This week we’ve been learning all about Twitter. If you haven’t checked out the first three parts of our series, follow the links below to give them a look.
Part 2: Set up a Twitter account.
Let’s compose our first tweet. Open a browser, go to Twitter.com, and log into your account. At the top of the page, you’ll see the box where you can write your tweet.
If you’re using the app on your phone, you’ll find a compose icon at the bottom right of your home screen.
Type in your message and press the Tweet button.
Here’s what the interface looks like on your phone. Your message is limited to 280 characters. That includes spaces and punctuation. So be thoughtful with words when composing a tweet.
As you type, you’ll see that the little ring below the message fills in, showing you how close you are to reaching your character limit. It used to just show you the number of characters typed. Gotta say, I liked that a heck of a lot better than tracking the circle as it fills in.
When you get down to the last 20 characters, you’ll see a number in the circle that shows you how many you have left.
If you like, you can hit the plus button and keep typing to break your messages up into separate tweets. Then choose Tweet all. I prefer to use Twitter as it was intended and keep messages short. And while long messages may be okay for personal accounts, it’s probably best to keep it short and simple for professional accounts. Though there could be instances, such as a TV station reporting breaking news, that would require multiple tweets in a group.
In addition to text, you can also tweet images, videos, and GIFs. For images and videos, just click the picture icon and select a file from your phone or computer.
Click on the GIF symbol to choose an animated graphic.
You’ll be able to search online from an almost endless variety of choices.
You can also create a poll for Twitter by choosing the little poll icon. I’ll get more into the best ways to use Twitter polls in another article.
Click the smiley face icon when using a browser and you can send emojis. If you’re using the app on a phone, use the emoji keyboard on your phone.
When tweeting from a mobile device, you’ll see the option to add your location to the tweet. You can choose to enable location if you like. I don’t think it’s really necessary unless there’s a specific reason you want your followers to know exactly where you are.
Once you send a message, it will appear in the feed of anyone who is following you on Twitter.
Tomorrow, we’ll learn all about how to reply, retweet, and react to messages.