Twitter – Definitions and Best Practices

“Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter…” – Isaiah 38:14a (save your emails, I already know this is not referring to twitter.com)

Over the past two days, we have learned what twitter is and how to use it.

Today, we are going to look at a few best practices. I think it is best to start with a few definitions.

Tweet

A tweet is a post or status update on Twitter

Reply

A reply is when you respond a tweet in reference to another tweet

Example: chrisreeder tweets
http://StupidProgrammer.com is the greatest blog on the web!

Your reply would be:
@chrisreeder, no it’s not: http://ChrisReeder.com is!

Notice the @ to reference the username you are replying to on twitter.

Direct Message

You can send messages private so only you and the recipient can see them. The way you do this is to start the tweet with a “d” followed by the username of the person you are sending the private message.

Example:
d jayson_r Hey man, you got lunch plans?

Notice that on direct messages, the @ sign is not used.

RULE: In order to send a direct message, the person you send the direct message must be following you. If you are following them but they are not following you, it will not work. FYI: You can Reply to anyone.

ReTweet

This is simply tweeting something that someone else tweeted and giving them credit for it.

Examples:
Retweeting @lukefine: at Athens with it dept birthday crew.
or
rt @DanielDulaney: NEW BLOG POST/// Urgent Prayer Request    www.danieldulaney.wordpress.com

Favorites

Favorites allow the ability to mark a tweet with a yellow star so you can find it easy in the future. You can click the favorites link on the right side of twitter to display them.

Following & Followers

Yes… You guess it! This is list of people that you are following and a list of those that are following you.

Let’s say that someone starts following you and you don’t want them to do that. You can block them from being able to follow you. To do this, click on the followers link to see all your followers. Scroll until you find the person.

Then simply click the block button. Then that person will be blocked from following you.

Security

Don’t tweet your phone numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc that you wouldn’t want just anyone in the world to have.

The data on twitter makes up a part of a public timeline. Check it out at http://twitter.com/public_timeline

You can setup your account to not be listed in the public timeline. Will cover in next section.

The Settings section of your account is often overlooked. Let’s take a look at each setting.

Settings: Account Tab

Name: This is important so people can find you on twitter and shows on your twitter profile.

Username: This is how you are known on twitter. This is how people will access your profile, reply to your tweets, etc. Your profile location is also determined by you username (http://twitter.com/yourusername). You can also change your username if you are not happy with your current one. You will not loose any followers; twitter will keep them for ya.

Email: To allow people to find you by searching on email addresses. This address is also used for alerts from twitter.

Time Zone: duh…

More Info URL: Put your blog or website address in this box. It will display on public profile and create a link back to your blog.

One Line Bio: Brief description of you. This will also display on you public profile and be used to allow people to find you on twitter.

Location: It is important to set this to allow people to find you by searching. This piece of information also displays on your profile.

Language: hum… wonder what that does.

Protect my updates: This is the setting I mentioned up in the security section. If you check this box, you will have to approve anyone that desires to follow you. Or another way to look at it; Only people you approve will be able to follow you. If this is checked, you WILL NOT be on the public timeline.

Settings: Password Tab: is used to change your password. BTW: Always use good passwords. Never use stuff like kids names or wife’s birthday. Apply this rule to any online account you own.

Settings: Devices Tab: We will cover this tomorrow.

Settings: Notices Tab

Auto Nudge: This will txt your phone if you have not written a tweet in the past 24 hours.

@ Replies:

• all @replies: see all of the @replies made by people you follow, whether or not you follow the person to whom the reply is directed. 
• @replies to the people I’m following: see @replies from people you follow directed toward other people that you also follow. This is the default setting.
• no @replies: never see any @replies in your timeline, ever

My personal preference is all @replies. If someone mentions me on twitter, regardless if I follow them… I want to know about it.

The next three are very self explanatory.

New Follower Emails: Email when someone starts following me

Direct Text Emails: Email when I receive a new direct message

Email Newsletter: Email with new twitter news.

Settings: Picture

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

Update your picture to something other than the one twitter puts by default (see picture to the right). It does not have to be a picture of you. Put a college mascot, church logo, or something else… just not the default one

Settings: Design

A way to make your public twitter profile more attractive. There are a few themes available. You can also change the background image or change your design colors.

Ok, this has turned into a lengthy post!

I know this is not an exhaustive list of best practices but I hope it helps with understanding. For a more complete list of Q&A and commands, visit http://help.twitter.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=26 and http://help.twitter.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=75

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to leave me a comment.

Tomorrow’s post will be the next installment of this series. Stay tuned…