So, you’re new to Twitter…welcome.

Let’s talk about Twitter.

To me, Twitter is one of the most incredible things the internet has to offer.

Twitter is a network based on interests. Facebook is a network based on prior relationships. They are different.

It’s a giant public conversation that never sleeps. You will never get through it all, there’s no “inbox 0.”

The beauty of Twitter lies in the 140 character limit. Messages are short and happen quickly. It’s a haiku for a new millenium.

There is no right way to tweet, and really no wrong way, but there are effective and ineffective ways to use Twitter.

Twitter is only as valuable as who you follow or how well you search. Crap-in, Crap-out.

Tweets have a 140 character limit. That includes usernames, links and #hashtags.

@mentions come in two forms: Replies which are attached to the tweet you are replying to and mentions which are directed public messages.

Unless your account is set to private, every message you post on Twitter is public, except Direct Messages, they are still private.

To direct message type: “D [space] recipient’s username [your tweet]” e.g: d jgibbard you are handsome.

You can only Direct Message (DM) someone that is following you.

Retweets are how information spreads on Twitter. Learn about official and old school retweets (RT @jgibbard).

A retweet is the Twitter equivalent of forwarding an email..if the email was public to the world.

If you follow someone, their updates will show in your home feed.

Hashtags (#whatyouneedtoknow)

Hashtags are keywords for tweets. It’s one of the ways people search for conversations using twitter search.

Put the number sign (#) in front of a word, now it’s a hashtag. #Hashtags are a method of “tagging” a tweet.

#You can #hashtag #any words that you want. #youcanhashtag multiple words together. #BeCreative

Adding a hashtag to your posts is a way to potentially increase exposure.

Hashtags can also be used for Twitter chats, like this: #kaizenblog, #blogchat and #prstudchat

Twitter is less effective as a broadcast channel than it is as a conversation.

For god’s sake, get a profile picture!

The number of followers you have doesn’t mean a thing. Seriously. http://bit.ly/hclWdA

You are better off having 10 people that listen and interact than 100,000 that ignore you.

Use a 3rd party Twitter client: Hootsuite (#favorite), Seesmic or Tweetdeck. It makes a difference.

After you follow 100 people it gets too noisy to manage without lists. Create lists.

The best way to “get” Twitter is to do it. Start tweeting, follow people, unfollow people. Jump in.

Here’s some other resources: Twitter – http://bit.ly/hmV4dE Twitter search – http://bit.ly/ePcTep

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Can’t communicate in 140 characters? This whole blog was written in 140 character chunks.