This is an updated version of the guide I produced in Autumn 2010. In it I provide a short tour of the features of twitter including explaining mentions, retweets and hashtags.

1. http://bryonytaylor.com
@vahva’s guide to Twitter
Part 3: a short tour of Twitter

2. http://bryonytaylor.com
Home –
read tweets
of all the
people you
follow
Don’t try and
read the
entirety of your
‘home’ feed,
Twitter is about
serendipity.
Skim read and
click on what
you fancy.

3. http://bryonytaylor.com
Connect –
see who
has
interacted
with you
Here you will find
who has followed
you, retweeted
you (ie repeated
your
tweet), favorited
one of your tweets
(ie bookmarked)
and ‘mentioned’
you

4. http://bryonytaylor.com
Discover –
find what’s
happening
on twitter
Here you will find
new people to
follow, current
trends, breaking
news etc.

5. http://bryonytaylor.com
Me – view
your own
profile
Here you will find
your recent
tweets, access to
your favorites,
photos and videos
you’ve linked to
and private ‘Direct
Messages’ DMs

6. http://bryonytaylor.com
@ replies
or
mentions
This is when someone
mentions your twitter
username in a tweet
This is a public
conversation

7. http://bryonytaylor.com
Retweet (RT) or
Modified Tweet
(MT)
A retweet is
like a
forwarded
email – a
repeat of your
original tweet
– sometimes
preceded by
RT
A modified
tweet is your
tweet slightly
changed
– sometimes
preceded by
MT

8. http://bryonytaylor.com
Hashtags
Hashtags are
a way of
filtering
information
on Twitter
and turning a
gushing tap
into a few
drips of
consumable
information.

9. http://bryonytaylor.com
#Hashtags
A hashtag is a word with # put in front. They
are clickable – click on one to see all the tweets
that contain that hashtag. Alternatively search
for a hashtag using the search bar on twitter.

10. http://bryonytaylor.com
Examples of
popular
hashtags:
#followfriday
#bbcqt
TV programmes, sports events, gigs &
conferences use them. Anyone can
create a hashtag – just put a # in front
of your chosen key word.

11. http://bryonytaylor.com
End of Part 3 – read the rest at
http://bryonytaylor.com/twitterguide
All images from royalty-free site: http://sxc.hu . This guide was written in July 2013.