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Twitter Tips: Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask

The Huffington Post     First Posted: 12/13/11 07:02 PM ET   Updated: 12/13/11 07:02 PM ET

Twitter: so few characters, so much confusion.

Filled with "@" signs, "#" symbols, "RTs" and "MTs," Twitter timelines can look like baffling algebra equations to those unfamiliar with the lingo. The differences between DMs and RTs are anything but obvious for newbies, while deciphering the limitations of "@replies" and the etiquette of hashtags presents its own host of challenges.

Though the microblogging service, which now claims over 100 million active users who send more than 230 million tweets per day, offers fewer bells and whistles than many other social networking sites, Twitter's rules, features, tricks and exceptions can be bewildering -- just ask Anthony Weiner.

We've put together a Twitter explainer that walks you through everything you always wanted to know about Twitter tools, but were afraid to ask.

Are there other things you just don't get about Twitter? More features you find confusing? Tweet your Twitter headaches to @bbosker. For more on using Twitter, check out our guide to 23 tools to help you tweet like a pro, as well as our story on "Twitter 101" for Twitter newbies.

Who Can See "@" Replies
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One of the most confusing features for Twitter newbies, the "@reply" has befuddled thousands of users perplexed by when to use the feature, how it works, and who sees the tweets.

As its name suggests, the "@reply" function allows users to reply to other Twitterer's tweets with questions, comments, responses and the like. It consists of a tweet that begins with another user's Twitter handle. For example, sending a tweet that reads "@HuffPostTech love your story about Twitter tips!" would count as an @reply.

@Replies are public, but there's a catch: If you send a tweet that begins with an @reply, it will not be visible to all of your followers, but only the subsection of your followers that follow both you AND the person you've sent a reply to. For example, if @HuffingtonPost tweets, "@HuffPostTech has a great article about Twitter," only people that follow @HuffingtonPost AND @HuffPostTech will see the messages. In Twitter's words, "People will only see others' replies in their home timeline if they are following both the sender and recipient of the update."

For this reason, @replies are frequently used as a way of communicating between Twitter users and eliminates from people's timelines tweets that may only be interesting to a subset of followers.

An @reply falls within a broader category of "Mentions," which Twitter defines as "any Twitter update that contains @username anywhere in the body of the Tweet."

To send an @reply, you can either click the blue "Reply" link that appears when you mouse over a tweet, or compose a tweet as you normally would and begin it with the user's Twitter handle. If you'd like to lead a tweet with a Twitter username (as @MGrooves has done in the screenshot above) but share it with all your followers, add another character, such as a period, quotation mark or colon, before the username to ensure it's seen by all.
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Twitter: so few characters, so much confusion. Filled with "@" signs, "#" symbols, "RTs" and "MTs," Twitter timelines can look like baffling algebra equations to those unfamiliar with the lingo. Th...
Twitter: so few characters, so much confusion. Filled with "@" signs, "#" symbols, "RTs" and "MTs," Twitter timelines can look like baffling algebra equations to those unfamiliar with the lingo. Th...
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jtechguy
42 Fans
05:51 PM on 06/03/2012
Great tips! The @reply function can definitely be confusing. Recently did a blog with 10 tips on increasing your twitter followers and influence. http://symbiota.com/?p=1943
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ericci
0 Fans
02:48 PM on 04/26/2012
Thanks for sharing your post about Twitter. We have realized the importance of Twitter and advertising and have written several blogs about it on our website. http://www.lucidagency.com/category/twitter/
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Victor Stanescu
1 Fans
01:07 PM on 12/15/2011
Twitter is back in the big boys league with this large scale redesign and the new Twitter Brand Pages!
But let’s not get side tracked here, there’s one main underlying reason for all these changes: the profit.
With over 300 million tweets a day they were lacking a proper advertising system to cash in from all that.

http://www.vectorash.ro/twitter-brand-pages-and-redesign/
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colin72
287 Fans
10:12 AM on 12/14/2011
I do things the old fashioned way. I talk to people.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
akrazyrunner
Be bold, courageous.Americans are counting on you
4824 Fans
 
09:45 AM on 12/14/2011
#hastag ;)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hursh 4 ever
Smart Commenter - logical and wise
98 Fans
11:51 PM on 12/13/2011
facebook = glorified email.... twitter = glorified beeper

I find you most interesting, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. - homer simpson
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Victor Stanescu
1 Fans
01:15 PM on 12/15/2011
makes perfect sense!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hursh 4 ever
Smart Commenter - logical and wise
98 Fans
11:42 PM on 12/13/2011
Well thanks for explaining it all Bianca... I honestly don't see why people other than celebrities, news media or another select few would have any use for twitter...

I would imagine that most twitter 'followers' don't even really know the people (they are following) in REAL life...

I still think that unless you are in the "news" business or some famous person... its mostly used by egomaniacs (or people who think or want to become famous)
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Cor Bo
10 Fans
12:32 PM on 12/19/2011
Twitter is a great way to find information from experts in anything you may want to know. It is a way of obtaining up to the minute information on just about anything. People who are blogging on topics of interest usually tweet links to interesting articles and blogs. For example, if you are interested in crafts, you can search for crafts and follow people and companies that are always tweeting cool ideas, then you have all the articles and posts coming to your twitter feed. Instead of searching for it on the internet, the information comes straight to you! Its fantastic, you just need to play around with it a bit. I barely use Facebook anymore. I way rather follow experts in things I am interested in, than facebook status updates from friends about their weekends.
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jbritz22
3 Fans
 
07:13 PM on 12/13/2011
Just click on the date of the tweet to get a direct link to the tweet.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Bianca Bosker
9494 Fans
 
03:14 PM on 12/15/2011
Thanks for reading and for the comment! As far as I know, that works on the "old" version of Twitter, but not on the new, redesigned version of the site. Wish it was as streamlined as it used to be...
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