twitter basics - sturm college of law · twitter basics twitter encourages frequent updates,...

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TWITTERBASICSTwitterencouragesfrequentupdates,engagementandretweetingcontent.ItisadvisabletologintoyourTwitteraccountatleastonceperdaysothatyoumaypostandrespondwithimmediacy.

TYPESOFMESSAGESTherearethreetypesofmessagesyoucansendorreceive–atweet,areplyandadirectmessage.

Note:Twitterplacesamaximumof140characterspermessage.Thischaractercountappliestoallletters,numbers,spaces,linksandhashtagsandalltypesofmessages.Asyoutypeyourmessagethenumberofcharacterswillautomaticallybecountedinthemessagebox–thenumbershownwillcountbackwardsfrom140.1. ATweet:Atweetisapublicmessagedirectedtonooneinparticular,andeveryoneseesit.Simplyclickthequillfeathericonintheupperright-handsideofyourcomputerscreen,smartphoneortablet,typeyourmessageandclick/taptheTWEETbuttonandeveryonewhoviewsyourprofile,andanyonewhofollowsyouwillseeyourmessage.YoucanalsocomposeatweetontheleftofyourcomputerscreenjustbelowyourprofileimageontheHOMEtab.

2. AReply:ATwitterreplyissometimescalleda@reply,tagormention.Specifically,areplyisapublicmessagedirectedtowardsomeonespecific,butthismessageisstillviewablebyanyonewhovisitsyourprofileandanyonewhofollowsyou.RepliescanbemadedirectlytoatweetbyclickingthebyclickingtheREPLYicondirectlybelowamessage.3. ADirectMessage:AdirectmessageisfrequentlyreferredtoasaDM.DMsareprivatemessagessentthroughTwitterfromoneusertoanotherandotherthanthepersonwhosendsthemessageandthepersonwhoreceivesit,no

or

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oneelsecanseeit.Adirectmessagecanbecomposedwithineitherofthecomposeatweetoptionsbytypingtheletter“D”followedbyaspace,followedbythenameofthepersontowhomthemessagewillbesent.ADMmayalsobesentbyclickingtheenvelopeiconintheupperrightsideofyourcomputerscreenoronthebottombarofyourmobileapplication.

WHERETOREADYOURMESSAGES1. TweetspostedbypeopleyoufollowwillbevisibleonyourTwitterprofileHOMEtab–alsoreferredtoasyourtimeline.Everytweetpublishedbyapersonyoufollowwillappearinreversechronologicalorderonyourhomepageathttp://www.twitter.com/yourusername.Themoreusersyoufollow,themoremessagesthatwillappearonyourtimelinewhichcansometimesprovetobechallengingtotracktweets.2. Replies:Because@repliesarepubliclyviewablemessages,repliestoyourtweetswillbevisibleonyourtimelinejustlikeanyothertweetpeopleyoufollowsend.Dependingonhowmanypeopleyoufollow,andhowoftentheytweet,itishighlylikelythatyouwillmissrepliesbecausetheyarehidingonpage2or37.TheeasiestwaytoseeyourrepliesistoviewyourNOTIFICATIONStab.Thistabislocatedontheupper-leftsideofyourcomputerscreenoronthebottombarofyourmobileapp.

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#GotQuestions?dusocial@du.edu

WhenusingTwitteronyourcomputeryouwillbeabletofilteryourtagsintwoways–byanyonewho@repliesyouorby@repliesbyonlythoseyoufollow.AnyonewhohasaTwitteraccountcantagyou,notjustyourfollowersorpeopleyoufollow.UsingTwitterfromyourcomputeralsoallowsyoutofilteryournotificationsfromyourmentions.Notificationsareactionsdonebyotheruserstoyourtweets,i.e.favoritingorretweeting.Thementionsfilterwillsimplyshowyoualistofyour@replies.ItisgoodpracticetocheckyourNOTIFICATIONStabonaregularbasisfortworeasons:

• Someonemaybeaskingyouaquestionandawaitingananswer.• Someonemaybecommentingonsomethingyousaidandyoumightwanttoconsideraresponse.

