Twitter is a micro-blogging platform. Users publish messages in 140 characters or less. Their message is seen by anyone that is following them. Users also monitor the messages of the people they are following. This medium allows for fragmented opinion, news, events, ideas & feedback. Posts (or "tweets") can include links to articles, images etc that are hosted elsewhere on the web. Professionals use it to help build their brand and make them the expert in their field.
How to setup a Twitter account:
Enter your full name, a user name, a password & your email address. The user name should either be a version of your name or brand. Upload a professional photo of yourself with "Settings" "Picture" Use a headshot rather than a full body image as the image will be small on the screen. Add a profile description about yourself. Also use the "Settings" page to personalize your profile background and setup account notifcations.
How to follow people:
Click "Find People" & type in the name of someone you'd like to follow. Or click "Invite by Email" to send a personal email to someone asking them to follow you. By clicking the "Find on Other Networks" tab, you can search your entire email address book, see who is already on Twitter and send out a lot of requests at once. Once you start following people, you can click on their name to see who is following them (or they are following). If you find someone interesting, you can start following them as well.
How to post information or "Tweet":
On the Home page, in the box at the top, where it says "What's happening?", type your message using 140 characters or less. Twitter will let you know if you've reached the 140 character limit. To include a hot weblink, use http:// in front of the address. To shorten the weblink, use a url shortening site to convert the address (i.e., http://tinyurl.com). To link your mention of someone to their actual Twitter account (so followers can click to their profile if they wish), use the "@" symbol in front of their Twitter user name in your tweet.
How to send someone a Direct Message:
If you want to send a private message that only one person can see, click on "Direct Messages" in the right hand column of the Home page. Select a user from the dropdown box (this person must be following you & you must be following them). Type your message in the second box & click "Send". You can see messages that were sent to you below in the "Inbox". This tool is helpful when you do not have a person's email address.
How to manage your account using TweetDeck:
Go to www.tweetdeck.com and download the free software. Connect it to your Twitter account. (You can also connect it to other social media accounts.) Setup columns to help you sort all the incoming tweets. As an example, I have one column for "Women Entrepreneurs", one for "Doylestown", one for "Bucks County".
