This document provides 24 tips for getting started on Twitter, including how to create an account, add a profile photo and bio, customize design settings, understand Twitter terminology like hashtags and handles, follow and interact with other users, use direct messages, favorites and lists, change account settings and more. The tips were created by Sue Beckingham to be printed as instructional cards for a Twitter workshop.

1. Time for a coffee?
You've got time to get started on Twitter!
Key tips to help you on your way
@suebecks
Sue Beckingham

2. 1. GETTING STARTED 2. YOUR BIO
Create an account at http://twitter.com and find
the sign up box, or go directly to
https://twitter.com/signup. Enter your full
name, email address, and a password.
You will then need to choose a username.
Usernames must be fewer than 15 characters in
length and cannot contain 'admin' or 'Twitter'
Click Create my account. You may be asked to
complete a Captcha to verify that you're human.
Twitter will send a confirmation email to the
address you entered on sign up. Click the link in
that email to confirm your email address and
account.
Complete you bio to say something about yourself
or who you represent in up to 160 characters.
Consider including a link to your blog, website or
your LinkedIn profile in the website section.
To edit go to Settings and then the Profile tab.

3. 3. ADDING A PHOTO 4. DESIGN
You can customize the way your Twitter
background looks by choosing a premade
theme or uploading your own photo. You may
also edit the colour any links appear. From
Settings select the Design tab.
Alternatively you can choose from thousands
of background patterns & colour palettes from
Themeleon
http://www.colourlovers.com/themeleon/twitter
People are more trusting of a profile with a photo
or avatar than the default egg icon. This photo is
your identity on Twitter and appears with your
Tweets. Profile photos can be up to 2MB in any of
the following formats: JPG, GIF, or PNG. (Twitter
does not support animated GIFs.)
You can upload (and change) a photo and header
by going to Settings and then the Profile tab or edit
from your home page.

4. 5. ABBREVIATIONS 6. HASHTAGS
Handle = your username
@ = precedes any username
Feed = the stream of tweets you see
Mention = when a @username is in a tweet
RT = retweet
MT = modified tweet
DM = direct message
HT = hat tip
IMO = in my honest opinion
| = useful separator
#FF = follow Friday
A hashtag, or #, denotes a keyword or topic on
Twitter. It’s any string of characters or words
without spaces. They can occur anywhere in the
Tweet, at the beginning, middle, or end.
By searching for a hashtag you can collate all the
tweets containing it. Hashtagged words that
become very popular are often referred to as
trending.
Tips: don't overuse in tweets and do make use of
capital letters to avoid confusion and provide
clarity (when joining words together).
#
Get to know the jargon!

5. 5. FOLLOWING 6. FOLLOWERS
To follow people click the Follow button when you
see it next to a user's profile photo or on a user's
profile page. You can also click the Follow button
next to any of your Who to follow suggestions,
next to user search results, or anywhere else you
see the Follow button on the web. Users with
protected Tweets will have to approve your follow
request before you'll be able to see their Tweets.
Tip: Check who others are following from their
profile page where you share similar interests.
You can un-follow anyone by hovering over and
then clicking the follow button.
You can see who is following you (and who you
are following) from your profile page. The
number of people you follow and follow you
appears just below your header and photo.
It is your choice as to whether you follow that
person back.

6. 7. INTERACTIONS 8. DIRECT MESSAGES
Your Connect tab’s Interactions timeline
shows you how others have been interacting
with you on Twitter. When someone marks
your Tweet as a favourite, mentions your
username, follows you, or retweets your
content. When another user includes your
username preceded by the @ symbol in a
Tweet, we call it a “mention.”
Your Mentions tab collects Tweets that
mention you by your username so you can
keep track of conversations others are having
with you. Click a Tweet to see the
conversation.
A direct message is a personal Tweet seen
only by the sender and the recipient. To read
yours, click on Direct messages from the
dear icon drop down menu in your navigation
bar. To send one, just specify the username
of the account you want to communicate with
preceded with the @ sign. (Note they must
be following you).

