What is in a tweet?

A lot more than 140 characters, that's for sure!  The micro-blogging site has revolutionized how people search, share information, promote and stay connected.  There are lot of elements that go into a single tweet - sometime much more than meets the eye.  My son would be so proud that I just quoted Transformers by the way!  

Here are some of what can be included in a tweet! 

The name of the Tweeter - also includes a hyperlink back to their profile page.

Hashtags - what I used to call the pound sign (#) is now called hashtag and allows people to search the topics in your tweets.

Mentions - putting the @ before another users handle will tag them in your tweet.

Timestamp - let's you know how long ago the tweet was posted. 

Links - they can be full links or shortened links to take people back to your homepage, an article or web page that you may be referencing in your tweet.  There are plus and minus's to both.  The full link tell people exactly where you are going to be sending them, but will often take up more characters.  A shortened link will take up less characters, but people tend to not trust them as much as it is not clear where they will be directed to.  

Under the tweet there are also options for you to interact with it.

Expand - allows you to see what others have done to interact.

Reply - directly to the tweeter and their followers.  

Retweet - allows you to share their post with your followers.

Favorite - Just lets people know you like where they have shared!

How to Get More Followers on Twitter

All of people ask me how to grow your followers on Twitter.  I'll admit, I am no expert on Twitter, but have helped a few businesses grow their numbers.  Crafty has been on Twitter since February of this year and has almost 300 followers. Beside the normal advice of Tweet interesting things, be a utility to your followers and share knowledge it is important to be human!  Don't just post links to articles and retweet others but get personal and share your personality or that of your business.

Some basic Twitter Etiquette

• Follow others that may potentially follow you back.
• Interact but don't be pushy and annoying.
• Promote the people and tweets you like without expecting the favor returned.
• Know the difference between sharing what you do and obnoxious self promotion
• Share links with a good descriptor of what people can expect.
• Live tweet big events or things a lot of people watch - awards shows, season finales, big sports games, etc.
• Be nice - so many people use social media as a way to bitch about their bad experiences.  It is easy to say mean things when you are in a room alone typing on a key board.  People don't have to deal with the consequences directly or even human emotion on the other end.

Twitter Glossary - 15 Common Terms

Tweet: A post made on Twitter by a user.  All known as a micro-blog post confined to 140 characters or less.

ReTweet or RT: Reposting something that has already been posted on the Twitter stream. RT usually precedes the original poster to give credit.  Great way to share information, connect with new followers and be a utility for your current followers.

DM: This is a Direct Message sent to a twitter user. One has to follow you in order to DM them. DMs don’t appear in the public twitter stream but go directly to the receiver’s inbox.

Via: This can sometimes be used in place of RT. A great way to source where you have gotten the information from.

Follow: If someone’s tweets appear in your stream then you are following them, and vise versa.

Follower: Someone who see your tweets appear in their timeline.

Unfollow: This is when someone does not want see your tweets anymore.  PS: I have found that "followers" are much more finicky on Twitter than on Facebook. It is common for your Twitter followers number to fluctuate much more than your Facebook "likes".

@ Reply: The @ symbol is used to reply to a twitter user. It can also "tag" someone in your tweet in which they would get a notice and can continue the conversation.

# (Hashtag):A hash symbol is used to comment about a certain topic in a tweet so that people searching for it can easily find it. Example - if you search for #twitter, any tweet that has that in it, would show up in your search.

Twitterer/Tweeter: Someone who uses Twitter

Tweeple: People who use Twitter (plural if you will!)

Tweeps: Twitter friends that one is constantly in touch with. Think about ‘Peeps’

Twitterati: A-list Twitter users or Twitter élite. These usually have a big number of followers and are somewhat famous and influential in Twitter circles.

Twittosphere: The collective group of people who tweet.

Link: Including a URL in your tweet.  Can sometimes be a full link or you may need to use a URL shortener to fit it in.  I recommend goo.gl as you can link it to  a gmail or Google+ account and track your click throughs.  

Now get to it!

Kristen