A primer on Twitter
‘RT’ and ‘@’ and ‘#’ – oh my! Before you tweet, learn the new slang that surrounds microblogging.
By Chris Gaylord | Staff Writer for The Christian Science Monitor/ March 26, 2009 edition
John Kehe/Staff
As the microblogging website Twitter takes off, more than a few people are scratching their heads. After initial skepticism about the usefulness of a constant stream of 140-character messages, newcomers also need to decipher a new set of slang.
Just as e-mail and instant messages inspired “lol” and “btw,” Twitter users have invented their own terms – shorthand that makes the service more efficient and handy. These abbreviations develop rather organically. Clever conventions spread from user to user. Bad ones are ignored and die off.
This community effort is great for the faithful, but can be frustrating for Twitter novices. So, in lieu of an official manual, here’s a quick guide to Twitter slang.
User names
Just like with instant messengers, everyone on Twitter has a unique user name. For example, last week the Monitor set up a Twitter account specifically for the Horizons personal technology blog: csmhorizonsblog.
When you set up an account, Twitter gives you your own website that will automatically display all of your recent Twitter messages, or “tweets.” The address for this website is the same as your user name. In our case, it’s twitter.com/csmhorizonsblog.
A lot of tweets are just broadcasting the thoughts and activities of the author to anyone who will read them. But there are ways to directly respond to other users. If you want to comment on a Horizons post, include “@csmhorizonsblog” in your tweet. This targeted message will appear on your list of recent tweets and pop up for the other user, even if the person you’re talking about doesn’t follow your messages. A lot of people put @ at the beginning of a tweet, but it can go anywhere in the message.
The @ isn’t perfect. Since your friends can’t track every message that you read on Twitter, your @ messages may only give them half of a conversation. Once posted, the @ symbol automatically turns into a link to that user’s Twitter page. This allows friends to see whom you’re talking about – but not the specific message that you’re referencing.
Retweet
Some tweets begin with the letters RT. That’s a “retweet” or a rebroadcast of someone else’s message. If you see a clever tweet that you want to pass along to your friends, you can copy and paste it into your own Twitter feed, then add RT to the beginning. Make sure to include @ and the original poster’s user name to give credit to the author. Here’s an example.
RT has been used to share interesting links or spread public-service announcements.
Hash tags
Bloggers often go on about Twitter being an excellent source of breaking news. But if you’re new to the site, where do you start looking?
Heading to search.twitter.com is a good way to begin. Try typing in the # symbol followed by a category or event that interests you.
Worried about executive bonuses? Try searching for #AIG. Big fan of video games? You can learn the latest news out of this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco by looking for #GDC.
Not everyone on Twitter uses these category tags, and not everyone can agree on which terms to use – #GDC or #GDC2009 or #GDC09? But # is an easy way to hunt for interesting messages and maybe find new users to follow.
Once you’re used to tweeting, try adding category hash tags in your own posts. Then people can stumble upon your messages by searching.
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Comments
2. Bo Bennett | 03.27.09
For new users who would rather listen than read docs, check out Twooting.com - the free daily podcast all about Twitter.
3. Sara Streeter | 03.28.09
Just introduced a few of my co-workers to Twitter. Two things confused them - tinyurls and how replies work.
The limit to the number of characters (140, based on the standard limit to cell phone text messages) makes it hard to post really long links. Tinyurl, is.gd, bit.ly, among others are url-shortening services that make short links that redirect to the long ones. Twitter will even shorten the link for you if you post one that’s too long using tinyurl.
The other thing about tweets is they are usually simple announcements to your group of “followers”, or people who subscribe to your updates. If you want to direct a tweet to someone publicly or to someone who doesn’t follow you back, at the very beginning of the tweet put the @ symbol before the username (no space between them), e.g. @username. The @username has to be the first word for the tweet to show up as a reply to the other user.
The really interesting thing about all these shortcuts is that twitter users themselves started them. Over time Twitter picked up on these uses and incorporated them into the site, turning user habits into full-fledged features.
4. Jordan Willms | 03.28.09
Also, your users might be interested in http://www.tweettop.com
Unlike other directories, we have editors who pick the top “tweeps” for each topic, instead of self categorization by publishers.
Please give it a look.
Cheers,
5. crowfeet | 03.29.09
I have really enjoyed finding new Twitters to follow using wefollow.com.
My latest find is a stay at home mother of three young children, who is hilarious! Twitter (truthNparenting) to see for yourself.
You can tag yourself on wefollow.com as well to grow your following lists. It’s pretty cool!!
6. Christian | 03.30.09
Twitter is some big mystery to business people these days, which is why I wrote a post a week back or so…
http://www.myonehundredthings.com/2009/02/twitter/
This is a great primer on Twitter, and for all the content describing what this app is about, I think this is a welcome addition, but don’t forget to just get in there and figure it out for yourself, too 
7. Sara Streeter | 03.31.09
As of March 30, 2009, the Replies tab is now a “Mentions” tab. If you refer to another twitter user anywhere in a tweet it will now show up - not only if the username is the first word. Mashable covers the story here: http://mashable.com/2009/03/30/twitter-mentions/
8. MightyCasey | 04.02.09
This is a great intro to the basics of tweeting - first and foremost, though, remember that it’s a conversation, not a megaphone. Talk to people, not at them. Share interesting information and links. Listen to what’s said back to you. Authenticity, relevance, and brevity - that’s the ticket to success on social media. And pretty much everywhere else I can think of…
9. Jeff Daniles | 04.23.09
sites such as these are great because everyone can share ideas and thoughts,no matter if anyone agrees with them or not.kepp up the good work and i hope i can contribute as well
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1. Rich Ord | 03.26.09
New users should also be aware of Twellow.com, the Twitter Yellow Pages. With over 2.4 million listings you are bound to find some new people to follow that share your interests or your location.
Thanks,
Rich Ord
CEO, iEntry Network (which owns Twellow.com)
http://twellow.com