With technology changing so fast these days, it can be hard to stay on top of the latest technological trends. One of the most popular trends that many people aren't entirely familiar with, is known as Twitter. Yes, it's true that nearly everyone has heard of the website – especially with Twitter spoken of in the news on a near daily basis, but despite its prevalence in the media, it remains a part of the World Wide Web that many people do not fully understand.
One of the most common and basic questions asked about Twitter is, “What is a Tweet?” The easiest way to answer this question is to visit the Twitter.com website and perform a quick search. Feel free to search for any topic that interests you, as virtually all topics already have a large number of Tweets associated with them.
Once you have come up with a topic and have completed your search, you will be taken to a results page. From here, you will see a list of short textual messages relating to your search term. All of the messages listed are what’s commonly referred to as a “Tweet”.
Each Tweet is limited to 140 characters and can contain various elements like links, hashtags, and @Mentions. Hashtags are simply words preceded by the “#” sign, which are used to group together posts of a similar topic. @Mentions, on the other hand, are used to link to a specific Twitter user. @Mentions are created using the @username format, where “username” is replaced with the actual username of the Twitter member that is being mentioned within the Tweet.
To send out your own Tweets using the Twitter network, you will need to sign up for an account. Signing up is fast, free, and doesn’t require the approval of an administrator. After signing up, you’ll be free to create your own Tweets immediately.
If in the past you found the concept of Tweets to be very strange and confusing, you are not alone. Luckily, it is one of those technologies that can be easily understood with a little research and explanation. By taking the time to learn more about the whole Twitter phenomena, you too can take part in one of the Internet’s most popular trends.
Showing posts with label Advice on Twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advice on Twitter. Show all posts
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Twitter Explained: What is a Hashtag?
If you are new to Twitter, there are probably a number of words that you don’t yet understand. One of the more common Twitter-related words that many people initially find confusing is “hashtag”. So, just what is a hashtag? Continue reading to find out.
A hashtag is any word preceded by the “#” sign in a Twitter message. These words, which are automatically turned into links when submitting a Tweet, are used to connect commonly themed messages across the Twitter network.
Hashtags can be used in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are used to connect messages about a certain website, like #facebook or #google; other times they are used to connect messages about specific cities, like #chicago or #london; while other times they can be used to link specific ideas, like #icantgoadaywithout and #wheneverimbored. It doesn’t matter what you are connecting, so long as it is a series of characters preceded by the “#” sign, then it is a hashtag.
Clicking on any Twitter hashtag will bring up the latest messages that have been sent containing that particular hashtag. This can be a great way to follow a current theme or topic that is of interest to you.
There are many words describing Twitter features and it takes a little research to understand the meaning of each one. Thankfully, once you have a better understanding of the words, you can better utilize all of what Twitter has to offer – including hashtags.
For more helpful thoughts and ideas about Twitter, see Aaron S. Robertson's blog post entitled, Twitter for Skeptics.
A hashtag is any word preceded by the “#” sign in a Twitter message. These words, which are automatically turned into links when submitting a Tweet, are used to connect commonly themed messages across the Twitter network.
Hashtags can be used in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are used to connect messages about a certain website, like #facebook or #google; other times they are used to connect messages about specific cities, like #chicago or #london; while other times they can be used to link specific ideas, like #icantgoadaywithout and #wheneverimbored. It doesn’t matter what you are connecting, so long as it is a series of characters preceded by the “#” sign, then it is a hashtag.
Clicking on any Twitter hashtag will bring up the latest messages that have been sent containing that particular hashtag. This can be a great way to follow a current theme or topic that is of interest to you.
There are many words describing Twitter features and it takes a little research to understand the meaning of each one. Thankfully, once you have a better understanding of the words, you can better utilize all of what Twitter has to offer – including hashtags.
For more helpful thoughts and ideas about Twitter, see Aaron S. Robertson's blog post entitled, Twitter for Skeptics.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Twitter for Skeptics
By Aaron S. Robertson
Even though Twitter has been around for a while now, I still come across a lot of business professionals that have a hard time buying into it. "I don't get it", "What's the value in it?", and "What's it all about?" are common responses I hear from a lot of business people.
Following is my take on Twitter, for whatever it's worth. I was once skeptical about the whole Twitter scene, too, but have been warming up to it a lot more lately since starting to think about it in the ways I describe here.
Think of Twitter this way: it's like a massive search engine in and of itself. By "tweeting" something (like sharing a link, offering helpful advice, making a big announcement, etc.), you're feeding this search engine with unique and interesting content. And by taking it a step further and using the "#" symbol in your tweets, immediately followed by a word or term (all together with no spaces), you're telling this search engine how to categorize your tweet, so when other Twitter users search the site using the keywords or terms you labeled your tweet with, they're likely to stumble across it. You can certainly assign your tweets more than one search term, but remember that you only have 140 characters available per tweet. And if you have a link to share, the link will eat up a good-sized portion of those available characters at your disposal.
Now, Twitter is definitely a lot more than just a search engine. There's the whole social dimension that brings further value to using the site - these are real, actual people (unlike the computerized search bots or "spiders" of traditional search engines) who are sending direct messages to one another, who are "following" each other, etc.
But for Twitter skeptics looking to test the water by cautiously putting one foot in, seeing it for the time being just as a big search engine that you can really leave your mark on, a search engine that's utilized by millions upon millions of people around the world at all hours of the day and night - that should be enough for you to buy in. Millions of people are using this search engine, just like they're using Google, Yahoo, and Bing, to find information on products and services; they're looking for interesting blogs and other reading material; they're looking for jobs; they're conducting research; they're looking for networking and business opportunities.
The question to ask yourself now is : are you being found in this search engine?
Are you avoiding using Twitter? If so, why? What sorts of questions or concerns do you have about it? Share your take in the Comments section below.
Even though Twitter has been around for a while now, I still come across a lot of business professionals that have a hard time buying into it. "I don't get it", "What's the value in it?", and "What's it all about?" are common responses I hear from a lot of business people.
Following is my take on Twitter, for whatever it's worth. I was once skeptical about the whole Twitter scene, too, but have been warming up to it a lot more lately since starting to think about it in the ways I describe here.
Think of Twitter this way: it's like a massive search engine in and of itself. By "tweeting" something (like sharing a link, offering helpful advice, making a big announcement, etc.), you're feeding this search engine with unique and interesting content. And by taking it a step further and using the "#" symbol in your tweets, immediately followed by a word or term (all together with no spaces), you're telling this search engine how to categorize your tweet, so when other Twitter users search the site using the keywords or terms you labeled your tweet with, they're likely to stumble across it. You can certainly assign your tweets more than one search term, but remember that you only have 140 characters available per tweet. And if you have a link to share, the link will eat up a good-sized portion of those available characters at your disposal.
Now, Twitter is definitely a lot more than just a search engine. There's the whole social dimension that brings further value to using the site - these are real, actual people (unlike the computerized search bots or "spiders" of traditional search engines) who are sending direct messages to one another, who are "following" each other, etc.
But for Twitter skeptics looking to test the water by cautiously putting one foot in, seeing it for the time being just as a big search engine that you can really leave your mark on, a search engine that's utilized by millions upon millions of people around the world at all hours of the day and night - that should be enough for you to buy in. Millions of people are using this search engine, just like they're using Google, Yahoo, and Bing, to find information on products and services; they're looking for interesting blogs and other reading material; they're looking for jobs; they're conducting research; they're looking for networking and business opportunities.
The question to ask yourself now is : are you being found in this search engine?
Are you avoiding using Twitter? If so, why? What sorts of questions or concerns do you have about it? Share your take in the Comments section below.
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