Here are the 6 most basic features of a tweet, and how to use them:
Basic tweet, all text:
The most basic tweet has no special characters, no links included, and no interactivity with other users or information. This is the basic answer to the question, “What are you doing?” For example,
“Getting breakfast with Lance Armstrong at Starbucks”
@username:
Using the @ symbol to preface a username will link the tweet to that user. The other user can search for messages to which they’ve been linked (called “Mentions” on Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and most popular Twitter clients), and your tweet will show up. This adds personal or brand connection to your tweet, for example,
“Getting breakfast with @lancearmstrong at @Starbucks“.
In this example, your tweet will appear in the mentions timeline for both @lancearmstrong and @Starbucks.
Link:
A tweet can link back to additonal content or information anywhere on the web. Adding a link makes your tweet more interactive. For example,
“Getting breakfast with @lancearmstrong at @Starbucks http://bit.ly/12hDsm“
This particular link is a map to the Starbucks where you are meeting.
Because your tweet is limited to 140 characters, you must be careful not to include a long URL (web address). To solve this, there are a number of URL shorteners that provide a redirected link to your original URL destination. Bit.ly is a very common example service. You cut and paste your long link into bit.ly and it provides you with a shortened link that fits better in your tweet.
#hashtag:
The # symbol is also called a hash. When you “tag” a word, phrase, or acronym in your tweet, it is called hashtagging. There are two primary uses for the hashtag in Twitter.
- You might tag a tweet as a member of a group, say a convention, conference, or news event. A good example is when news breaks about a tsunami, people will quickly begin to add #tsunami to their tweets about the event.
- The second is to tag the tweet as relevant to an idea, such as “TGIF”, or “kids”.
Hashtags are a large part of the colloquial nature of twitter, and can be difficult to grasp at first, but a lot of fun once you understand them. By the way, nobody owns a hashtag, so you don’t need to check first before using one of your own. Unfortunately, this means that spammers will target hashtags that are popular at a given moment and attach them to their garbage tweets.
Back to our example,
“Getting #breakfast with @lancearmstrong at @Starbucks http://bit.ly/12hDsm #livestrong“
This tweet now contains two hashtags: one connecting the tweet to an idea (breakfast), and the other connecting it to an event (actually the Livestrong cause). If you wanted to search for all recent tweets about livestrong, you could click on the #livestrong in this tweet.
RT:
ReTweeting is the act of copying and pasting somebody else’s tweet and sending it from your account. This propogates the original poster’s tweet by sending it to your follower list. It is not uncommon to see people RT a breaking news story, or highly interesting link. On the other hand, many a snarky comment receives its fair share of RT love. Back to our example, let’s say that you received the last tweet, and wanted to make sure your followers knew that Lance Armstrong was going to be at the local Starbucks, and that you’ll be there. You’d post the following,
“RT @ochojoe Getting breakfast with @lancearmstrong at @Starbucks http://bit.ly/12hDsm <-me too!”
It is a party foul to repost a tweet without giving RT credit.
DM:
Direct Message is Twitter’s version of email. DM’s do not appear in the public timeline. For that reason, it is considered a more intimate form of communication, and is only possible if both users are following each other. You cannot send a DM to a user who is not following you. It is considered courteous but not necessary to respond to a DM. You will notice that many people use a service that sends an automated DM to any new followers – it is not necessary to answer an auto-DM. In fact, I know a number of users who don’t bother to answer any DM’s.
That’s it for the basic functions to spice up your Tweets. Like learning a language, understanding Twitter happens much faster when you are immersed. So jump in, follow me at @ochojoe, and start Tweeting!
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