7. 9. FAVORITES 10. TWEETING
You can save tweets that you like as favorites by
hovering over the tweet and clicking on Favorite. A
yellow star will then appear in the top right corner
of the tweet. You can undo a favorite by hovering
again and clicking on Favorited.
You can view your
favorited tweets from your
profile page. Click on
Favorites and they will be
listed in the main window.
Tweets can be up to 140 characters or 130 if you
include a link. Within your tweet you can mention
others by adding their name (@username). You
may add a url link to a web page, video, audio or
image. Share info, ask and answer questions.
To compose a tweet click on the
button which is in the top right corner or
the compose new tweet box on the left (you
must be on the home page)

8. 11. CONVERSATION
12. ADDING A PHOTO
TO A TWEET
Reply: To reply to a tweet, simply click reply
and add your message
Retweet RT: If you read someone else's
tweet, you may retweet this by hovering over
the tweet and clicking on the retweet button. It
will then include RT.
Modified Tweet MT: This where you wish to
retweet a modified version of someone's tweet
(shortened or added to) and acknowledge this
by including MT.
Using your desktop you can add a photo you
have saved to a tweet by clicking on the camera
icon. A dialogue box will open and you can
select the photo from where you have it saved.

9. 13. LISTS 14. SEARCH
Use the search bar at the top of the page.
This will bring up results for tweets, people,
videos and photos included in tweets
containing the word you searched for (with
and without #).
You can organise the people you follow into groups
by creating lists. Give your named list a description.
It can be either public or private. Add a name to
your list from their page.
You can follow others' lists and be made a member
of someone else's list.
Subscribe to: lists you've created or follow
Member of: where you've been added to a list

10. 15. SETTINGS
16. CONNECTING TO
YOUR SMARTPHONE
Go to the gear icon and from the
dropdown menu select Settings. Take a
look at each of the settings below.
Go to Settings and the Mobile tab. Select your
country from the drop down menu and to enter
your phone number.
You will be directed to send the word 'GO' via
text message to Twitter. Text the verification
code from your phone to that short code.
Once Twitter receives the verification code
from you, your mobile device will be added to
your Twitter account!
To remove your phone number or change it
click on Delete my phone. You will then be
prompted to add a new number if you wish to.

11. 17. TEXT
NOTIFICATIONS
18. EMAIL
NOTIFICATIONS
Go to Settings and then the Mobile tab. Here
you can set up and select which notifications
you would like to receive as texts.
You can choose to receive email notifications
when your Tweets are favourited, retweeted, or
you are mentioned by someone. For each of
these emails you can choose to receive
notifications from everyone or from just the
people you follow.
You can also receive notifications if you are
followed by someone new or when you receive a
direct message.
To set up notifications go to Settings and then the
Email notifications tab.

12. 19. SLEEP SETTINGS
20. PASSWORD
CHANGES
To change your password go to Settings and
then the Password tab.You can schedule an OFF and ON time for
Twitter updates coming in to your phone.
Note: Make sure your time zone is correct,
otherwise your sleep time might operate on
someone else's schedule!

13. X. 22. CHANGE PHOTO
To change or remove your profile photo go to
Settings and the Profile tab or edit from your
home page.
Click the Change photo button next to your
profile photo. You’ll be given the option
to upload a photo, take a photo, or remove
your existing photo.
If you take a photo with your webcam, you may
receive an alert asking permission to use your
webcam. To proceed, click Allow.) Upload or
take a photo, position and size it to your liking,
and then click Apply.
21. NAME CHANGES
You can change your username and real name.
Go to Settings and then the Account tab. Change
the username listed in your username field. If the
username chosen is taken, you'll be prompted to
choose another one. Don't forget to click Save
changes at the bottom of the page.
This will not affect your existing followers, direct
messages, or @replies. Your followers will simply
see a new username next to your profile photo
when you update.
Change your real name in your Profile Settings tab.

14. 23. BLOCKING
FOLLOWERS
24. ACCOUNT HACKED
If you have noticed unexpected Tweets by your
account or seen unintended direct messages
(DMs) sent from your account your account
may have been compromised
Change your password immediately from the
Password tab in settings. Select a strong
password you haven't used before. If you're
unable to log in with your username and
password, reset your password by requesting
an email from the password reset form. Try
entering both your username and email
address, and be sure to check for the reset
email at the address associated with your
Twitter account.
Infrequently (but a potential hazard) you may be
followed by someone you don't wish to be
associated with. Telling signs are users with no
photo or bio sharing a random message and a
link. Do NOT click on the link. Click on the
username and then via the drop down box block
or report the user for spam.

15. INTRO TO TWITTER
Sue Beckingham
@suebecks
INTRO TO TWITTER
Sue Beckingham
@suebecks

16. The 24 numbered tips were designed to be printed
as cards (Slide 15 was printed on the reverse).
The cards were used in a 'Getting started with
Twitter' workshop.
Sue Beckingham
@suebecks