Twitter is one of the world’s most popular social networking offering users an instant way of communicating around the globe. Twitter is a “microblogging” service allowing users to post updates that can be used to communicate with other users or simply update your followers with your current mood, link, a photo or other information. Twitter has its own language (“#”, “@”, etc) and can intimidate people that have never used the service, but most users quickly learn these how to use these simple tags.

Twitter Profile

Each user on Twitter can customize their profile page with a profile picture, cover photo, background image or color among other things to personalize it. Your profile is based on your “Twitter handle” which will start with “@”. Your Twitter handle is your name on Twitter and will be used by anyone that is trying to interact with you through Twitter. For example the official Twitter account for our company is “@BrandingArc”.

Your profile page includes a list of all your previous tweets and lets other users see which profiles you follow, and which users are following you. Your profile also allows users to sort through the different images that have been posted to your account.

For more information about customizing your Twitter profile read our post about setting up a professional Twitter profile.

Followers

Your Twitter experience is only going to be as good as the people you choose to follow. If you are not following people that regularly tweet relevant updates, you will not enjoy using the service. However; if you find users to follow that are relevant to your interests, you will find Twitter to be an invaluable communication tool and a great source for up to the second news.

When you first set up your account Twitter will make you follow at least 10 people to get your account up and running. We highly suggest that you follow at least 50 different people, companies, brands and other accounts keep your news feed active and interesting. Look for people you know, celebrities you like, companies and brands you like, products and services you use and anything else you think might be interesting to you.

Feel free to check out some of the accounts that we follow @BrandingArc or see mine @AdamParks.

Interactions & Tags

Now that you understand the basics of Twitter it is time to learn the secret language about how to tweet. The “@” symbols we learned about as part of your Twitter handle are the key to interacting with other people on Twitter. When you include someones handle in one of your tweets you are “mentioning” them and viewers of your tweet will be able to click on their handle and see their Twitter profile.

For example, when @BrandingArc tweets about this new blog post, it will say something like:

“Understanding How to Use Twitter by @Adam Parks #social #smallbiz https://brandingarcinc.wpengine.com/understanding-…to-use-twitter/”

In the tweet I state the title of the article, mention my personal twitter account as the author and provide a link for my followers to quickly find and read the article. This type of interaction can on Twitter can quickly become viral showing in thousands of feeds and be re-shared via “retweets”

Conclusion

Don’t be afraid of Twitter. Although their “special language” is intimidating at first, you will quickly learn how to communicate with your friends by watching the syntax of the tweets from people you are following.

When you are first learning how to use the system I suggest pulling out your tablet or smartphone while watching TV and “discover” the #tag for your show and see what the actors, producers and other fans are saying about your favorite show in real time. It can add a whole new layer of entertainment to your TV experience.