Learn the basics of Twitter and how to be effective on this social media network.

1. Twitter Basics

2. What We’ll Cover
• Using the @ symbol
• Twitter Lingo: RT, MT, DM, what?
• How can I add a short link to my tweet?
• Why Favorite a Tweet?
• How do I get more people to read, RT, and
follow my tweets?
• The Hashtag

3. Using the @ symbol
• The “@” symbol is what appears in front of your Twitter handle – or
username.
Example: @CarinZissis
• It’s also how you can tag another user in a tweet.
• When you start a tweet with a Twitter handle, only people who
follow you and that person will see the tweet. As such, it’s a way to
message in a semi-public way. You can also message multiple
people.

4. Using the @ symbol
• You only want to start a tweet with a Twitter
handle if you are directly communicating
with that Twitter profile. The way to get
around this issue is to put a period in front
of the @ sign. This way, everyone will see it.
• So, instead of:
@ASCOA is having a great event tonight.
Go with: .@ASCOA is having a great event
tonight.

5. Twitter Lingo: RT, MT, DM, what?
RT = Retweet, or re-sharing of a tweet that interests you.
• There are two ways to retweet. This first way is to hit the
Retweet option below another person’s tweet.
• The other way is to compose an identical tweet and to put
an RT (retweet) in front of the person’s handle.
RT @scharlab Six facts about Brazil's 6.3 million small and
medium sized enterprises. http://bit.ly/1iZiRYe by
@luisaleme @ASCOA pic.twitter.com/DP7CbJ1BS9

6. Modified Tweets
MT = Modified Tweet
• Let’s say you want to change someone’s tweet, maybe to fix a
spelling error, or just to make it shorter. In this case, you would
compose a new tweet and use MT, for modified tweet.
• Change this RT:
RT @scharlab Six facts about Brazil's 6.3 million small and medium
sized enterprises. http://bit.ly/1iZiRYe by @luisaleme @ASCOA
pic.twitter.com/DP7CbJ1BS9
To an MT:
MT @scharlab Here are six facts about Brazil’s 6.3 million SMEs.
http://bit.ly/1iZiRYe

7. Direct Message
DM = Direct Message
• Direct messages are private messages sent over Twitter. You
can only send someone a DM if that person follows you.
• How do you DM someone? In Twitter.com, look for the
envelope in the upper right
• Then put in the handle of whomever you want to message in
the pop up and send them a message.

8. Other Twitter Lingo
• ICYMI – This means: In case you missed it. It’s if you’re
sharing something you previously shared, or you’re
sharing news that may be a few days old.
ICYMI: Colombia will launch a new infrastructure bidding
round this week. http://bit.ly/1iZiRYe
• H/T – This means hat tip. You use this to give credit to
a person who you found a link or piece of information
from.
Colombia is launching a new round of infrastructure
bidding this week. http://bit.ly/1iZiRYe H/T
@bloggingsbyboz

9. How can I add a short link to my
tweet?
• You can shorten a tweet using a number of services. One of the most
popular is http://bitly.com/
• You paste in your link here and it will shorten it:
• Then you copy the short link and paste it into Twitter:
• If you create a Bitly account, it will save your shortened links and track
how many times they were clicked.
• You can also use http://goo.gl/ which works the same way.

10. Tweetdeck
• You can also download Tweetdeck:
https://about.twitter.com/products/tweetdeck
• This program allows you to see your timeline, replies,
and direct messages all laid out on your screen. It
also allows you to automatically shorten links when
you paste them in:

11. Using Bitly on Tweetdeck
• Here’s how you do it. First, download Tweetdeck.
https://about.twitter.com/products/tweetdeck
• Then go to Settings.
• Then go to Services.
• Then choose Bitly.

12. Why Favorite a Tweet?
One option Twitter gives you is to “favorite” a
tweet. So why use this?
• You can favorite a tweet if you see it interests
you and you want to come back and read it
later.

13. Favoriting Tweets
• You can favorite a tweet to acknowledge you saw it and liked
it.
• You can favorite a tweet to thank someone for writing it.

14. How do I get more people to read, RT,
and follow my tweets?
• Use images – Tweets with an image
(pic.twitter.com) are nearly twice as likely to
get an RT.
• To add an image, compose your tweet and
click the “add photo” button:

15. Adding Images
• Once you have added the photo and tweeted,
this is how it will appear:

16. Time of Day Can Be Important.

17. All About Numbers
• People like numbers. Including
a number receives a 17% bump in Retweets.
• Turns out 140 characters is too long. The ideal
length of a tweet is 100 characters. Why? So
people can retweet or add comments.

18. The Hashtag
When Do You Use Hashtags?
There are two reasons to use a hashtag.
• One is to highlight a particular topic and connect it to other
conversations about that topic. This could be a country (#Mexico) or
topic (#women). You don’t have to do this because Twitter search
will look up keywords regardless of whether there is an # attached
to the word.
• The other is to use a hashtag that was created around a specific
event or movement. For example, we created a hashtag for our São
Paulo conference (#PanoramaBR) and people use #NAFTAat20 to
discuss NAFTA’s 20 year anniversary.
• When you wouldn’t use a hashtag: for a word that isn’t going to
help you start a conversation or link together topics you commonly
write about. So for example, you wouldn’t do #event or #video.

19. Hashtags vs. Handles – What is the
difference?
• You wouldn’t use a hashtag to write a person’s name,
especially if that person is on Twitter.
Correct: This week, @CarlosCruzDiez is coming to
Americas Society.
Incorrect: #CarlosCruzDiez is coming to Americas Society.
• The exception would only be if a) the person does not
have a Twitter handle b) that person is in the news or
their name is trending.
You'll never believe what #JohnTravolta sent to
#IdinaMenzel to make up for his embarrassing Oscar flub.