What is Twitter?

What is Twitter?

What is Twitter?

  • Social media website
  • Share posts 140 characters in length
  • Posts can contain images, links, video, animated gifs

Key Words:

  • Tweets – messages you post on Twitter
  • Twitter handle – your username eg. @cdsmythe
  • @ – this symbol appears before a username eg. @cdsmythe
  • Twitter Feed – the scrolling list of Tweets you see from people you follow
  • Twitter Followers – the collection of people you have “Followed” on Twitter. You will see their Tweets in your Twitter Stream
  • RT – retweet,  click “Retweet” to send a Tweet you are reading to your Twitter Followers
  • Hashtags – hashtags enable you to find groups around a topic eg #Rio2016, #Holden, or #learning

What can I use Twitter for?

  • Getting information – follow others and see what they post in the Home stream of Tweets
  • Sharing information – found something worth sharing? Send a Tweet out with info, link, image
  • Following Hashtags # – hashtags are tags people put in their posts so they can be searched for and appear in a stream of their own.  Follow the hashtag #elearning to find all posts containing that tag to see what people are saying
  • Connect with others – follow people with similar interests or who work in the same sphere as you. Build your own network of people you follow and who follow you
  • Tweets are Public
  • Direct messages with people who follow you are private

How do I use Twitter?

  • Create an account (free)
  • Add a photo – don’t be a Egg
  • Add something to your profile
  • You can set your Tweets as Public or Private – Public is default as that’s why most people go on Twitter
  • Search for and follow friends or work colleagues
  • Follow experts and recommended Tweeters (if they follow you then follow them back!)
  • If people you know and work with follow you, follow them back
  • See who those people follow and follow anyone who looks interesting
  • Start sharing some useful articles from the WWW and include an appropriate hashtag
  • Don’t use too many hashtags in a Tweet
  • Add your Twitter username to email signatures and blogs
  • You can Block people following you that you don’t want to follow you
  • Use Twitter Moments to easily follow the biggest stories on Twitter
  • In a Tweet you can add a Poll to gather some info or just have some fun
  • Check Notifications – it’ll show who’s followed you, retweeted you and other activity

Twitter Pro Tips:

  • Retweet and Like tweets to gain followers
  • Find and use some hashtags in your tweets
  • User other web tools like Buffer, Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to setup scheduled Tweets
  • Try and include an image in your Tweets – it makes them stand out more in the tweet stream
  • Limit your posts to 120 characters. 140 is the maximum, but you want to leave room for others to retweet you
  • Don’t just retweet everyone else’s posts, be original. Keep it balanced
  • Organise the people you follow into Lists – they will get notified so keep the List names positive
  • Be a happy Tweeter. No one likes a
  • Other apps integrate with Twitter – try Periscope (streaming video)
  • When pasting Links into a Tweet use a URL shortener like Tiny.cc or Bit.ly to get more text in

 Some useful Hashtags:

#arted – art education
#aussieED – Australian teachers (Sunday night chat)
#earlyed – early education
#edapp – educational apps
#edchat – global education discussions
#edtech – educational technology discussions
#edu – education in general
#elearn – elearning
#FNQed – Far North Queensland educators
#gtchat – gifted and talented chat
#iPadEd – iPads in education
#mlearn – mobile learning
#MSFTeduchat – Microsoft in education chat (weekly)
#pegeeks – phyed teachers
#slide2learn – iOS devices in learning