Module 1
What is Twitter, and why should I use it?
What is Twitter?
It's a free "social networking" service which allows users to interact with each other. Users create a profile, which is their personal home page where they can share short messages called tweets. Users can follow other users to view their tweets. They can re-share tweets or respond to them if they want to.
Why should you use it?
There are over 500 million tweets each day! Why should you use Twitter? Here are some reasons:
- It provides real-time news and information.
- It allows you to create your own personal learning, news & entertainment network by following users who post content that you want to see. This is useful for furthering personal interests or for professional learning & networking, or both.
- Posts are short, limited to 280 characters.
- You can use it on a computer or mobile device.
What is a tweet?
A tweet is a short (less than 280 characters) post that can include text, photos, video, links, or hashtags.
When other users re-share a tweet, it is called a retweet.
Tweets can be liked.
You will learn more about this in Module 3.
What is a hashtag?
A hashtag is a keyword or phrase that starts with the pound sign. It was invented on Twitter in 2007 as a way to organize tweets. It is not required, but is very useful. You can include a hashtag (or two or three) when writing a tweet. You can also click on hashtags in tweets, or search for them, which will take you to a list of all tweets that include that tag. For example, if you want information about an earthquake that just happened, you can search for #earthquake. If you feel like seeing cute animal pictures, search for #pets.
Image credits:
Header image: Twitter-birds-social-media-leader-crowd Twitter bluebird: Twitter-bird-social-media-white News: World News Free IllustrationTweet & Hashtag icons: Twitter Getting Started GuideMove on to next module: Road-arrow-arrow-direction-sign