Quickstart Guide to Twitter

I’ve been horsing around with Twitter for a week or three now, and I love it. As a result, I’ve started recruiting friends and family to join.

I decided it would be a good idea to post a few quick tips to help you get started and get the most out of the service without going completely insane.

So, without further ado, here are my tips:

Getting Started

  • Sign up for a free account at http://twitter.com.
  • Don’t freak out too much about your username. You can change later if you want to.
  • Go to your settings and select “Devices.” Follow the instructions to add your Mobile Phone to your profile.
  • Click on “Notices,” and pay special attention to @ Replies. There are three possible settings
    1. all @ replies
    2. @ replies to the people I’m following
    3. no @ replies
  • I personally use #2 right now. If you are a bit more social (and have an unlimited SMS plan!), choose #1. When someone replies to a tweet (twitter post), I see the reply only if I am following both the sender and the intended recipient.
    • If you choose #1, then you would see all replies made by everyone you are following.
    • That might be neat if you are looking to find old friends, or just want to meet new people, but it’s like drinking from a firehose very quickly. It is largely a matter of personal taste.
  • Search for friends! Use the find and follow link at the top of the web page
  • You can also send commands from your cell phone once activated. Type “follow username” from your cell phone in an SMS to 40404, and you will start receiving updates from that person
  • Update your status! Either via the web or your cell phone. Send a post to twitter in 140 characters or less with what you are thinking about or doing at the moment. Watch what others do. You’ll get the hang of it!

    • Tips and Thoughts

    • Twitter is not known for reliability. It is a fun application, but it frequently crashes. Don’t worry, it won’t do any damage to you, but don’t assume that it will be working on any given day.
    • Privacy: By default, there is NO privacy to your tweets. Anything you post can be seen by everyone in the world.
    • If you want to be more discrete, or private, or if you just want to experiment without the world being able to see your posts, adjust the privacy settings by going to Account on the Settings page and selecting the “Protect My Updates” box. After doing this, only people you explicitly authorize will be able to see your status.

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  • Update your status often. The idea is to keep in touch with friends and colleagues, even when we are hundreds of miles apart!
  • Reply to individuals using @replies. This helps for everyone’s own filtering purposes and keeps conversations followable. So, if you wanted to send a message directed at me, you would send a tweet that says “@jbrett I think you are the coolest geek I’ve ever met
  • Finally, if you haven’t already done it, “follow jbrett”!

    • I’ll update and add to this as I think to. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, or privately. This is not intended to be all encompassing. It’s just a quickstart guide for friends. Enjoy!

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    June 11, 2008 · Filed Under Guides, How To, Quick Start, Twitter