To ask for info on Twitter (technophobe alert)?

[Oldisthenewblack]

To ask how Twitter works? I just joined as I wanted to see what it was all about, but now I'm still confused. What do people tweet about? Why? Twitter gave me three suggestions of who to follow, one of which was Ant&Dec. No. I don't know what I'm on Twitter for, but it's not to trail about after those two.

How can Twitter enhance my life?

Don't judge me, I don't get out much and t'internet is my friend.

I'll never join Facebook though

I use Twitter to be inspired by and informed by interesting people who are into similar topics. It's also a great source of local information. If you have ME I'd recommend following blogger @tanya_marlow.

It is worth remembering though that anyone can make a hashtag about anything. Any tweet you send with any word or phrase (all phrases have to be one long stream though, no spaces) that starts with a # creates a hashtag. So I could send a tweet with #ShowingMNersHowTwitterWorks and if you clicked on that then any tweet that contains that would show up.

I love twitter, don't really use facebook at all. It's great for breaking news and news from around the world that just wouldn't get reported elsewhere.

It's also good for cute goat pictures, love a goat picture.

Yes and funny accounts like [[https://twitter.com/manwhohasitall @manwhohasitall]]!

I use Twitter for things that I am interested in. For local area stuff - days out, kid stuff, other interesting stuff.
I also use it to complain to companies.
I also use it for work purposes and use it to arrange training that I do as well as my own Cpd.

I like it for local stuff. So I follow tfl, arts venues, local cinema, national trust and other outdoorsy things. I find out about lots of local events partic for the kids through it. I also follow local church/local shops/restaurants, mumsnet local too.

Then a few news feeds, some journalists/chefs/lifestyle people.
Also a few people from MN.

I love following it during a big sporting event like RWC or six nations. So funny

Ooh, I don't have a profile pic. Wonder what i should choose? Mind you, that's the least of my concerns at the mo.

I've got one person following me!! Who the hell is it?? I've posted nothing! I'm being stalked!

Oh, sorry, no, update, it's me who's following them. Bugger.

Don't worry about being followed by random people. Some of them are not actually people.

This gets stranger, Pipbin - not people? Bet I'll get all the non-people followers. Still, that'll do me, I don't ask for much.

Don't get too worried about it Old, people create programs that will follow you. They scan twitter for things that get said and follow them. So for example if you tweet something about knitting you might get followed by some knitting magazines.
Also, there are some 'bot' that create an automatic reply to certain words or phrases. For example if you tweet something containing the 'word' meh, then you will get an instant reply from a bot. There used to be one that would do the same if you tweeted Shakespeare quotes.

Old

Twitter etiquette suggests you put up a photograph of yourself, the background picture can be anything though

Most accounts do have a photo of the person that I guess is themselves

That made me laugh Old about your one follower . So I need a picture too. I did a banner and thought that was it.

It's making more sense too now for my blog. I just link to it and hashtag away and people will see it. Excellent.

So etiquette wise, I'm going to be writing about a musician and how he and his music has helped me. Is it ok for me to @ him or has tag him?

This is like talking Swahili and getting used to their local customs .

Yes absolutely ok for you to @ someone you don't know. I did it to an writer whose work I like and even got a reply

My profile pic is a 1920s portrait of my great-grandmother.

I started off by following celebs (they have blue ticks next to the really famous ones to prove they are legit). However I stopped that years ago (with exception of Richard Osman!) and now follow people who are in my industry, journalists and fan sites for what I'm interested in. Don't get hung up about people who follow you - or even more about people who stop following you! I've about 3,150 followers so I do take what I say more seriously now though.

Great things you can do:

1. follow hashtags ie if you want to see what people are saying about X Factor click the search button for #xfactor and everything will start flooding in real time.
2. follow a specific person's thread ie if you want to find out how your football team is getting on in a match click on the search button for their official Twitter feed and, if they are good, they will post comments, photos and videos minute by minute
3. Retweet - If you see something you like you can click the Retweet button and all your followers will see it on your timeline
4. Reply to a tweet - either click the reply link below the tweet or put the person's @twittername and you're conversing directly to them. That way you can start a conversation that others may join in on.
5. Post photos/videos - really easy to do with an iphone (not sure about Android - sure it is easy with them as well). Just find the photo, click the uplink button and click Twitter. If you're logged on it will put it up without any faffing about and allow you to add comments.

Remember that you only have 140 characters to play with so be brief and be interesting!

Ooh, louisaglasson - that's an added bonus to a illness you could probably do without - glowing in the dark! I suppose it's only right that it should come with some benefits . I can't even see in the dark let alone glow in it....

I only follow people that I don't know.
I don't tweet a lot but I retweet things and reply to people.
I like 140 characters it forces you to be concise and everyone is easy to read.