Do you still wonder about how to get started with Twitter? At first glance, Twitter can seem both easy yet intimidating. You have to learn Twitter terminology (Tweets? Retweets? Followers? Feed?) and it just seems less intuitive than other technology such as email. But don't worry, it really doesn't take more than just an hour or so to learn your way around and once you do, it will never seem intimidating again.
Here are a few simple tips for getting started with Twitter.
1. Take Your Time
You don't need to be a Twitter wiz from the get go. In fact, if you try out the system and don't enjoy using it, there's no reason you need to continue. So just give it a shot with no pressure. You don't need to get good at it quickly. Just give yourself space to get acquainted with the system.
2. Start with People You Know
When you first sign up for Twitter, the system will let you find which of your friends are already on Twitter. It can do this by importing your contact list from your email or your Facebook account. Start by reading through your Twitter feed, which is the scrolling list of most recent tweets. Right now this will just consist of your own friends. If you want to see more from a certain person, just click on their name to see their individual feed.
3. Go for Followers
Reading other people's feeds is half the Twitter experience. Eventually, you'll want your own followers and your own tweets.
Again, take it slowly. Don't feel like you need to get many followers all at once. In fact, unless you're deliberately trying to get followers, your followers will mostly be your close friends. Once you've gotten the hang of reading tweets and Twitter feeds, then you might want to invite your list of friends to follow you and your tweets. Once you've invited your friends, wait a couple days for them to respond.
4. Start Tweeting
Do you wonder what you should tweet about? That depends on the focus you want to take. If your Twitter is primarily people who are close to you and want to stay in touch with your life, then tweet about whatever's going on in your life. On the other hand, if your Twitter has a purpose, for example if it's for a project, then send out tweets whenever you have something that's relevant to the topic to say.
You now know the basics of how to follow your friends, read tweets, read your Twitter feeds, get a few followers and send out a tweet.
The rest is up to you. Learning Twitter can take anywhere from an hour or so to a few days. Decide on how you want to use Twitter; either just for fun, for a project or even for business. The most important thing is that you start slowly going at your own pace. There no pressure so enjoy the learning and have success at tweeting.