Twitter

Twitter…  Many use it, do you?  Do you know what it’s for?  Do you not see the point of it?  Maybe you have a twitter account and don’t know how to use it.  Maybe you’re afraid of spam on Twitter?  If you have any of the above questions, then this post is for you!  Below I will attempt to answer all of those questions, show you how to use twitter to get news you care about or keep tabs on people you care about and how to spot a website that uses twitter.

What is Twitter used for, how can it benefit me?

You know how news channels have the “news ticker” on the bottom of your TV screen?  You can use Twitter as a sort of news ticker for things that interest you.  You can subscribe (or FOLLOW in Twitter parlance) to specific people or organizations so you can keep tabs on them.  Like a canidate for office, they’re on Twitter.  Like to watch football, everyone from the NFL, to Soccer,  to ESPN is on Twitter.  By “following” what interests you, you can always be informed about the things you care about.

How do I follow someone (safely)?

Easy, you first need to setup an account at www.twitter.com.  Creating an account means choosing a username, mine’s HighCaliber, and a password.  Once you create an account, Twitter will ask you to Follow people.  Here is where your interests come into play.  You can search for anything you can think of to follow, family members, a politician, a company, sports star, movie star, comedian, writers, etc.  What’s important:  Make sure the person or company you are following is actually the one you want to follow.  Their are many impostors out there, so look up the person on google or get their actual Twitter name so you can be sure you are following the right one!  Twitter also has a recommended section you might find helpful.

Twit or Tweet?

No I don’t have a pronunciation problem with my R’s.  Twit is a derogatory term used to insult someone, Tweet is the 140 character message you send or recieve on the Twitter Service.  Of course you can call someone who tweets ridiculous things a twit…

Can I get spam on Twitter?

You bet!  There are many Twits that use Twitter so they can “foolishly” sell ridiculous products or services.  They often appear just after you start an account or start following people.  Luckily Twitter is built so you can choose who you follow and who follows you.  In short, you are in total control of what you see on Twitter.

A typical request to Follow you on Twitter.

The image above is an email I received from someone who wants to follow me.  Since I can control who follows me, I decided to click on the Tweets link in the email to see what the person talks about.  Since they are tweeting about garbage and pornography I decided to deny their request by clicking on the Approve or deny this request link in the email.  Simple.

Do websites use twitter?

Of course they do.  Websites that are often updated use Twitter to get the word out.  You will see a Twitter icon either on the top of the website or somewhere close to the story you are reading.  If you click on the Twitter icon, you can then Follow the person.  By doing this, you can be notified when your favorite website updates it’s blog, like Highcaliberpc.biz for example…

Common Twitter icons used on websites. (Enlarged to show detail)

For even more information about Twitter, head to the source.