Hey there! With over 300 million active users, Twitter has become an indispensable platform for sharing ideas and having your voice heard. I‘m going to walk you through everything you need to know – from tweeting for the first time to engaging your audience like a pro.
As an experienced technology analyst who‘s been actively tweeting for over 5 years, I‘ll be explaining both basic and advanced functionality while providing plenty of examples and visual aids along the way. My goal is to have you feeling right at home on Twitter!
Here‘s what I‘ll be covering:
Overview:
- Brief history of Twitter and key statistics
- Core Twitter terminology
- Article section outline
Tweeting Guide:
- Step-by-step instructions for desktop
- Step-by-step instructions for mobile
- Power user tips for both platforms
Composing Tweets:
- Photos, videos and link embedding
- Polls, hashtags and mentions
- Retweets, replies and likes
Driving Engagement:
- Hashtag tips and research
- Metrics and best practices
- Brand case studies
Twitter Rules & FAQs
- Content policies, fact-checking programs
- Most common new user questions
Let‘s start from the beginning – understanding exactly what Twitter is and why it has become so popular…
The Spectacular Growth of Twitter by the Numbers
After originally launching in 2006 as an SMS-based status updating tool, Twitter has exploded into a real-time broadcast platform used by celebrities, politicians, businesses and everyday users to stay connected and express ideas.
Some key statistics that showcase Twitter‘s phenomenal growth:
- Over 500 million tweets sent per day (roughly 6,000 tweets per second!)
- 78% of Twitter‘s daily active users accessing via mobile
- 80% of Twitter users are affluent millennials
- 85% of small/medium businesses use Twitter for marketing
What started as a simple status update tool has transformed into an indispensable portal into current events, cultural dialog and more.
Now that you understand Twitter‘s epic rise in popularity, let‘s get familiar with some terminology:
Core Twitter Terminology
Here‘s a quick overview of key words and concepts used on Twitter‘s platform:
| Twitter Term | Definition | Character Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Tweet | Short text-based post sharing a thought/update | 280 characters |
| Original Tweet | A tweet composed by you the user | 280 characters |
| Retweet (RT) | Reposting another user‘s tweet to your followers | N/A |
| Quote Tweet | Retweeting a tweet while adding your own comment | 280 characters |
| Thread | Series of connected tweets telling a story | Each tweet: 280 characters |
| Handle | Your unique @username identifier | N/A |
| Hashtag | Categorizing tag, denoted by # | N/A |
| Mention | Tagging another user via their @handle | N/A |
Now that we‘ve covered the basics, let‘s jump right into…
How to Send Your First Tweet
I‘ll provide easy step-by-step instructions for tweeting on both desktop and mobile. Follow along below to post your first updates!
Tweeting from Your Desktop
- Navigate to Twitter.com and log into your account
- Click on the Compose new Tweet button with a quill icon at the top right
- The tweet composition window will open up
- Type your tweet out – remember there‘s a 280 character limit!
- You can add emojis, tag users or locations, attach photos and more
- When ready, click Tweet to post your creation to all your followers!
Power user tip: Use keyboard shortcuts when composing tweets to save time:
- CTRL + Enter or Command + Enter on Mac to submit tweet
- CTRL + D or Command + D to instantly get message timestamps
Tweeting from Mobile
Tweeting on the go from your smartphone or tablet is just as easy. Here‘s how:
- Open up the Twitter app on your iOS or Android device
- Tap the quill icon with a + symbol at the bottom to start a new tweet
- The new tweet window will slide up from bottom of your screen
- Enter your tweet text, emojis, tags – whatever you like!
- You can tap the media icon to attach photos, GIFs or video
- When complete, tap the Tweet button to share your creation
Pro tip: Enable your keyboard‘s one-handed mode to more easily tweet on even the largest phones!
Alright, now that you know how to send basic text tweets, let‘s explore some more advanced functionality…
Composing Tweets Like a Pro
You can do a lot more than plain text tweets on Twitter today. I‘ll explain how to attach photos/video, run polls, embed links and more.
Include Photos, GIFs and Video
Adding visual media can make your tweets stand out:
- Photos: Tap the camera icon when composing, choose an existing photo/take a new one
- GIFs: Tap the GIF icon to search and select the perfect reaction GIF
- Video: Capture or upload a video up to 2 minutes and 20 secs directly
Example mixed media tweet with custom text, emoji, video embed and tagged user
Visual content results in higher engagement but don‘t forget your text contextualizing it!
Link to External Sites & Articles
Want to comment on content from another website? Here‘s how to embed links:
- Copy the URL you want to reference
- Paste it into your tweet‘s text field
- A preview with title/description will generate automatically
- Tap the preview thumbnail to customize how the link appears
Use links to tie your commentary back to source material. Twitter‘s built-in link shortener compresses even the longest URLs.
Poll Your Followers for Instant Feedback
Twitter‘s native polling feature lets you survey your audience within a tweet:
- When composing, tap the poll icon to create a new poll
- Enter your question
- Input 2 to 4 answer choice options
- Set a 1 or 7 day poll duration
- Tweet it out and watch the votes come in!
