This week we’ve been learning all about the basics of Twitter.
In part 1 of the series, I explained just what Twitter is and how it differs from Facebook. You can click here to read that tip.
In part 2, I showed you how to set up a Twitter account. Click here to read that article.
Now that we have our Twitter account set up, we’ll take a quick tour of the page. To use Twitter with a browser, head over to http://www.twitter.com and log into your account.
Here’s what you’ll see:
In the middle of the page is your Twitter feed. That displays messages by people you’ve chosen to follow on Twitter and sponsored messages that Twitter thinks might interest you. If you haven’t followed anyone yet, it will be blank.
On the right side of the browser, you’ll see a list of trending topics on Twitter. Trending means that these are subjects people are sending tweets about.
On the left side of the page, you’ll see your menu. Home takes you to your main page with your Twitter feed.
Click on Explore and you’ll see a search box and a list of trending topics. You can search by users or topics.
Filter the search results by the most popular tweets, the latest tweets, by people, pictures, or videos.
Click on Notifications to see if people have reacted to your tweets or if someone’s mentioned you on Twitter. If you have notifications, there will be a little number by the bell icon.
Click on Messages to see private messages that have been exchanged between you and another user. If you have private messages waiting, there will be a number next to the envelope icon.
I’ll get more into Bookmarks and Lists when I show you how to create them. When using Twitter on your phone or tablet, the layout is similar. But your menu will be at the bottom of the screen. To search, you’ll see the magnifying glass icon.
Now that we’ve explored the layout, we’re ready to send a tweet. We’ll do that tomorrow as our series continues.