TECHNOLOGY

You're on Twitter. Now what? Here's help

The micro-blogging site is easy to learn, tough to master.

By Omar L. Gallaga
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, August 01, 2008

It might not be as popular as, say, Facebook, but among some who spend a lot of time online, the Web site Twitter has become indispensable. A place to engage in so-called microblogging, Twitter, with its word limit — messages are confined to 140 characters or fewer — and ease of use, has been growing steadily over the past year after first making a splash at 2007's South by Southwest Interactive Festival. This despite technical problems that frequently cripple Twitter and competition from other emerging social-networking sites.

Even though it's mobile-phone-friendly and quick to set up, the question I get asked most by new Twitter users is, "OK, I got a Twitter account. Now what?"

Here are some tips to get the most out of Twitter.

Getting started

First, it helps to know the terminology that Twitter users throw around. You should know:

A message posted on Twitter is called a "Tweet."

A "Follower" is somebody who has subscribed to your Twitter account and will read your posts.

"Following" is the list of people whom you follow. How do you find people or business to follow? More on that below.

The "Timeline" is a list of Tweets. There's a public time line, which includes everyone's posts. Your own time line shows your own tweets mixed with the tweets of everyone you follow.

What's with all the "@?" People use the "at" sign to reply to other people's messages. To reply to a message I posted, you'd type, "@omarg Thanks for the tip!" (or just hit the "reply" button on the message).

You can send someone a direct message, which typically goes straight to the person's e-mail and does not appear in any public time lines. To do this, you'd use the letter "d" like this: "d omarg Please don't post this private message."

After setting up your Twitter account to receive text messages from phone, you can post a Tweet by texting it to the number 40404.

Advanced tips

Many Twitter users swear by desktop applications, such as Twitterific, that make tracking conversations and staying up-to-date easier. Check out twitter.com/downloads for some of those applications.

Want a mobile application to view and post tweets? Twitterrific for iPhone is popular, as is the standard m.twitter.com mobile site. My personal favorite is hahlo.com, which is optimized for the iPhone.

Want to look for tweets about a specific topic or keyword? Go to search.twitter.com.

You can have tweets from people you follow sent to your phone as text messages, but this can get overwhelming and run up your text-messaging bill. Be selective on how you use this feature.

Can't access Twitter or getting an image of a giant whale? It's not your fault. Twitter is frequently out of service or undergoing maintenance. Twitter users have learned to live with the pain.

Etiquette

You don't have to follow everyone who follows you. In fact, being selective about whom you follow ensures that you won't get overloaded trying to keep up.

Don't post too many tweets at a time. It fills up other people's time lines, and unless what you're posting is important (a natural disaster just happened in your backyard or major news just broke), people will begin to tune you out. If you're posting 10 times an hour, that's probably too much, unless you're having a more direct conversation using @ replies.

Post interesting information. Be yourself and try to mix it up. If you post nothing but links to your business blog, followers will lose interest.

If you follow someone whose tweets no longer interest you, don't be afraid to "unfollow." They shouldn't take it personally.

Be courteous and respectful, especially when replying to direct messages. Tweets might seem fleeting, but unless you delete a message, it stays in the system, visible forever.

Have fun! Finding people to talk to on Twitter is not hard; don't be afraid to contribute to the conversation.

The Austin Twitter starter pack

10 Austinites with consistent, interesting posts whom you might want to follow when you begin on Twitter:

• kimhaynes — Kim Haynes, Bulldog Solutions manager and marketer

• pzriddle — Prentiss Riddle, information architect and 'Aprendiz de todo' blogger

• conniereece — Connie Reece, social networking maven at Every Dot Connects

• mikechapman — Mike Chapman, political and public affairs consultant

• lpt — Laura P. Thomas, Direct2Dell pioneer and virtual worlds expert

• sheilas — Sheila Scarborough, travel and sports writer, social media teacher

• silona — Silona Bonewald, tech whiz and League of Technical Voters founder

• LaniAR — Lani Anglin-Rosales, real estate expert, humorist, co-founder of AgentGenius.com

• jettek — Juliette Kernion, film writer and longtime Austin blogger

• mcchris — Chris McConnell, citizens' media researcher, is a doctoral student at the University of Texas

Statesman Twitterers

Austin American-Statesman Twitter accounts and newsroom staffers who use Twitter. They can be accessed by going to twitter.com/(name of the account)

• statesman — Austin American-Statesman news, updates, newsroom behind the scenes

• austin360 — Entertainment news, music updates and best of the blogs, updated by editor Gary Dinges

• bevobeat — Longhorns football news and updates

• omarg — Omar L. Gallaga, technology culture reporter and Digital Savant blogger

• robquig — Robert Quigley, main contributor to 'statesman' Twitter account

• sarahintx — Sarah Lindner, assistant features editor and Life Guide columnist/blogger

• slctexas — Sharon Chapman, XL entertainment editor

• crit — Christian McDonald, technology solutions manager

• broylesa — Addie Broyles, food writer and Relish Austin blogger

• lillyrockwell — Lilly Rockwell, business reporter covering Whole Foods, biotechnology, video games and advertising, and blogger for Statesman Business Blog

• melaniespencer — Melanie Spencer, design and style columnist, and Design Notebook blogger

• isadoravail — Isadora Vail, courts and public safety reporter for Williamson County, and WillCoWired blogger

• gardnerselby — W. Gardner Selby, state politics reporter and Postcards from the Lege blogger

• andreeball — Andrea Ball, social services and philanthropy reporter covering homelessness, mental illness and nonprofits

• kkingston — Kristi Kingston, statesman.com editor

• outandabout — Michael Barnes, TV and movies editor, and Out and About blogger

• zryall — Zach Ryall, Internet editor

• djroe — Dale Roe, Glossy art director, family movie and game writer

• suzhalliburton — Suzanne Halliburton, sports reporter

• davedoo — David Doolittle, Williamson County bureau chief

• archana — Archana Ramachandran, freelance photographer for austin360.com's A-List

These accounts are active and will begin updating soon:

• aaspreps — High school football coverage

• aclfest — Statesman coverage of Austin City Limits festival

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Other Austin organizations with Twitter accounts

• wholefoods — Whole Foods Market Inc.

• ut_sg — University of Texas Student Government

• richardatdell — One of about 21 official Dell Twitter accounts run by Dell Inc. employees

• drafthouse — Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

• KXAN_News — News updates from KXAN 36

• conjunctured — New Austin coworking space