Friday, February 27, 2009

Getting started with Twitter

The business world is abuzz with Twitter, but many people are unclear on what it is or use this social networking tool. If you could some help in getting started, CIO.com offers some easy-to-understand tips:

How to Sign Up for Twitter

1. Twitter.com Click on the "Join the Conversation" button in middle of the page.

2. Fill out basic information. This will include your full name, preferred user name, password and e-mail address. Remember that the user name is what people will see with an "@" symbol in front of it.

3. See if your friends are on Twitter. After you fill out basic info, you'll be prompted to look for friends in your Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail or AOL accounts so you can begin following them if they're already on the service.

4. Twitter's suggestions. Twitter will suggest some people for you to follow as well. Check to see if anyone of them are relevant.

5. Setting up your profile. Click on "settings" in the upper right hand corner of your Twitter home page. You'll be brought to a tab-based menu that helps you build your profile and adjust settings.

6. Fill in the fields. Of particular importance is the "one line bio" under the "Account" tab. You have 160 characters to present yourself to the Twitter community. Many people choose to state their profession, and then maybe something outside of work that interests them as well. CIO's C.G. Lynch (@cglynch), for instance, has the following: "Staff Writer at CIO, New England Sports Fan."

7. Start looking for followers Regardless of how many people you found through e-mail search and Twitter's suggestions, start looking around for people you might find interesting. Use search.twitter.com.



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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, Deb, are you going to join twitter? Can't wait to send you @replies live :D

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Alina: Live replies. I am sooo looking forward to that. ;-)

Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

What exactly is the purpose of Twitter?