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This guide is for Twitter newcomers to quickly grasp the platform's functionality, benefits, and terminology. Learn how to tweet, use hashtags, follow others, and engage with diverse audiences.
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Twitter 101 Guide for beginners Karl Horvath, Gwynedd-Mercy College Jerry Hinkle, Temple University
Twitter 101 • Intended for those new to Twitter • For beginners to get up to speed with Twitter's basic functionality • Twitter 202: Best Practices in BackChanneling, Thursday (1/12) , 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM, Harborside Ballroom B
Experience IT format • Introduction to newer tools and technologies • Basic introduction • Followed by hands-on demo • Using Twitter.com interface
What is Twitter? • Social networking and microblogging service • Send and view short text-based posts called "Tweets" • Follow others, or be followed • Most tweets publicly searchable (over 1 billion searches per day)
Why do you use Twitter? • Learn "what's happening" • Keep in touch with friends • Follow the famous and not-so-famous • Learn about breaking news • Conduct searches on real-time posts • Reach a target audience • Have your audience talk back to you
How do you use Twitter? • Twitter.com via a web browser • Specialized software with advanced features (Tweetdeck, Hootsuite) • Strong trend towards mobile platforms • Tweet via SMS text messaging • Easy source of RSS feeds • Specialized apps for tablets and mobile phones
Who uses Twitter? • Everyday people (300 million registered users) • News media • Celebrities and pundits • Activists and politicians • Organizations, including universities
Benefits of Twitter in Higher Education • Fast, to-the-point, communications • On-the-go messaging • Highly-adaptable for both computer and mobile use • Ability to create RSS feeds • "Re-tweeting" helps spread the word
Twitter Terminology • "Tweets" -- A posting made through Twitter. Up to 140 characters in length. (Tweets often include shortened links to other web sites.)
Twitter Terminology • "@name" -- The @ symbol is used when you are referring to a Twitter user by their account name.
Twitter Terminology • "#Hashtag" -- The # symbol is in conjunction with a keyword to make your posts easily searchable by the public. It is particularly useful for posting in a conference like Educause. The hashtag for this conference is #MARC12
Twitter Terminology • "Retweets" -- To repost someone else's posting (with proper attribution). This is a good way to spread the word. A retweet is typically indicated by preceding the message with RT @username
Twitter Terminology • "Direct Message" -- By default, any message you post via Twitter are publicly searchable. However, you can send a private message to someone using the Direct Message (DM) function.
Getting Started with Twitter • There are dozens of tools to access Twitter. To keep things consistent for this demo, we are using the Twitter.com interface.
Retweeting.... Step #1 Step #2
Finding others to follow....For suggestions, click on "Who to Follow"
Following....Follow Twitter's suggestions, or search for someone's name in search box.
Want to Learn More? • Attend Twitter 202! • Best Practices in BackChanneling • Thursday (1/12) , 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM, Harborside Ballroom B