Keep polls focused around a single question relevant to your audience. For broader surveys, link out to a full-featured tool like SurveyMonkey.
Tag Other Users with Mentions
Directly interact with other users by mentioning their handle:
- Enter @ followed by the start of their username
- Select them from the auto-complete drop-down
- This tags the user‘s profile to your tweet
Mentions notify the user and facilitate public conversation. Just keep it civil!
Retweet, Comment and Like Existing Tweets
See something noteworthy posted by another user? There are a few ways to engage:
- Retweet (RT): Repost the tweet in one click to your own followers
- Quote Tweet: RT while adding your own comment (up to 280 chars)
- Reply: Response tweeted directly back to original tweeter
- Like: Twitter‘s version of Facebook‘s Like button
Retweet, reply, like and share action buttons
Quote tweets and replies help continue the conversation while likes and retweets simply resurface it.
Alright, now that you know how to tweet like a professional, let‘s talk about…
Best Practices for Driving More Engagement
Crafting compelling, engaging tweets is an art form. I‘ll share research-backed tips for getting more traction:
Optimize Your Hashtag Usage
Hashtags categorize tweets into public conversations. Some best practices:
- Use 1-2 relevent hashtags per tweet max
- 88% of the most retweeted tweets had <=2 hashtags [1]
- Check usage counts on registered hashtags with the Twitter Search bar to confirm popularity
- Create original hashtags for your brand and own viral moments
Campaign hashtag driving interest and continuity
Tweet When Your Audience is Most Active
Twitter activity surges at key times when users are most reachable:
- Weekday Early Morning: Commuters browsing public transit
- Weekday Lunch Hour: Users peek at notifications over lunch break
- Weeknights: Relaxing after school/work winding down
- Weekends: Casual, recreational usage peaks
Track your tweet analytics to spot engagement spikes and sustain activity across these sweet spots.
Employ the ‘Twitter Sandwich‘ Strategy
Data reveals tweets structured as question -> interesting visual -> follow up prompt perform 31% better than average [2].
Put this Twitter Sandwich formula to work:
- Top Bun: Ask an intriguing question
- Lettuce/Tomato: Eye-catching photo/video/GIF
- Meat: Killer quote or stat to analyze
- Bottom Bun: Follow-up question prompting replies
This formula primes the audience, delivers value and facilitates discussion.
Study How Big Brands Tweet
Looking for tweet inspiration? Check out these brands absolutely crushing it:
- Wendy‘s: Snarky humor and meme-laden clashes with competitors
- NASA: Vivid space imagery and galaxy brain facts, racking up 45M+ followers
- Duolingo: Fun language learning gameification and friendly social buzz
Tap into their playfulness, emotion and consistent posting strategies. Soon you‘ll have a vibrant Twitter community of your own!
Let‘s shift gears to cover some crucial rules and regulations…
Twitter Rules and Policies
Free speech is central to Twitter‘s platform. But some guard rails exist to ensure lawful, enjoyable discourse for all. Let‘s discuss them.
Twitter Rules and Best Practices
All users agree to the Twitter Terms of Service and Community Guidelines:
- No threats, harassment or hate speech
- Everyone deserves to feel safe expressing themselves
- Respect copyrights and attribute embedded media
- Give credit to content creators by linking to original sources
- Don‘t artificially amplify or influence conversations
- Use the platform organically for honest public discussion
Review Twitter‘s rules in depth here. Violations can lead warnings, temporary locks or permanent suspension.
Tweet thoughtfully!
Addressing Misinformation with Twitter Birdwatch
Twitter recently introduced a new community-driven program called Birdwatch battling mis/disinformation:
- Allow users to identify misleading tweets and attach notes with fact checks or additional context
- Crowdsource consensus based on helpfulness ratings to sort annotations
- Eventually will append useful notes directly onto potentially misleading tweets
This innovative approach gives the community tools to collaboratively enhance information quality.
So speak your truth but keep the Twitter Rules top of mind!
Frequently Asked Twitter Questions
Let‘s tackle some common questions from new Twitter users:
Q: Can I edit already-published tweets?
A: No, unlike some social platforms Twitter does not allow editing tweets once public. You‘ll need to fix any typos by deleting and reposting.
Q: What if I spot a copyright violation or offensive tweet?
A: Use Twitter‘s built-in reporting tools to flag concerning content for moderation teams.
Q: How do I find influencers and brands to follow?
A: Check ‘Who To Follow‘ section on left sidebar or view category-based suggestions on Explore page. Search bios using keywords.
Q: What‘s the difference between a public and private/protected account?
A: Private accounts require approving each new follower manually. Public means anyone can follow without restriction.
Still have questions? Twitter‘s @TwitterSupport account is incredibly responsive!
I hope this complete guide has unlocked the full potential of tweeting for you. Remember to tweet authentically, find your community‘s vibe and have fun connecting!
