These days, you can’t go anywhere without hearing about someone posting something on Twitter.  So what the heck is Twitter, anyway?

The OFFICIAL Definition:

According to Twitter itself, it is “a social networking and micro-blogging service utilizing instant messaging, SMS or a web interface.”

The Layman’s Definition:

Basically, it’s like text-messaging to the entire world.  Most likely, no one will actually read your “tweet” (twitter-language for a posted message) unless they

are “followers” of yours.  But technically, your messages are on display for the world to see.  (Although it is possible to make your tweets private and visible only to those that you approve, this feature is not commonly used.  Put plainly, it defeats the purpose of using the service altogether.)

The Definition of the Definition:

NOW all of that Twitter jargon has many of you confused.  So…

What are “followers” on Twitter?  Followers are people with their own Twitter accounts who like what you have to say, so they “follow” you and therefore select your messages to show up on their homepage, or “timeline.”

What is a “tweet”?  A tweet is a single message that a twitter user posts to the public.  It is limited to only 140 characters, which is incredibly short in the world of social networking.  A tweet is different from a “direct message”, which is sent privately to another twitter user, similar to email.

What is a “retweet”? A retweet is a tweet that has been forwarded.  If you see a tweet that you want to share, you can retweet it and reference the source.

What is a “timeline” on Twitter?  The timeline is nothing more than a Twitter user’s view of all of the tweets of people that they follow, starting with the most recent. 

What are “tweeple”?  This is a silly name for ‘people’ who use twitter.  Likewise, “tweeps” are people who follow each other, like ‘peeps’ in the real world.  Obviously, the volume of words that we can morph into twitter language simply by adding a “tw” to the beginning is astounding.

What’s with the # # # ("hashtags")?  If a number sign is in front of a word or string of characters, it will become hyperlinked in twitter and is called a hashtag.  This is an indicator of a hot topic in twitter, like #michaeljackson or #followfriday (a popular tradition of recommending people to follow on Fridays).

What is the whole point??

It depends on each person.  The most unique aspect of twitter is that each post must be short and concise (making it a little less personal), and the stream of posts is extremely fast and consistent compared to other social networking platforms.  So some people like it for the constant now-ness of it.  Others like it because you can create a large network of people relatively quickly.  And others seem to like it because it’s a mindless way to waste their time (as is evident from their mindless tweets).  But no matter what purpose you have for using twitter, I guarantee that there is another twitterer, and more likely and entire group of them, who are doing the exact same thing.

To learn how to use social networking websites, set up profiles, or design a strategy to use them in your business, contact 36 Hours In A Day for assistance.

 “Twitter is like a party. No one likes a person who goes to a party and is all about themselves, or has nothing interesting to say.”