Twitter lingo: a cheat sheet
thesiswhisperer.com
RT – ‘retweet’: Passing along what someone else has tweeted. You can do this by using the retweet function, which makes the original tweet appear in your timeline, or by editing the original tweet to include the letters ‘RT’:
“This is cool! RT @thesiswhisperer Research Rocks? Stonehenge might be big bells http://buff.ly/1nmbFYb”
It is polite to RT because you are acknowledging that someone else found that cool thing before you did. People sometimes ask for RTs to spread a message further.
MT – ‘modified tweet’: Similar to RT, but used when you modify someone’s original tweet:
“This is cool! MT @thesiswhisperer Stonehenge might be big bells http://buff.ly/1nmbFYb”
It is appropriate to acknowledge that you have changed someone’s words.
HT – ‘Hat tip to’ or ‘heard through’: Use this when you tweet a link another person sent, without their text:
“This is cool! Stonehenge might be a collection of big bells http://buff.ly/1nmbFYb HT @thesiswhisperer”
You might also use ‘via’ and then include the handle.
DM – ‘direct message’: Only someone you are following can send you one. You can no longer include a link in a DM because of numerous hacking scams.
Using handles to have different kinds of conversations: Putting someone’s handle anywhere in a tweet is called a ‘mention’. Mentions can be used to strategically draw others’ attention to what you are saying depending on where you put the handle.
1) Putting a handle at the start of the tweet is like talking to someone at a crowded party. By restricting the tweet’s visibility only to those who follow you and the person you mentioned, you have created the chance of being ‘overheard’ by the people hanging around both of you.
2) If you include a handle anywhere else in a tweet, a specific person will see the mention, but the tweet will still visible in the timeline of everyone following you. This is like sticking a note addressed to your friend on a wall so anyone passing by can read it.
Careful use of mentions makes you build relationships with people who have similar interests by creating meaningful conversations, rather than ‘shouting’ all the time.
Note: This handout is released under the creative commons share a-like attribution license. You may circulate and change it, but be cool – acknowledge Dr Inger Mewburn as the original author.