Getting Started With Twitter
By Craig Green
There's a new web application on the block that has everyone talking and it goes by the
name of Twitter (twitter.com). Twitter is fast becoming one of the more popular methods
for communicating online and has a large number of loyal followers who stick with it
despite the growing pains and competitors. While this article won't cover everything
possible with Twitter, it will give you a good starting point on how to start using it and
how you can use it for your business.
What Is This Twitter You Speak Of?
So what is Twitter and how can it be of benefit to you or your business? Twitter is a
free online micro-blogging application which gives you the ability to send out short
messages (up to 140 characters) called "tweets" to people who are following you on
Twitter. You can send tweets either through your computer or by using your cell phone via
a text message. These tweets⁄messages can be about anything you want and they can include
links, as well.
Making Twitter even more useful is the ability to send a direct message to someone you
are following (this is done by entering &username at the beginning of your message)
or replying to someone's tweet with your own. You would be surprised how common it is to
reply to someone's message then to have someone who is either following you or the person
you sent the reply to reply to your initial message and so on.
People can follow you and your tweets by first signing-up for their own free Twitter
account at the Twitter site then adding you to their list of people they are following.
Once you have created your account, you can either check your Twitter page (your own
personal page which appears after you sign-in at the Twitter home page) for any of your
friend's new messages or you can send out your own. But it is much easier, in my opinion,
to use one of the many online or desktop applications which give you the ability to do all
of this and more.
Twitter As A Communication Tool
Twitter is a quick and easy way to communicate with family, friends, business
associates, and also within a company setting. Being an online service, Twitter is
available to anyone with online access. All you have to do is login to your account
through any number of third-party applications developed for Twitter or through the
Twitter site and you are ready to go.
Within a company setting, employees could have a Twitter account created for them
with the option to have their messages protected. This means only people they (or you
or the person in charge of creating the Twitter accounts) approve will be able to
send and receive messages from them. The same thing could be done using an instant
message program but with Twitter, there would be no software to install and it would
be accessible from anywhere with an online connection. Additionally, the person who is
in charge of the Twitter accounts will have the power to control who is and who isn't
part of this private Twitter network.
Even though there are tons of online communication applications available, Twitter can
also be used as a way for people who are collaborating on a project to stay in touch with
one another regardless of where they are. And depending on which third-party application
they are using to Twitter with, these conversations can be saved for future reference.
There are even some third-party apps which you can use to send files up to 10MB to anyone
you are following as long as they are using the same application, that is. Still, a handy
feature to have and one which may become a feature of Twitter if there's a big enough
demand for it.
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