Stupid question - what is Twitter and how do you use it?

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[swollenpickles]

I know it's probably a stupid question, but what is Twitter and how do you use it? Well more to the point, what do you personally use it for?

[Lee]

You'll have to forgive me if I'm wrong because I don't actually use twitter but it's probably best described as a microblog.  It is designed with those who want to tell the world what they're eating for lunch, well maybe not that bad but you just write one sentence posts detailing what you're doing right that minute or what's on your mind etc.

I've seen some people use it as small sidebar blog (there are plugins out there) to post random thoughts or ideas that aren't big enough to write a full post about.

And now that i've talked about it I might go sign up just to play around with it myself!!

[Lani]

Like Mike I haven't used it, but my impression is that the smart networkers throw in some links to good content (not necessarily there own) and the love comes back in return.

[goatlady]

I don't like calling Twitter "micro-blogging" - blogging is something you do that is read by complete strangers a lot of the time, whereas Twitter is really a tool for staying in touch with your friends. It's a service that allows you to post 140 character "status messages" either via web, a twitter client, an IM or via SMS, and read the status messages of your twitter friends.

I talked a bit about how I use Twitter in the other thread:

I use Twitter, but I think a lot of people don't understand the real value of it. As someone who works from a home office, I find that having my immediate friends and colleagues on Twitter is like working in a building with all of those people. You might bump into them at the water cooler or in the elevator and have 30 second conversations - enough to know that they've seen a good movie or they're really stressed out with a big deadline or they excited about an upcoming event or their dog is sick. Twitter gives me a general feeling of connectedness with my friends - regardless of whether they work across town or across the country or across the world. Of the 100 or so people I follow, only about half are active (posting more than once per day) and i don't feel the need to catch up on posts I miss, mostly.

If you want to see the kinds of things that I twitter, my feed is public (you can set them to be private, viewable by approved friends only): http://twitter.com/goatlady/

Anything with an @ at the beginning is a reply to another twitter user's message - so little conversations do break out every now and then. The best "tweets" as they are called are usually funny or pithy or thought-provoking rather than totally inane... people who don't use twitter will often claim it's people announcing what they're having for lunch or when they go to the toilet but that's not generally the case (not amongst my twitter friends anyway!).

If you're going to try it out, please don't use it solely as a promotion tool - people who only twitter to announce their blog posts are generally considered to be spamming the service.

[Lani]

yay, an answer from someone who knows what they are talking about!  Thanks goatlady. 

[Lee]

Oh cool reading your description makes a lot more sense on why Twitter would survive as a system.  I've now signed up and am ready to twitter.
 

[goatlady]

Heh, well it's not for everyone... but it can be very fun and addictive

It's probably obvious that I am totally hooked!

[swollenpickles]

Thanks for the responses. Goatlady that was very thorough. I don't think twitter is for me. I waste enough time as it is! 

[Riayn]

A great summary of exactly what Twiiter is, rather than people's view on what they think it is.  Thank you so much for posting it.

[Lee]

Actually I've got a question to tag on to this for those who are more experienced using Twitter - have you registered your mobile numbers?  It kind of freaked me out a little when it has normal costs apply etc - but is that for receiving sms? 

[goatlady]

Actually I've got a question to tag on to this for those who are more experienced using Twitter - have you registered your mobile numbers?  It kind of freaked me out a little when it has normal costs apply etc - but is that for receiving sms? 

I'm not sure - I have a data plan on my phone so I use that.

[FormerAdmin]

Actually I've got a question to tag on to this for those who are more experienced using Twitter - have you registered your mobile numbers?  It kind of freaked me out a little when it has normal costs apply etc - but is that for receiving sms? 

I'm not sure - I have a data plan on my phone so I use that.

Same here - I send/receive tweets from my phone using Opera Mini as a web browser.

[ChristineParfitt]

I like the explanation (from goatlady) and it's the reason I joined. I work from home as well and it's like having office chatter in the background (when you want it) minus the attention that blog posts require .

It takes a while to feel involved though and I can't say that I do yet. None of my "real" friends are on twitter and at first I was following people mostly based in the US as they are the ones I "know" in a work context. The time difference detracts in a way that it doesn't with blog posts. I'm following a few more Aussies now which is better but I kind of feel I'm stalking them rather than being involved )

I need to update more but also I know it's just a matter of giving it time. I can see why people get hooked.

[Riayn]

I did sign up my mobile so that I could send Tweets, but I have my notifications as web only as I don't think my office would appreciate my mobile phone beeping all day.

Unfortunately, there is no local number for Australia, so we have to pay International SMS rates to send Tweets via mobile phone and that can get expensive extremely quickly.

[thiru]

Actually, one can use Twitterfeed to automatically post a tiny url link to your twitter so your friends or public will know that you have published a blog. You can customize to post the title or title and description.

[miscmum]

[sorry I'm a newbie too]

I have an old mobile (well a few years old) and does it cost to set it up to just get twitter msgs, and not send them?

[Lani]

A useful answer...

A Quick Introduction to Twitter for Bloggers

[miscmum]

Thanks Lani

Also - I've just discovered people have replied to some of my twitters! (Hey thanks guys) but how do I respond so their name gets 'linked' to in the response. I test ed it (to Lee!) but it didn't work.

Me. So. Slow

[Lani]

I've not used it but from what I understand you just put @Username but you have to make sure the username is 100% correct.

[goatlady]

Also - I've just discovered people have replied to some of my twitters! (Hey thanks guys) but how do I respond so their name gets 'linked' to in the response. I test ed it (to Lee!) but it didn't work.

Put "@username" at the beginning to reply to a tweet. If you're using a Twitter client rather than the web page itself, use "d @username" to send a direct (private) message to a user.

[miscmum]

Thanks guys - I think I put a space between the @ and the username. I'll try again later...

[Sueblimely]

Oh dear I have not been using twitter much at all lately and all that is left are my blog posts. I am therefore a Twitter spammer  I use some automated tool to do it and if I could remember which one I would turn it off.   I have noticed some 'top' bloggers posting their own blog posts on a frequent basis so thought nothing of it.

I think Digg, StumbleUpon and now Twitter should have an etiquette guide for all these seemingly unwritten rules. I did not realize for a while that it was not the done thing to Stumble your own posts - I was using it much like a bookmarking service.

[tiddlytwinks]

It appears Twitter has added a new feature to make it simple to reply to a tweet. At the bottom of a person's tweet, there's now a little arrow that you can click on and it automatically displays who you are replying to. Basically works the same as typing in the "@ and username".

[Mike]

I think Digg, StumbleUpon and now Twitter should have an etiquette guide for all these seemingly unwritten rules. I did not realize for a while that it was not the done thing to Stumble your own posts - I was using it much like a bookmarking service.

I was in two minds about the same thing in Twitter and ended up asking for feedback from the people who are following me to see if anyone had any objections to me using Twitterfeed to send notifications of my posts.  I didn't get any responses and took that as a go-ahead but ultimately limit the announcements to one per day.  I used to follow news sites on twitter who would send out 5 or more notifications at a time but it got really overwhelming and I tended to stop following them.

There are people I follow who use Twitter extensively as a link-blog, but most of them create a second account for that purpose and make it clear what to expect - which seems fair to me.