How To Use Twitter: Critical Tips For New Users | WIRED

This may help you find Twitter followers you know, but if you don't want to, just hit "not now." Step 4: Search for interests. This will help ... SkiptomaincontentBackchannelBusinessCultureGearIdeasScienceSecurityPodcastsVideoArtificialIntelligenceClimateGamesNewslettersMagazineEventsWiredInsiderCouponsBestEarlyBlackFridayDeals6BudgetWatchesThatFeelLuxeHowtoPutaVaccineCardonYourPhoneOurFavoriteFaceMasksBuyingGuidesGadgetLabNewsletterSoyouwannatweet?Great—you'regonna(mostly)loveit.EveryonefromthePresidenttoMalalaistweetingitupthesedays,butitmaytakesomegettingusedtoifyou'reanewkidontheblock.Twitteriswherenewsisbroken,linksareshared,andmemesareborn.It'salsoaplaceforchattingwithfriends.YetunlikeFacebook,Twitterispublicbydefault.Andthat'snotabadthing.Itmeansyourjokescangoviral(ifthey'refunny)andinadditiontoyourfriends,youcaninteractwithyourfavoritejournalists,athletes,artists,orpoliticalfigures,allinthesamespace.FollowourtipstogetstartedonTwitter,andsetyourselfupforamorefulfillingexperience.Generallyspeaking,tweetsshowupintheordertheyhappen.AtthetopofaTwitterfeed,you'llseetweetsthatareonlyasecondold.Newtweetsappearatthetop,pushingtheolderonesdown.Ifyouhaven'tsignedoninawhileyoumightgetaboxofrecommendedtweetsyoumayhavemissed,butoutsideofthattheequationissimple:Thefurtherdownyouscroll,theolderthetweetsget.ThisimmediacyhasmadeTwitterthego-toplacetowatchprotestsunfoldaroundtheworld,followandcommentonsportsgamesorTVshowsastheyhappen,andmakefunofcelebritymisstepsrightwhenthenewsishot.Thebest(andsometimesworst)partisthatthepeoplesharinginformationandtweetingphotosaren'tnecessarilynewscasters.AnyonecanbeareporteroraculturalcriticonTwitter,andthat'sledtoauniverseofdiverseviewpoints,allamplifiedorganically.Tweetscancontainlinks,photos,GIFs,orvideos.Butifyou'retweetingtext,you'relimitedto280characters.Itusedtobe140,whichwasevenmorestifling,butonceyougetusedtoityou'lllearntolovethebrevity.Ithelpsmakeyourtweetspithy,andthere'smuchlessramblingyouhavetoreadwhenscanningothertweets.SomeevensayTwitterhelpsusbecomebetterwriters.SteppingintotheTwitterstreamunpreparedcanleaveyoufeelingrudderless.Whotofollow?Whattotweet?DoesthisshowuponmyTwitterpage?AmImissingthingsmyfriendspost?What'sanRT?FollowourtipstogetstartedonTwitter,andsetyourselfupforamorefulfillingexperience.HowtoMakeaTwitterAccountonDesktopStep1:GotoTwitter.comordownloadtheappandsignupforanaccount.The"Fullname"thatyouprovidewillbeyourdisplayname,butunlikeFacebook,youcanchangeyourdisplaynametowhateveryouwantasmanytimesasyouwant,soit'sreallyeasytostayanonymousifyousochoose.Step2:Enterinyourphonenumber.Thisisaformofauthenticationthatwillhelpincaseyoueverloseaccesstoyouraccount.You'llwanttouseaphoneyouactuallyhaveaccesstobecausethenextstepwillaskyoutoverifyanumbersentviatext.Step3:Pickapassword,andmakeitsecure!Youdon'tneedatrollgettingaholdofyouraccountanddismantlingthereputationyou'veworkedsohardtobuild.Step4:Chooseyourinterests.Thiswillhelpwiththenextstep,whichiswhereTwitterwillgiveyousuggestionsofpeopleyoucanfollow.Youcanalsoskipbothofthesebysaying"skipfornow"inthetoprighthandcorner.Step5:Onceyou'rein,clickonthegreysilhouettenexttothe"Tweet"buttononthetoprightofyourscreen,andclick"Settings&Privacy."Atthetop,youcanpickausernameyoulike.Thatwillbeyourusername,orhandle,andpeoplecannotifyyoubytyping@infrontofyourusernameinatweet.Choosesomethingyoulikethatyouthinkisn'ttaken,butalsosomethingeasytorememberforothers.Step6:Pickanavatar.Thedefaultpictureisasilhouette,butyoucanmakeyouravatarwhateveryouwant(yourface,adogonaskateboard,thepossibilitiesareendless).Justclickthesilhouetteandheadto"Profile"andthenclick"EditProfile"ontherightunderneaththebluebar.Youcanupdateyourheaderphotofromthisplace,too.BesuretoreadTwitter'srulesforavatarimagestomakesurewhatyoupickisnotinviolation.Step7:Writeyourbio.Youmaywishtolistwhereyouwork,live,oralinefromafavoritepoeminyourbio.Thisistheshortblurbthatletspotentialfollowersknowwhoyouareandwhatyou'relikelytotweet.Thereisalsoahandyspottolistyourwebsite,ifyouhaveone.HowtoMakeaTwitterAccountonMobileStep1:Filloutyournameandphonenumber/emailaddress.Makesuretouseyourrealoneasthenextstepwillaskyoutoverify.Step2:EnterintheverificationnumberthatyoureceivedatwhatevercontactinformationyouputininStep1.Chooseapassword.Makeitstrong,andplease,fortheloveofgod,don'tuse"dragon"likeeveryoneelse.Step3:Choosewhetheryou'dliketosyncyourcontacts.ThismayhelpyoufindTwitterfollowersyouknow,butifyoudon'twantto,justhit"notnow."Step4:Searchforinterests.ThiswillhelpTwitterrecommendgoodprofilesforyoutofollow.Step5:Twitterwillprovideyouwithsomeaccountsyoucanfollowbasedonyourinterests.Pickoutafewyoulike.Ifyouseethemtostartyoufeedoffontherightfoot.Step6:You'rein!Simplyclickonthebluebuttononthetoprighttotweet,thegreysilhouetteonthetoplefttochangeyourprofilepictureandsettings,andgettweeting!HowtoSearchonTwitterTwitterisn'taboutfriending—it'saboutfollowing.Youcanfollowpeopleyouknowpersonally,orartistsorprojectsyou'reafanof.Youcanfollowrobotsandparodyaccounts.Really,youcandowhateveryoulike.Step1:Youmayalreadybefollowingsomepeopleifyouselectedsomeduringyouraccountsetup.But,Step2:Youcanalsosearchinthetoprighthandboxforpersonalitiesyoulike.Ifyou'reafanofGZA,followGZA.Ifyou'reafanoftheGoldenStateWarriors,followStephCurry.IfyouliketoreadWIRED,followWIRED.Step3:Twitterwillcontinuetooffersuggestionsforwhotofollowasyouuseit.Thesesuggestionswillappearinyourfeedifyou'reusingtheapp,oronthesideofthescreenifyou'reusingthewebsite.Step4:Ifyou'reinthemobileapp,youcanalsoclickontheConnectfeature,whichwillofferyousuggestionsbasedonwhatyou'vetweetedorliked.Step5:Keepaddingpeople.There'snolimit,butonceyou'velandedbetween100and250accounts,you'llnoticethecorrelationbetweenthenumberofpeopleyoufollowandtheamountoftweetsthatshowupinyourfeed.Ifyou'recravingmore,keepaddingpeople.Butbuilditupslowlyandseehowitfeels.YourFirstTweetBeforeyoustartfiringofftweets,itmighthelptoknowalittleaboutthemechanics.Step1:Alltweetsareamaximumof280characters.Whilethatmightseemtooshorttosayanythingsubstantive,it'snot.Itmightmeanhavingtotweetmultipletimestomakeacomplexpoint(intheTwittersphere,wecallthatathread),butboilingdownyourthoughtstoacoupleoflinesreallyjustmakesyourstatementstronger,fastertoread,andmoreshareable.Step2:SpeakingofaTwitterthread,ifyouhavemorethan280characterstosayaboutasubjecttheyareeasytomake.Justtypeyourfirsttweetusingthe"Tweet"button,andhitthe+buttononthebottomright.Thiswillstringtogetheraseriesoftweetswhereyoucanmakealargerpoint.Step3:Ifyouwanttoaddaphoto,avideo,apoll,oragif,youcandosointhelowerbarofthe"ComposenewTweet"box.Addingaphotodoesnotuseupanyofyour280characters,andyoucanadduptofourphotosoravideolessthan2:20inlengthand500mbinsize.Step4:SharingalinkyourTweetwilldecreaseyourcharactercountby23characters.Protip:Leaveaspacebetweenyourtextandthelink.Otherwiseitmayincludetheentiretyofthelinkinyourcharactercount.Step5:Hashtagsarebestusedforaddingtoalargerconversation,andthemostpopularonesshowupontheleftsideofthe"Home"tab.Hashtagsareclickable,too,soyoucantaponahashtagtoseeallthetweetsrelatedtothattopic.KnowtheTwitterLingoThemoreyoubrowseTwitterandfindpeoplewhosetweetsyouthinkaresmartorfunny,themoreyou'llseesomeshorthandlingoflyingaround.Here'swhat'swhat.HTmeans"hattip,"andit'swhatyouusetocreditanaccountwhofirstcluedyouintotheinformationyou'resharinginyourtweet.It'snotnecessary,butit'sanicethingtodo.An@,oramention,iswhenyouincludesomebody's@twitternameinthetweet.Thepersonwillbealertedthatyoumentionedthem.Useittosendapublic"hey,overhere,"ortoaddsomebodyonaconversationthat'scurrentlyhappening.RTmeans"retweet."Whenyouretweetsomeone,youcaneitherjustreposttheirtweetbyitself,oryoucanaddyourowncommentary.Ifyoudothat,whenyoupostyourtweet,thetweetyou'recommentingonwillappearjustbelowyourcomment.TwitterallowsyoutoDirectMessagewithpeoplewhohavethatfeatureturnedon.It'softencalledatDM,anditallowsyoutofurtherconversationsinprivateandchatwithgroupsofpeople.Whileallregulartweetsarepublic,including@-mentions,aDMistotallyprivate.OnlythepeopleincludedintheDMcanseeit.SetupListsandFollowHashtagsAlotofpeoplecomplainthatTwitterishardtofollow.Ifpeopletweetsomethingandyou'renotonline,youmightnotseeituntillater.ButtheideaofTwitterisn'ttocatcheverysinglethingsomeonetweets,it'stobeontheinternetatthesametimeasotherpeople.It'slikeagianthangout—anopenandrichchatroomthat'shappeninginpublic.Twitterwilloccasionallyfilterthetimeline,showingtweetsofyourfavoritepeoplefirst(Twitterseeswhoyoutalktothemost,soitknowswhoyou'dliketoseetweetsfrom)beforeshowingreal-timetweetsagaininreversechronologicalorder.It'sanicefeaturethathelpsyougetcaughtuponeverythingthat'shappenedwhileyou'vebeenaway.Still,ifyoudon'twanttomissabeat,herearesometips.Godirectlytothepageofthepersonyouwanttofollowcloselyandseewhatthey'vetweeted.Searchforthehashtagoftheeventyouwishtofollow,thentaponthe"Live"tabtoseethemostrecenttweetsinthelargerconversation.Turnonyournotifications.YoucansetyourmobileapptosendyoupushnotificationsbasedonpopularTweetsfromyouractivityandwhennewsbreaks.Thisisreallyhelpfulifyouwanttokeeptrackofyourfavoritefolksandnewsoutlets,butcan'tbeonlinealldaytowatch.UseTweetdeck,amorecustomizableTwitterapp.Youcanmakeprivatelistswithonlyafewpeopleonitthatyoucanchecktomakesureyoucatcheveryone'stweetsinthatlist.YoucanalsosetupcustomizedlistswithinTwitteritselftoorganizethepeopleyoufollowandgenerallykeepyoursanity.TwitterPrivacyRemember,everythingonTwitterispublicbydefault.However,youcaneasilymakeyourownprivateexperience.Ifyou'dliketomakeTwitteraplacewhereyouprivatelyinteractwithfriends,justsetyouraccounttoprivate.Turningthissettingonmeansyouwillhavetomanuallygivepermissiontoanyonewhowantstofollowyouifyou'dlikethemtobeabletoseeyourtweetsandcommunicatewithyou.Withaprivateaccount,onlythepeoplewhoyou'vegivenpermissiontofollowyouwillseeyourtweets.Mostpeoplechoosetoleavetheiraccountspublic,though.IfFacebookisthedinnertablewithyourfamilyandfriends,Twitterisarousingbar.Mostopttostickwiththedefaultbutchoosetoonlysaythingsthey'dbecomfortablesayingtostrangers.Mostimportantly,ifyouraccountispublicandsomeoneisactin'afool—postingmeantweets(calledtrolling)orjustbuggingyouconstantly—don'thesitatetoblockthem,mutethem,orreporttheirbehavior.Alloftheseoptionsareavailabletoyou,sodon'tbeafraidtousethem.HappyTweeting!