sent while drunk

MisTweet: A tweet one later regrets.

SnapTweet: A tweet that includes a photo taken with a cell phone, uploaded to Flickr and posted to Twitter via snaptweet.com.

Twittcrastination: Procrastination brought on by Twitter use.

Twadd: To add someone as a friend or follower.

Twaigslist/Twebay: To sell something on Twitter.

TwinkedIn: Inviting friends made on Twitter to connect on LinkedIn.

Twittectomy: To remove someone from the list of people you follow.

Twitterati: The A-list twitterers everyone follows.

Twitterfly: Twitter's version of a social butterfly, marked by the extreme use of @ signs.

Twitterlooing: Twittering from the bathroom.

Twitterpated: Overwhelmed with Twitter messages.

Twittfeinated, Twigged Out, Twired: To be so hyped up on twittering that you cannot sleep

Can We Do It? Asked A Dear Old Friend

“Can we do it?” asked a dear old friend.

He moved to California with wife and their two daughters. He started a promising business that leaped into profit margins. So what could go wrong? One decision at a time, along with some bad luck, this California dream crashed alongside our nation’s economy. Pleading for help he e-mailed his closest friends and family. Struggling for words, wisdom, knowledge and encouragement I replied the only way I knew how. I replied with my whole heart … and the only two cents I had.

In reply to your e-mail I would like to first say I love you and your family and in no way shape or form believe that you should be “embarrassed” and I have not criticized you or your family in any way. As far as Lexis’s “accident” that is what it was … an accident. It could happen to anyone of us! I sent a heartfelt letter to the judge and I hope you took the time to read it because it was written from my heart.

The list you supplied was in fact incomplete. Making your point that no way you can live off $500.00 per week paying for these extras, you didn’t include the basic electric, water/sewer, cable, gas, nor did you include all insurances, car payments, taxes and your rent.

I really want to add, You Are NOT Alone! The frustration, anger, aggravation and distress you expressed are felt by most, if not ALL American’s during these economic hard times. Hard Times … I too lost most my investment income, my kids savings and now my job. We are learning how to deal with the loss of income and will set ourselves back with tuitions and some extra curriculum activities like guitar lessons, but feel the importance of each one and most important is keeping my son enrolled at his private school for his senior year. We are feeling it, living it too. However we are not feeling the loss near as much as our friends, our neighbors, our fellow Americans. They are losing their homes. I don’t mean selling them for a loss. They have to walk away with only things they can fit in a bag and in the car and simply leave. They don’t know where their next night will be spent, where their kids will sleep and if they will eat the next meal. Some still have their jobs, but thousands and hundreds of thousands no longer have that. So when life seems to suck so much you can’t stand it, look on the other side of the fence, street or town. You have the $500.00 a week, plus Lexis’s income, plus a mom and dad that help out some when they can. You have three cars, a roof over your head, clothes in your closet, computers, TV’s, food in your pantry and most of all … you have family that LOVE you. Remember all of us and the support you have had at your daughter’s graduation just this past June!!!

Any suggestions … Maybe? Lita is now 18 and can get a full time 40 hour a week job and help pull some weight, if she would. She can learn how important her help can be for her family. What a great life lesson and I know it would be a hard sacrifice for her, but the rewards she would be given by lessoning the stress of her family would be remarkable. Carly, now eleven, can arrange play dates at the public, park or beach. The true lesson she could learn is that no matter what you have or don’t have a true friend is a friend no matter what! No one should be judged on their material possessions, and a true friend wouldn’t care about any of that. Gym membership is important however I started walking our dog in March, added bike riding with my youngest son and now have lost 40lbs. No gym needed. If you dedicate your time with your dog(s), instead of the gym, go for walks … then add family members to the walk … then you have your dogs exhausted (and pooped), Carly out of the house for some fresh air, you exercised and other family joins in … you might start talking and you have free family therapy! Something to think about!?!

Lastly, I want you to take a long hard look at your family. Times are hard, this bump in the road is a big one, but look at them! They are beautiful, healthy, smart and full of love. The happiness and love may be pushed WAY down deep right now, but you know it lies within them and you. Don’t dwell on the past, what could have, would have, might have been(s)… now is the time to look forward. Too late to change the past, but you CAN guide what is ahead. To survive you can’t live in the past, “stay NOW” focus on your future. Leave behind what you can’t change and deal with what lies ahead … one day at a time.

Can you do it? In my mind, I see your troubles and worries. In my heart, I know you can!

College Bound

Not a typical photographer, nor am I a typical writer. This spring I have been helping a rising high school senior follow his dream of playing Lacrosse for a well known college. He has not signed as of today, but this kid has what it takes. Taking photographs, video footage and creating a gallery will only help him succeed. His resume should do the rest! His 2009 season has been phenomenal!

William Waters

Height: 6’2.5” 40 time: 4.58

Weight: 190 Mile Time: 5:53

High School Lacrosse: Darlington School (2010), Rome, Georgia

2009 Adidas All America, selected to the Team Georgia Regional team to play in the National Lacrosse Classic

2009 Selected to the Georgia All Star Rising Senior Invitational

2009 Varsity Most Valuable Player
2009 Varsity Top Varsity Midfielder Award

2009 Georgia All State – Second Team

2009 (Varsity) Goals: 46, Assists: 12, Groundballs 198 (12 per game),

Face Offs (223/316) Percentage 71 %, 16 Games

2008 Georgia All State – All League

2008 Varsity Most Valuable Player, Top Varsity Midfielder Award,

2008 (Varsity) Goals: 19, Assists: 18, Groundballs 171 (10.68 per game),

Face Offs 158/236 Percentage 67% 15 Games

2007 State Playoffs, Primary Face-Off Midfielder, Starting Varsity Midfielder as freshman

Following young athletes through my photography is rewarding especially when I am called in to take pictures of their college signing day!

