If you haven't gotten onto the Twitter bandwagon just yet, it is about time you did. With something for both the people using it for personal use and for professional use, it is one of the best social tools now available on the web. It is also incredibly popular and a lot of fun. But how does it work, and how can you start tweeting yourself? What even is a tweet?
The Tweet
A tweet is essentially a status message that you post on Twitter. Similar to one you would update on Facebook, it is unique in several ways. First, the Twitter's default is to make your profile viewable by anyone, and so anybody on the web can reply to it. Unless you make your profile private, so it can only be seen by friends you add to your list.
Second, it can only hold 140 characters, and all links shared are shortened to give you more writing room.
Third, you can use hashtags. These are represented by a # sign, as well as keywords. They are used for grouping tweets together, and making it easy to search for a topic being discussed. Clicking on a hashtag will take you to other tweets using the same one.
But you can also use a hashtag for adding context or emphasis. For example, you could right "Just ate the best taco ever! #DeliciousFood".
Twitterchats
Another benefit to using hashtags is in creating a conversation using your tweets. Using a program like Tweetchat, you can monitor a hashtag and it creates a chatroom-style discussion. So if you wanted to hold a chat, you would set a hashtag and have people use it at the end of every tweet.
Any questions about tweets? Let us know in the comments!
Infographic source: Anatomy of Twitter Tweet