3.Directmessagessenttoyoucanbeviewedbyclickingtheenvelopeiconfoundontheupperrightsideofyourcomputerscreenoronthebottombarofyourmobileapplication.Unlikerepliesandtags,onlythoseusersyoufollowANDwhofollowyoubackcansendyouaDM.HASHTAGSOnTwitter(andothersocialmediaoutlets)apoundsign–orhash–whenputinfrontofanywordorphraseautomaticallyturnsthatgroupsofwordsintoasearchablelink.Thisallowsthecontentpostedtobetrackableandorganizedbythosekeywords.IfyouclickahashtagwithinTwitter,youwillbeabletoseeallpostsrefrencingthattopicifthehashtagwasused.Hashtagsareagreatwaytofosterdialogue.#HashtaggingTips!

• Spacesandpuncutationarenotsupportedinhashtags.Evenifyourhashtagcontainsmultiplewords,groupthemaltogether–nospacesandnopunctuationincludingampersands.

• Insteadofspaces,usecapitalletterstodistinguishbetweenwords.Usingcapitalletterswillnotinterferewiththesearchability,organizationand/ortrackabilityofhashtags.#UDenver150iscategorizedthesameas#udenver150.

• Multiplehashtagscanbeusedinonetweet.It’sbesttousenomorethanthreehashtagsinasingletweet.

#GotQuestions?dusocial@du.edu

• Ifyoucreateahashtag,publicizeit.Includeitinyourmarketingmaterials,emailsignatureandTwitterprofile.RETWEETSRetweetingissimplysharingtweetspublishedbyotherusersthatyoufindinterestingonyourownprofile.YoumayretweetcontentpostedonTwitterwhethertheuserfollowsyouornot,andwhetherornotyoufollowthatuser–aslongassaidaccountsarepubllic.Therearetwowaysretweetingcanhappen–directlyandindrectly.1. DirectRetweets:Directlyretweetingisthesimplermethodofthetwowaystoretweet.DirectretweetsaredonebysimplyclickingtheRETWEETiconatthebottomofanytweet.OnceyouclicktheRETWEETicon,youwillbeaskedifyouwanttosendthismessagetoyourfollowers.OncetheRETWEETbuttonisclicked,themessageisautomaticallypostedpubliclyonyourprofile.Note:ThenumberoftimesaposthasbeenretweetedwillbeindicatedadjacenttotheRETWEETiconatthebottomofthetweet.2. IndirectRetweets:Indirectlyretweetingissimplycopyingandpastingamessageintoyourowncomposebox.Togivecredittotheorginalpublisherofthetweet,RTisputinfrontofthemessage.Thistypeofretweetingissometimesusefulwhenreplyingtomessagesandyouwanttoretaintheorginalcontentand/orconversationstream.

#GotQuestions?dusocial@du.edu

FOLLOWERSAnyTwitterusermayfollowanypublicTwitteraccount.Thismeansaslongasyouraccountispublic,anyonecanfollowyouandyoumayfollowanypublicTwitteraccount.Whenitcomestofollowing,followaccountsthatinterestyou.ThereareseveralwaystofindpeopletofollowonTwitter:

• UseTwitter’sWHOTOFOLLOWfeature.Thisislocatedontherighthandsideofthecomputerscreen.Youcanalsofindfollowsuggestionswithinmobileapps.

• Followotherfollowees.Ifthereisauserthatyouenjoy,lookatwhotheyarefollowingandseeifanyofthoseaccountsinterstyou.

• UsethesearchfeatureonTwittertofindusersandtopicsthatinterstyou.YoucansearchbyTwitterhandle,name,hashtagortopic.Thesearchbarislocatedatthetopofthescreenonyourcomputerandwithinthemagnifyingglassicononmobiledevices.