26 tips to get started on Twitter

1. Getting Started with Twitter
Sue Beckingham @suebecks
Sheffield Hallam University

2. 1. GETTING STARTED To edit click on2. YOUR BIO
Create an account at http://twitter.com and find the sign up
box, or go directly to https://twitter.com/signup. Enter
your full name, email address, and a password.
You will then need to choose a username. Usernames
must be fewer than 15 characters in length and cannot
contain 'admin' or 'Twitter'
Click Create my account. You may be asked to complete a
Captcha to verify that you're human.
Twitter will send a confirmation email to the address you
entered on sign up. Click the link in that email to confirm
your email address and account.
Complete you bio to say something about yourself
or who you represent in up to 160 characters.
Consider including a link to your blog, website or
your LinkedIn profile in the website section.
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks
To edit click on

3. 3. ADDING A PHOTO 4. DESIGN
You can customize the way your Twitter background
looks by choosing a premade theme or uploading your
own photo. You may also edit the colour any links
appear. From Settings select the Design tab.
Alternatively you can choose from thousands of
background patterns & colour palettes from Themeleon
http://www.colourlovers.com/themeleon/twitter
People are more trusting of a profile with a photo or avatar
than the default egg icon. This photo is your identity on
Twitter and appears with your Tweets. Profile photos can be
up to 2MB in any of the following formats: JPG, GIF, or
PNG. (Twitter does not support animated GIFs.)
You can upload (and change) a photo by clicking on Edit
profile.
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

4. #
5. ABBREVIATIONS 6. HASHTAGS
Handle = your username
@ = precedes any username
Feed = the stream of tweets you see
Mention = when a @username is in a tweet
RT = retweet
MT = modified tweet
DM = direct message
HT = hat tip
| = useful separator
#FF = follow Friday
A hashtag, or #, denotes a keyword or topic on Twitter. It’s
any string of characters or words without spaces. They can
occur anywhere in the Tweet, at the beginning, middle, or
end.
By searching for a hashtag you can collate all the tweets
containing it. Hashtagged words that become very popular
are often referred to as trending.
Tips: don't overuse in tweets and do make use of capital
letters to avoid confusion and provide clarity (when joining
words together).
Get to know the jargon!
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

5. 7. FOLLOWING 8. FOLLOWERS
To follow people click the Follow button when you see it
next to a user's profile photo or on a user's profile page.
You can also click the Follow button next to any of your
Who to follow suggestions, next to user search results, or
anywhere else you see the Follow button on the web.
Users with protected Tweets will have to approve your
follow request before you'll be able to see their Tweets.
Tip: Check who others are following from their profile page
where you share similar interests.
You can un-follow anyone by hovering over and then
clicking the follow button.
You can see who is following you (and who you are
following) from your profile page. The number of people
you follow and follow you appears just below your header
and photo.
It is your choice as to whether you follow any person
back.
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

6. 9. INTERACTIONS 10. DIRECT MESSAGES
Your Notifications (at the top) shows you how others
have been interacting with you on Twitter. When
someone marks your Tweet as a favourite, mentions
your username, follows you, or retweets your
content. When another user includes your username
preceded by the @ symbol in a Tweet, we call it a
“mention.”
Your Mentions tab collects Tweets that mention you by
your username so you can keep track of conversations
others are having with you. Click a Tweet to see the
conversation.
A direct message is a personal Tweet seen only by
the sender and the recipient. To read yours, click on
Direct messages (DM) envelope (top left). You send
a DM here and just specify the username of the
account you want to communicate with preceded with
the @ sign. (Note: you can only DM those following
you).
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

7. 11. FAVORITES 12. TWEETING
You can save tweets that you like as favourites by hovering
over the tweet and clicking on Favorite. A yellow star will
then appear in the top right corner of the tweet. You can
undo a favorite by hovering again and clicking on Favorited.
You can view your favorited tweets from your profile page.
Click on Favorites and they will be listed in the main
window.
Tweets can be up to 140 characters or 130 if you include
a link. Within your tweet you can mention others by adding
their name (@username). You may add a url link to a web
page, video, audio or image. Share info, ask and answer
questions.
To compose a tweet click on the
button which is in the top right corner or
the compose new tweet box on the left (you must be on
the home page)
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

