At the end of my last post, I said that I’d further define some terms when using twitter.  Maybe you’ve signed up and can’t understand what people are typing.  Let’s start with a few definitions.

• Tweet – A post using twitter.  This is a message that you post to every one.  Here’s an example:
• Re-Tweet – When you see someone repost a tweet from someone else, you might see the letters ‘RT’. That’s the customary method to posting content of someone else’s and giving them due credit.  You only have 140 characters to use.  So “RT” followed by their name is a way to pass along information to people who are following you, but may or may not be following the user whose post you’re re-tweeting.  There have been a few people on twitter who have “re-tweeted” some of my words.  Like this:
• @ – Whenever you see an @ symbol, what follows is the username of the person being referred to.   For example, I’ve been following the unfortunate students in Iran who have been using twitter to get information out of the country.  I’ve been worried because one of them hasn’t posted in four days.  I asked if anyone has heard anything – like this:
• # – If you look at my example tweet above, you’ll notice the #iranelection part.  This is a way of filtering content on twitter.  Now anyone who searches twitter, or uses other web sites like twitterfall.com to follow certain subjects, will see my above tweet.  They may not be following me directly, but they’ll see my post and maybe tweet more information, so they will also use #iranelection in their post.  This way people who may be discussing a particular subject can follow along.
• Mentions – Mentions are a cool way to speak with people who aren’t necessarily following you.  If you find a celebrity to follow, how can you send them a direct message, if they arent following you?  Use the @ symbol as in @FriarTech, in your tweet.  Then if they check their “Mentions” by searching for @FriarTech ( or their username ) they’ll see your message.  It’s basicallly like the # symbol defined above, but instead of filtering by subject, you’re filtering by user.

Well I hope the above tips help you better understand how to use twitter.  It’s just another way in which the internet is bringing people together in ways we’ve never been able to communicate before.

So until my next post – go ahead and start “tweeting”.  And don’t forget to have fun!