What is Twitter? An introduction for beginners

Twitter is a social media network. The platform was launched in 2006 and is today used by millions of people to share information fast. The main mode of communication on twitter is microblogging.

The term twitter refers to the chirping sound usually made by birds hence the bird logo that you will see on the platform.  This platform can be easily accessed through the web or smartphone.  This platform lets you follow the people that you are interested in so as to see their real-time updates on their home pages.

The information shared here is referred to as tweets, these are messages that can be sent or read on the platform. The tweets may contain videos, quotes, links or photos. A tweet may also have replies from other users thus facilitating the real-time conversation of the platform.

Twitter renders other messaging platforms such as email irrelevant because of the fast content delivery features it boosts.

In the recent past, twitter has grown from just being a real-time messaging platform to a major news and event discovery platform. As a result of this, twitterverse was born. Twitterverse is simply a platform where business people can share and make fruitful connections. That being said, the more followers you have on twitter, the greater your potential to connect with several other users around the world.

Understanding twitter

Here are some of the terms that you may come across as a new user:

1. Tweet: This is a message on the platform that has not more than 140 characters.
2. Retweet: This means that a user has successfully shared a tweet.
3. Hashtag: The hashtag (#) is used to tag specific keywords in a tweet to make it identifiable for search.  For example, if you want to tweet about cookware, you can use the #cookware hashtag. This helps the users track new tweets relating to the subject fast.
4. Handle: This is a combination of the user’s name and the corresponding URL.
5. Feed: These are tweets on your home page that are a total of all the accounts that you follow.
6. Mention: Tweets includes mentions and replies of other users by using their surname and the (@) sign. For example, if you would like to address your tweet to someone on the platform, you type in @ followed by their username. This will show up on their news feed when you key in the enter button.
7. Lists: A list is simply an account that can follow users and be followed by users. For example, one can create a list of fashion. Users can follow such a list to get updates when you post. Amazingly, the tweets to the list are condensed so there is no reason to worry about your home feed becoming a huge mess. The application’s setting makes it possible for you to limit the visibility of your tweets to only the groups and people you want.
8. Direct message: This is the platform’s direct messaging system for private communication among users. The application also lets you send and receive tweets through the short message Service when you connect your mobile number.

How to get started on twitter

The first thing that you will have to do to use twitter is to sign up and create your desired username. The username is the public name that is displayed on your profile.

You will get a news feed upon signing in.  The news feed displays all the tweets from each person or list you follow. Remember that unless you are following other people, your news feed will not have anything to display.

To follow other users, all you have to do is go to their page and click the follow button. This automatically adds them to your feed so that you can see their updates in real-time.

Use the “ what is happening" section to type in your update, sticking to a maximum of 140 characters.

Our final say

We do not have any doubt that twitter is a great platform to interact with friends, family and discover news around the world in real-time.  Twitter lets you tailor your experience to enjoy what you are into.