Here’s an email I sent to my brother, who just got a Twitter account, and I thought I’d share it cause it has some good info.
Hey, so you’ve been Twitter-ificated.
Couple pointers for you:
1. Personalize it. Add a profile picture, a background image (Something cool but unobtrusive) , and fill in the short “About Me” blurb. Twitter is all about extending your presence to the web, and personalizing your Twitter page will tell people that see it that you’re an actual interesting person and not just some faceless robot.
2. Check spelling. It’s paradoxical: for a forum where space is so limited, some space-saving shortcuts are not received well. For example, it’s generally a bad idea to use l33t speek on Twitter. I say generally, because if the situation allows it and you can do it with tact, that’s one thing, but most of the time, use reasonably correct spelling. (Grammar is just slightly less important, I’ve noticed, but people should still be able to read and understand what you’re saying.)
3. It’s been said in many places on the Internet, but never use Twitter as an IM client. It’s rude to broadcast your private conversations and keep the however-many other people who are following you out of the loop.
4. Find some people to follow. Twitter is all about interaction with people. One of the cool things is that it will import your Gmail contacts and look for people who are already there. It’s under find and follow. (Of course, that’s assuming you’ve added people as Gmail contacts.)
5. Some technical tricks in Twitter:
a. @ - If you put an @ in front of a Twitter username, it references that name. For example, if you put @leemckusick in you post, it creates a link to my page. If you put it at the beginning, that’s a reply.
b. Favorites – Find a Tweet you love? Favorite it by clicking the star next to it.
6. Have fun! Twitter is meant to be fun and to facilitate social interaction. Enjoy yourself.
There’s much more advice that could be given about Twitter, and you can find it all over. This should be good to get started. Happy Tweeting!