Twitter Basics
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social network with a focus on brevity. Twitter allows people to connect by following other users but limits the length of the posts to 280 characters. It has gained popularity because it is relatively simple to use. It may seem odd at first glance that a site's restrictions have increased its popularity and use, but it is that very simplicity that is Twitter's appeal.
Twitter was designed from the start to use mobile text and SMS messaging services available on cellular phones, as well as on the Web and email. In the United States, our cell phone carriers (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) refer to short messages as “text” messaging services. In other countries where mobile technology is different, the SMS, an acronym for Short Messaging Service, is the equivalent function. Phone text messaging services limit the length of the message to 160 characters.
Twitter originally used 20 characters in a message for the user's address, so 140 characters remain for message content. recently Twitter expanded the number of characters for a Tweet to 280. Twitter keeps a journal of all your messages on your Twitter Web page. Twitter was developed to be a way for friends to keep up with each other.
The beauty of Twitter is that it is brief and almost instant. Messages are sent immediately after you create them. It uses a concept called “following” to establish relationships. If you follow someone, you receive his messages, which are called “tweets.” If someone follows you, he gets your tweets.
While the first tweet was posted on March 21, 2006, its popularity grew exponentially within the age of Social Media and networking. Twitter supports over 35 languages and a whopping 77% of its user accounts are based outside of the United States.
Tweet
Most activity on Twitter consists of posting and reading tweets. However, each tweet includes options for communication between users.
A Twitter conversation consists of tweets, replies, and retweets. On your home page (Timeline) screen you see all the tweets from people you follow. To better understand a typical conversation on Twitter, it helps to know how the conversation takes place and what certain symbols mean within the tweets.
Creating a Tweet
Twitter has made its mark by being the “simple” social network. Designers avoided much of the complexity of other social networking sites. To create a tweet, use the blank text field on your home page where the text “Compose New Tweet” appears. Click or tap (mobile) the “Compose New Tweet" box which will expand to show additional options. As you enter your text, Twitter will count down from 140 characters to show you how much room you have remaining to compose your tweet. When you are ready to post your tweet, click the tweet button below the text entry field.
To add a photo, click on the photo icon, select a photo from your computer or smartphone, then click the “Choose” button.
What to include in the Tweet is entirely up to you. With a short profile, Twitter users are known for what they say, not who they are. Anyone with an opinion, point of view, knowledge or information can start broadcasting it for others to follow.
How to Say More in 280 characters
It's possible to use the 280 characters for any combination of letters, numbers, symbols, and links. which allows tweets to include links to websites in the message. Many links, however, can be longer than the message. Web services like bit.ly or TinyURL.com offer the ability shorten long website addresses. Let's look at an example so you'll be able to recognize a short link.
Here's an example of a newsletter page link for my newsletter on “What is a Semiconductor?”
//www.bobology.com/public/What-is-a-Semiconductor.cfm
This link has over 50 characters, which would use up a substantial number of the 140 characters available in a tweet. Using a service that shortens Web addresses, the link to the Web page in my tweet is shortened to dlvr.it/4fk3HR, at only 15 characters.
By using short Web links, Twitter users can say more in a Tweet. Of course, users can still use a full Web address in a tweet, it's just become common practice to use short ones.
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