Twitter – what is it? The School District of Haverford Township |

Twitter Overview Twitter is a social networking and micro blogging service that allows you to answer the question, "What’s happening?" by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets," to your friends, or "followers.”

Signing up How to create an account: –Navigate to enter your full name, address, create a password and click the yellow Sign Up button on the right hand side of your screen. Fill in the first field with your full name. Enter your address. Enter a password. Be tricky! Make sure your password contains letters, numbers, and symbols. –Select a username from one of the usernames suggested, or create your own. Twitter will automatically suggest available usernames based on the real name and address you've entered. Try to pick something that describes you - whether it's a nickname, an interest, or a hobby. –You may be asked to complete a Captcha. Fill in the words that are shown to show that you're human!

Navigating the Twitter website Across the top: –Search Bar, Home, Profile, Messages, Who to Follow, Write (Tweet), Picture/Username. –Drop-down Arrow Settings, Help, Sign out –Below What’s Happening Activity, Searches, Lists

Following Find and Follow Sources That Interest You –Twitter is more useful and fun when you're getting regular updates relevant to your interests. After you've signed up and followed some users, you can browse our suggestions for you, based on who you follow and your interests: Click Who to Follow on your homepage. Browse the View Suggestions for users you might like to follow. Click the Follow button next to a username will add them to the list of users you follow. After you've browsed suggestions, take a look at accounts you may want to follow based on your interests under Browse Interests. After you've followed users suggested in one area of interest, select another and find more sources to follow!

@replies What is –A reply is any update posted by clicking the "Reply" button on another Tweet –People say lots of things on Twitter, and sometimes you want to say something back. Your reply will always begin (insert username of the person you are replying to). A Tweet that is a reply to you will appear in tab on your homepage.

Mentions What is –A mention is any Twitter update that anywhere in the body of the Tweet. (Yes, this means that replies are also considered mentions.) –People frequently search for their user name to find the Tweets that mention their username anywhere in the message. Twitter collects these messages, as well as all your replies, in tab on your homepage. If you include more than one person's name in your update and you use format, those people will all see the update in their personal mentions tab.

Direct Message or DM’s What's a Direct Message? –A Direct Message is a personal message sent via Twitter to one of your followers. DMs are different than mentions –In turn, people you follow can send you a direct message. –You cannot send a direct message to a user who is not following you. How to Send a Direct Message via the Web: –Log in to your Twitter account. –Click the "Messages" button on the top menu bar of your page. –You'll land on a page showing your Direct message history. Click the "New Message" button, highlighted below. Click to send a new message. –In the pop-up box, type the name or username of the person you wish to send to. –Enter the message you wish to send, and click "Send." Please note: t.co links, even those shared via DM, are neither private nor public. Anyone with the link will be able to view the content.t.co Tip: Make sure that user follows you. You may only send a direct message to your followers.

Hashtags (# Symbols) Definition: The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. Hashtags: Help you find interesting Tweets –People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search –Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category –Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet –Hashtagged words that become very popular often become Trending Topics

Hashtags (# Symbols) Example: In the Tweet added the hashtag before the phrase "thankyousteve." The word is now a link to search results for all Tweets containing "#thankyousteve" in the message.

Twitter Etiquette You are Who You Just as you are judged by the company you keep in your daily life, the virtual company you keep online is also a reflection of you. Here are a few Twitter etiquette tips to keep in mind as you’re forming relationships on 1.A picture is worth a thousand words. A profile picture, that is. Provocative poses or other photos that are in poor taste may indicate the kind of tweets this person has to share with you. A friendly and professional-looking photo may be a good indication of positive tweets, but don’t stop there. 2.A bio speaks volumes. You’d be surprised how much a person may reveal about himself/herself in just a few short bio sentences. Take the time to read his/her bio. Are there any red flags? 3.What message are his/her tweets sending? Do a quick scan of his/her tweets. Are they profanity-laden or hostile in tone? Use your good judgment. 4.Be courteous. Remember to thank your Twitter friends whenever they mention you in a tweet or retweet something you’ve said. 5.Create lists to keep up with your Twitter friends. You’ll notice that as your follower/following lists grow, it can become difficult to keep up with your tweet stream. Creating lists (house & home, dining, fashion, etc.) will help you keep up Twitter friends, since you can jump from one list to another. Happy Tweeting!