8. 13. CONVERSATION
14. ADDING A PHOTO TO A
TWEET
Reply: To reply to a tweet, simply click reply and add
your message
Retweet (RT): If you read someone else's tweet, you
may retweet this by hovering over the tweet and
clicking on the retweet button. It will then include RT.
Modified Tweet (MT): This where you wish to retweet
but with a small modification (shorten or add to it) and
acknowledge this by including MT.
Using your desktop you can add a photo you have saved
to a tweet by clicking on the camera icon. A dialogue box
will open and you can select the photo from where you
have it saved.
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

9. 15. LISTS 16. SEARCH
Use the search bar at the top of the page. This will bring
up results for tweets with the keyword chosen and can
be filtered by people, photos, videos, news and timelines
(with and without #). There is also advanced search
You can organise the people you follow into groups
by creating lists. Click on Lists. Give your named list
a description. It can be either public or private. Add a
name to your list from their page.
You can follow others' lists and be made a
member of someone else's list.
Subscribe to: lists you've created or follow
Member of: where you've been added to a list
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

10. 17. SETTINGS
18. CONNECTING TO YOUR
SMARTPHONE
Click on your photo in the top bar and from the
dropdown menu select Settings. Take a look at
each of the settings below.
Go to Settings and the Mobile tab. Select your
country from the drop down menu and to enter your
phone number.
You will be directed to send the word 'GO' via text
message to Twitter. Text the verification code from your
phone to that short code. Once Twitter receives the
verification code from you, your mobile device will be
added to your Twitter account!
To remove your phone number or change it click on
Delete my phone. You will then be prompted to add a
new number if you wish to.
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

11. 19. TEXT NOTIFICATIONS 20. EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS
Go to Settings and then the Mobile tab. Here you can
set up and select which notifications you would like to
receive as texts.
You can choose to receive email notifications when your
Tweets are favourited, retweeted, or you are mentioned by
someone. For each of these emails you can choose to
receive notifications from everyone or from just the people
you follow.
You can also receive notifications if you are followed by
someone new or when you receive a direct message.
To set up notifications go to Settings and then the Email
notifications tab.
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

12. 21. SLEEP SETTINGS 22. PASSWORD CHANGES
To change your password go to Settings and then the
Password tab.
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks
You can schedule an OFF and ON time for Twitter
updates coming in to your phone. Go to Settings and
then Mobile.
Note: Make sure your time zone is correct, otherwise
your sleep time might operate on someone else's
schedule!

13. X. 24. CHANGE PHOTO
To change or remove your profile photo go to Settings
and the Profile tab or edit from your home page.
Click the Change photo button next to your profile photo.
You’ll be given the option to upload a photo, take a
photo, or remove your existing photo.
If you take a photo with your webcam, you may receive
an alert asking permission to use your webcam. To
proceed, click Allow.) Upload or take a photo, position
and size it to your liking, and then click Apply.
23. NAME CHANGES
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks
You can change your username and real name.
Go to Settings and then the Account tab. Change
the username listed in your username field. If the username
chosen is taken, you'll be prompted to choose another one.
Don't forget to click Save changes at the bottom of the page.
This will not affect your existing followers, direct messages, or
@replies. Your followers will simply see a new username next
to your profile photo when you update.
Change your real name and location in your Profile tab.

14. 25. BLOCKING FOLLOWERS 26. ACCOUNT HACKED
If you have noticed unexpected Tweets by your account
or seen unintended direct messages (DMs) sent from
your account your account may have been
compromised.
Change your password immediately from the Password
tab in settings. Select a strong password you haven't
used before. If you're unable to log in with your
username and password, reset your password by
requesting an email from the password reset form. Try
entering both your username and email address, and be
sure to check for the reset email at the address
associated with your Twitter account.
Infrequently (but a potential hazard) you may be followed
by someone you don't wish to be associated with. Telling
signs are users with no photo or bio sharing a random
message and a link. If in doubt DO NOT click on the link.
Click on the username and then the gear icon
to block or report the user for spam.
https://support.twitter.com/
26 Tips for Getting Started with Twitter by Sue Beckingham @suebecks

15. Getting Started with Twitter
Sue Beckingham | @suebecks
Sheffield Hallam University