The terms “social networking” and “social media” can seem a bit daunting if you’re new to the space, because these terms encompass so many different things across the Web. Here at Exploring Social Media, we hope to give you an accurate but easy way to dive into the different aspects of social media, including how to use the tools to your advantage.
This week’s lesson will focus on Twitter, the online social network that allows you to share and connect with your friends, co-workers, celebrities, and brands. In addition to communicating with those you care about, Twitter also allows you to follow the people, brands, and companies that you’re interested in so you can receive news, updates, and exclusive offers. These updates are often released via Twitter before anywhere else, so having an account gives you the advantage of hearing about things before your friends. It also provides a fast and easy platform to spread the word about the product or service that your business promotes, and connect with like-minded individuals or companies who can help you.
Signing up for Twitter is easy. Simply open your browser and visit http://www.twitter.com.
Unless you’re signing up as a brand or business, it’s best to use your real name when signing up for an account. It’s also important to think about which email address you’d like to use for your account. You only get one Twitter account per email address, so choose wisely. Your email address will NOT be shown publicly. Users may only communicate with you through Twitter unless you give them your email address or any other contact information. Once you’ve entered the email address and password you want to use, you’ll need to pick a username. Your username will be what other Twitter users use to identify you. For example, our full name is Exploring Social on Twitter, but our username or “handle” is ExploringSocial as all one word. This way, when other users want to interact with us, they can mention us in their tweets by putting the @ symbol in front of our handle like this: @ExploringSocial. Then the tweets they send will automatically tag us, and we can easily see what they’re saying to us or about us.
Usernames are important, and while you have the ability to change them at any time, it might confuse people since that’s how they identify you, so it’s best to pick a username and stick to it.
Once you click “Create my account,” you’ll receive a confirmation email in your inbox to verify that you did indeed wish to create a Twitter account. Just click the confirmation link in the email, and you’ve got yourself a brand new Twitter account!
The first thing you should do with your new account is update your profile. Twitter allows you to include your name, location, photo, and a short biography. You can also update your language, time zone, notifications, and privacy settings here. Just go to https://twitter.com/settings/account to update your profile and other settings. If you want to customize your profile even further, you can choose from thousands of pre-loaded background images, or even create your own custom background using your own image files, or a variety of different online tools that are available.
Want to learn more about how Twitter works, using your Twitter account, building followers, and using applications to manage your Twitter presence? As an Exploring Social Media member you get access to all of these lessons, resources, and more. Check out ExploringSocialMedia.com and sign up for your account today!
About Jess Ostroff
Jess Ostroff
Jess Ostroff is a digital marketing and social media virtual project manager for Social Media Explorer and Exploring Social Media. You can follow her on Twitter @jessostroff for musings on technology, music, and other topics related to location-independence and freelancing.