Check it out:

http://actionphotosplus.smugmug.com/Videos%20to%20watch%20or%20download%20for%20free/767019

May Rewards

Pack the camera bag with recharged batteries, lenses, empty memory cards and flash/lighting equipment. Rush out the door double checking the equipment needed and finding my way to the shoot, making sure to arrive early to scope out the set. Knowing every detail and observing the light that this new day brings. Hours later the intensity weakens, several flash cards are filled, batteries are used up and I load the car for my journey back home to the office. Downloading the pictures, cleaning the equipment and recharging once again, as I continue to edit, rename and organize the images from the event. Burning CD’s and uploading to my website I relive the event, the occasion, and the memories of the day.
Now this would be a typical day of one photo shoot, but the month of May makes that day feel like a walk in the park. My part time photography job at Darlington School becomes a full time, month long 24/7 job in May. There is no time to get sick, my son’s birthday gets pushed aside, and kids music lessons and soccer practices are missed because I can’t get away from the shoot in time. My hands callused, my memory cards are all filled with thousands of photographs, my back screams in pain, and my eyes burn from staring at the computer and only sleeping a couple hours a night. How I crave for a one hour nap.
The reward is simple, pure and pleasurable. After the full year of weekly school visits, getting to know the students. Not just as subjects in my lenses, or faces on brochures, but as new friends. They “friend” me on Facebook where I can see, especially the seniors, grow to be wonderful young adults. They post my pictures from events at school. Sharing the great memories they created. Seeing the picture published once more I learn how joyous the occasion with the words in the captions. I helped capture the memories they can treasure forever, with a simple picture.
My month of May … crazy! My reward … Priceless!

Commencement Day

I stood at a tree, with cameras in hand, taking photos of the commencement at Darlington School. It was a beautiful day, a picturesque setting with tears from the families and cheers from the grads. I focused, snapped snapshots and captured memories of people and many faces from all over the world. Grandparents, siblings, cousins, parents and friends all came to observe and rejoice the graduate’s success. I observed the expressions of the crowd, while listening to the commencement address given by Raymond Murray a distinctive and well loved English teacher. His words were not only genuine, they were actual and absolutely bona fide factual. He quoted speakers and authors such as Emerson, Shakespeare, Disraeli and even Albert Schweitzer (the great doctor and Nobel Prize winner). The common denominator is simply the word, think. Murray spoke of Albert Schweitzer was being interviewed and was asked, “What is the matter with people today?” He was silent for a moment and then he said, “People don’t think!” Other quotes such as; Buddha: All we are is what we think about. Emerson: A man is what he thinks of all day long. William James: The greatest discovery of my generation is that people can alter their lives by altering their attitudes and their states of mind. George Bernard Shaw: People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get ahead in this world are those who if they don’t like the circumstances they find themselves in, they make new ones. William Shakespeare: Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Murray concluded with these words. “As you commence – and please remember that word means to begin – remember two important things I learned. First, you are going to be very much more in charge of your life than you ever have been, and it’s your life. Don’t forget that. It’s not your parents’ life, or your grandparents’ life, or your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s. It is yours – literally. You must make critical decisions about how you live it. And you have to be responsible and mature about the impact of your decisions on the lives of those around you. It is especially important because YOU will be responsible and accountable for those decisions – no one else. YOU own your successes and your failures – no one else. There will be no one to check to see if you are awake, or get you to class, or to monitor your academic progress. You are going where there are no work details, no detentions, and no suspensions. There is jail! And that’s the reality. Trust your instincts to make good decisions in the future. Don’t expect to get every decisions right; no one does. We’ve all made a few bad decisions along the way. And remember it is perfectly acceptable to ask for help. Sure it’s your life and trust yourself but remember those who care for and love you will always have a supporting hand held out for you, and it is OK to hold it sometimes.”
Reaching a broad spectrum of listeners, I think he achieved a home run, a touch-down and even a golden goal.
Focusing my camera on his face, hearing his commencement address, and feeling his sincerity, was like the picture I produced that day, real. His words are heavy on my heart now as I am preparing for my first son, to commence – graduate, leave home. I pray we have prepared him enough for what lies ahead. To think, trust, to be responsible, believe, have faith and above all, not to worry. Keep calm and happy. One more thing I hope he remembers, not to let small stuff frustrate him. I will hold his picture close to me and let him spread his wings and fly.

Twitter Mania

I’ve been sucked into the fascination of Twitter.

Do I dare Tweet? Write something in my ‘status’ using only 140 characters per Tweet. Who will read it? Why would they read it? Catchy, interesting, upbeat, but what do I Tweet?

I found people to follow. Feeling like a Tweet-ofile, I sit here lurking. Famous people, writers, TV shows, news reporters …. Ooooh now tech people, Twitter tech people. They post links and I open and read everything. Info-overload, but strange enough – Loving It!

Now people are ‘following’ me. I don’t know why. I finally wrote a Tweet, someone Tweeted me back. Not sure if I am using the correct terms, but I still did it! Now it is a living attraction. Maybe an addiction, I’m not sure if I will press my friends to Tweet, we might have to start a group called Twitter-Anonymous.

Twitter You Later … Oh I have so much to learn.