What is ?

Twitter is… A free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them.

Sign up at Twitter.com, then use “Find people” to search for people or organizations you want to follow. Getting started

Click “Follow” to add that person’s Tweets to your feed

Click “home” to see the Tweets of everyone you follow (in the order they were posted)

The latest tweets from each of the users you follow appear at the top of your feed Each tweet will indicate when the user posted it Tweets frequently contain links to web pages and further information, presented in an abbreviated form

In addition to any browser (Twitter.com), you can read your Tweets on A computer application dedicated to Twitter A mobile device (smartphone/ PDA) How else can I read my Tweets?

Here is the “PRPL Student” feed viewed in an application called Twitterific (for the Mac)

Once you have a Twitter account, you can also post your own tweets to share your news and ideas with the people who follow you Type up to 140 characters in this box, then click “update.” All of your followers will see your update.

Tweets are brief (maximum 140 characters) Tweets do not require a response (although you can respond – publicly or privately– if you want) Tweets can be sent quickly and easily from mobile devices, making it possible to update in real time Anyone with a Twitter account can follow anyone else (but you can block people from following you if you want) you can keep up with what’s being said about current topics and events How is Twitter different from e-mail?

Twitter has its own tagging system which some people use to categorize the subject of their tweets Twitter tags are called #hashtags and are preceded by a hash (#) mark #hashtags can be created by anyone and their meaning is not always obvious #hashtags

#hashtags You can probably guess what these tags are about This set is not so clear (sometimes you can guess from the context)

Searching for ted kennedy in plain English gives only results in which his name appears in that exact form

Searching for the #hashtag #tedkennedy gives results which may use his name in many forms

Follow what’s being said about EVENTS Learn about details never reported in traditional news sources Ways to use Twitter

Follow celebrities, politicians, or leaders in your field who tweet Public Figures Public figures post opinions, questions, comments, and personal information on Twitter that cannot be found elsewhere

Keep your own friends and family updated on your activities Personal updates

Follow organizations and businesses for announcements and special offers Businesses and Organizations Keep advertising and marketing out of your e-mail “in” box!

Reach hundreds or thousands of people quickly if you need information Help & ideas

http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/ Further Twitter resources

http://wefollow.com (Twitter Directory)