Twitter Reply Tutorial: Using Twitter Replies to Connect
Let us assume that you
have set up your Twitter account. Before you go doing anything else, cast a
glance at the horizontal-menu atop the page on the right. Click on the “home”
link. The page (surprise, surprise) is your home page, and the main page which
will allow you to type messages and read the messages of others.
To compose a message you
will need to click the link that says, “What Are You Doing?” in which you can
enter a robust 140 chars to answer the question. Type in your reply and click the “update”
link. This is now available for all of your followers to see and is known as a
Tweet. In the centre of your home page you will also be able to see your many
contacts (obviously will be thin on the ground if you have just started). If
you want your posts/blogs etc. to be better found, then use the hash symbol #
before your keywords. So if you were writing about how people forget that
England is part of Great Britain, then you may have keywords such as, #
England, # Great Britain, # Forget.
Once you set up your
account you can add your friends from other social networks. This is done by adding their email addresses
to your address book. This, as I understand it, invites the people on the
receiving end if they would like to be one of your contacts on Twitter.
You don’t have to keep
track and/or follow your real-life friends (the ones made of flesh that keep
pulling on your shoulders to stop you walking into traffic). If you wish to
search out some new contacts then try the “find people” link at the top of the
page menu.
There is a side bar at
the right of your screen which gives you access to the link saying “Direct
Messages”. These allow you to contact your followers, contacts and friends. It
is part of your personal mail box. Like an emailing system, you get the choice
of whether to read the messages as they arrive. You can send messages too, as
well as replying to messages.
Select the person/message
you wish to reply to and click the icon that says “reply” (didn’t see that
coming, did you?). You are returned to the edit phase where you have an entry
field in which to type. You will see the name of your contact as @ +
ContactsName. This reply will be public. It is set up in a sort of “throwing a
ball” system. The person sent you a message and threw you a ball. You are going
to reply and are aiming to throw it back at (@) that person, however this ball
game is being played in public and others can see. Your reply will appear in
your network news.
If you are forwarding on
a tweet then it will say: RT @ ContactsName
You can then copy out
and/or rephrase the message you would like to pass on (RT - Re Tweet).
