Quick Start

To get started, sign up for your own Twitter account at Twitter.com. On your profile, use your real name, not your company’s, add your picture and create a short bio, which includes your company name. Use Twitter search to find people you know and start following them. Follow some of the Twitter influencers too to learn how they use Twitter.

Most importantly, download one of the free desktop clients like Tweetdeck, Seesmic or Twhirl to your PC or Tweetie to your Mac to manage Twitter and streamline the process. These applications will allow you to see your friends’ tweets, @ replies and direct messages on one page in separate columns. Hootsuite, SocialToo are two free applications that allow you to set tweets to be sent at specific times and track your statistics if you have any links in those tweets. Also consider an application like Blogo, Tweetie, Twitterriffic, Twitterberry, or Twidroid for your mobile device. These free or low cost applications will make your Twitter experience more manageable and enjoyable.

The Twitter Lingo:
@ replies: This symbol precedes people’s Twitter handles or screen names when a tweet is directed to them. Want to reply to someone’s comment? Start your tweet with @ followed by their Twitter name. Don’t leave a space between the @ symbol and their Twitter name.

RT: Retweet. When someone posts an interesting tweet, you may choose to retweet it. By retweeting, you share the tweet with your followers and you’re giving the original poster a compliment. To retweet, copy the tweet and paste it in the tweet box. Add “RT” (short for “retweet”) at the beginning, and add “@” before the username. If you use one of the free desktop clients, you just click on the avatar of the tweet you want to RT and then the RT link. It will automatically be pasted into the send box. Here’s how to send a RT from Twitter web.

• Example, original post from @JeffHurt:
  How-To: Build & Manage Your Brand Identity with Social Media Super List by @rgbroitman http://ow.ly/3tPm ~ great article! 
• Becomes:
   RT: @JeffHurt How-To: Build & Manage Your Brand Identity with Social Media Super List by @rgbroitman http://ow.ly/3tPm ~ great article!

Another way to RT, is using the word “via” followed by the original posters twitter name.

• Example of Via
  How-To: Build & Manage Your Brand Identity with Social Media Super List by @rgbroitman http://ow.ly/3tPm ~ great article! [via @JeffHurt]

#: Hashtags. The pound sign followed by a term, such as #promotionalproduct. The purpose of a hashtag is to keep track of tweets that are all part of a single subject, event or topic. If you use Twitter Search or hashtag.org, you can track all the tweets related to that term. Hashtags are also important for use in Tweet Chats or specific conversations occurring in real time in Twitter.

DM: Direct Message You can send a private direct message to any user that is following you. If you’re using Twitter web page, click the Direct Message link in the right menu. From the drop down list, choose the person you’re sending the DM to. Using one of the free desktop clients, you can click on the avatar and then click the DM link of someone following you or use D to start the tweet followed by their Twitter name. A recipient must be following you for you to send them a DM.