Twitter: Social Networking with 140 Characters or Less

Maria was stumped. She remembered that six months ago she had discovered the Web site of an Asian man who posted photos of himself with captions. Maria wanted to find the site again but didn't know what search terms to use. She turned to Twitter.

Maria sent a brief message asking her 240 followers (people that subscribe to her Twitter feed) if anyone remembered the man and his Web site. She had her answer within four minutes of asking. Three of her followers sent her a direct message with not only the name of the man but also a link to his site. Maria was happy.

Maria is one of over 25 million Twitter users worldwide, a number expected to grow significantly this year. Twitter, originally founded in 2007, has grown into a "real-time short messaging service" that can be accessed from almost any device with an Internet connection. Dubbed the "SMS of the Internet" because of the 140-character limit, it's a nod to SMS text messaging found on mobile phones.

Less is More

"But what can be expressed with just 140 characters?" you might wonder. Surprisingly, Twitter's popularity is tied directly to that meager amount of text. McDonald's, for example, tested Twitter and was surprised by the amount of feedback it received about its Monopoly game through tweeting (the process of sending a tweet, a message on Twitter). The, "what am I thinking now" immediacy of the social media tool gave McDonald's customers the ability to speak their minds directly.

The annual TweetsGiving event is another good example of the power of Twitter. The event, started in 2008, was organized in six days and debuted on Twitter two days before Thanksgiving. Tweets from people giving thanks flooded Twitter, raising over $10,000 to build a new classroom in Tanzania. Last year's TweetsGiving raised over $30,000 as awareness spread over Twitter's growing network.

Of course, there are more mundane examples of how Twitter users successfully use 140 characters to inform, share, and connect. Newscasters inform the public, cooks share recipes, and movie fans connect with each other via this Internet service that has become a lifestyle tool.

But for beginners, Twitter is often difficult to grasp, causing many to passively follow other's tweets or give up on Twitter quickly. In fact, according to Sysomos, 15 percent of Twitter users account for over 90 percent of Twitter's activity.

If you're considering joining, know that Twitter is fundamentally different from sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.There is little personal information to be shared on Twitter, and tweeting happens in real-time. Information spreads rapidly, and connections are loose. You have no obligation to respond to updates, but you can if you choose to. And you may create new friendships in the process.

How Twitter Works

Joining Twitter is easy. Simply click the gold "Sign up now" button on the home page. You'll be taken to a sign-up page where you'll enter your real name, your desired username and password, and a valid e-mail address. Next, you'll be able to see if your friends are using Twitter by importing e-mail addresses from your Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail (?) and AOL accounts. You'll then be given suggestions of high-profile Twitter users to follow. Checkmark the ones you want to follow and uncheck those that you don't. Click the "Finish" button when you're done.

The navigation bar, the character counter, and your relevant numbers can all be found in the upper-right portion of your user home page.

Now you should be at your home page. Before you follow more users, click the "Settings" option in the navigation bar. From the settings page, you'll be able to adjust your basic account information, change your password, add your mobile phone to use Twitter while on the go, change notification settings, add a picture, and change the look of your personal page. Once you've reviewed your settings, click the "Home" option in the navigation bar.

Following Users

Underneath the text box where you enter your messages, you'll see three methods to follow people and businesses that you're interested in. Feel free to browse popular accounts, find your friends, or search for users using the search box. If at any time you don't want to view the information box, click the "x" in the top right-hand corner. You can also find users using the same tools by selecting the "Find People" option at any time. From there, you also have the option of inviting people to join Twitter.

You'll start out showing this information box that allows you to search for people and businesses to follow. When you no longer wish for it to appear on your home page, click the "x".

Following other Twitter members is a straightforward process. After you've found a member you want to follow, select the left-most action button to follow that member. For example, if you're a fan of the business Dunkin' Donuts, enter the term "Dunkin Donuts" on the search page. A list of associated members will be displayed allowing you to follow, mention, block, or report them. Choose the member that best fits your search and click on the "Follow" button. Updates from all the members that you're following will now appear on your home page.

Want to keep up with the latest news regarding Dunkin' Donuts? Simply click the left-most follow button.

Tags and Slang

Before you start posting your own messages, it's useful to understand some of the symbols or "tags" that you'll see being used. One popular tag on Twitter is the "#" symbol (the "hash" tag), followed by a word or acronym. By placing the hash tag before a word, you're making that word in your tweet more searchable. If you're a donut lover and post about them often, you may want to add the hash symbol to the word "donut." You might post "I just ate the best #donut in the world" and from then on, your tweet will be included in Twitter searches for #donut. This is useful not only for locating information, but also for following trends.

Twitterers frequently use the "@" symbol (the "at" tag), followed by a member's name. In this case, information is being directed at one or more members. For example, if DunkinDonuts posts something interesting and you wish to reply, begin your message (your tweet) with "@DunkinDonuts". The same can be done when referencing another member in your tweet. You might post "I'm going to @DunkinDonuts on Friday."

The true usefulness of the @ tag becomes apparent when you click on the link containing the tag plus your name in the navigation to the right. By clicking that, you're able to view all replies and mentions that are directed at you. Like the hash tag, the @ tag is useful for quickly locating information about and directed to you. Note that replies are not private. To send private messages to a user on Twitter, use the Direct Messages feature.

Aside from those tags, a few pieces of slang are useful. The most useful one is "RT" or retweet. When you want to share a tweet you read with your followers, add "RT" to the front of your message followed by the name or names of origin with the @ tag. This is the right-hand navigation bar.

If John Doe tweeted about the donut shop closing early, you can retweet it with "RT @johndoe The donut shop closed early today." This used to be a manual process, but recently Twitter added retweet functionality. Now you can move your mouse over the tweet and click the "Retweet" option that appears in the bottom right-hand corner. Additionally, you can review all of the items you've retweeted by clicking the "Retweets" link in the right-hand navigation.

Other slang terms you may see include "HT" and "OH". "HT" means "heard through" and signifies something that wasn't tweeted by someone else but instead originated from an external source. "OH" means "overheard" and is used when repeating something funny or stupid that was overheard. Typically the name of the speaker isn't included.