Idiot’s guide to Twitter

This is the absolute basics of setting up Twitter, simply because I couldn’t find it put so simply anywhere else. If I get a chance I’ll come back and embellish this a little with some specific tips and tools for usage (eg. using Tweetdeck and Cotweet rather than the actual Twitter site).

  1. Go to https://twitter.com/signup and setup a personal Twitter account using your own name or a nickname of your choice.
  2. Then upload a photo of your face (preferably smiling!) once the above is all complete.
  3. When everything’s setup and you have an account, go to: http://twitter.com/devices enter the details of your mobile phone, and go through the verification process.
  4. Now test that texts flow through to the site by texting a message to 86444, then checking it appears on your profile by clicking the profile link at the top of the twitter.com page while logged in.
  5. If all that works, then you’re all set!

Some other jargon:

  • Hashtag: this means any word or sequence of characters with no spaces that begins with a #. eg. #ukelection #GE2010 – you have to decide which has the audience you want to talk to, or which is simply the most popular.
  • Tweet: your 140 character messages are called tweets.
  • Tweep: informal term for Twitter users.
  • Followers: in the real world you have friends, in Twitter you have followers. Anyone who follows you has basically subscribed to whatever you say.
  • Twittiquette: most things to do with Twitter end up with a portmanteau such as this. It’s basically guidelines for polite usage, which seems to evolve fairly rapidly. Good principles are to be open, honest, succinct, reciprocating non-spam follows, etc.

And then:

  1. How to use the new Twitter There are already a lot of ‘new Twitter’ guides and helpful notes out there about all the changes Twitter’s been...
  2. Twitter for activism In a few hours I’m giving this presentation at the CAAT National Gathering later today so thought I’d just share...
  3. Bing use Japan earthquake as marketing opportunity Japan suffers the worst earthquake it's ever had, and Microsoft's search engine company, Bing, use it as a marketing opportunity....
  4. All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace Adam Curtis' new documentary currently showing on BBC is All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace. More more more...
  5. Semantic web at ECF2010 Some notes from the eCampaigning Forum 2010… “Data Hugging Disorder” – how can we persuade organisations to release their strangle...
  6. CSS3 transformations Experimenting with the possibilities of CSS3 transformations and the timed element of them. No longer does a CSS rollover state...

15. April 2010 by The Geecologist
Quoted from The Geecologist
Categories: Geekery | Tags: , , , | 2 comments

  • Judith P

    I still don’t understand.  What’s a semantic web?

  • http://geecologist.org Geecologist

    hmm, sorry Judith – think I’ve confused you with the links beneath this piece. If you’re interested in the Twitter intro, stop reading when you get to “And then:” as they are other articles on my blog, not necessarily about the same topic.