Are you new to twitter and trying to figure out what to do on the social platform? What are some of the best practices, and
what do the abbreviations and slang words in tweets mean? If you text, you will likely recognize some of the twitter shorthand. As there are only 140 characters in a tweet, you need to be creative in how you post. It is best practice to leave space for people to add comments when they share a tweet of yours.
Here is a guide to help you out as you learn the platform and build your social network.
Hash tag: A hash tag or hashtag is a way of organizing your updates for twitter search engines. This makes it easy for people to find tweets based on certain keywords.
@reply: The @reply means a Twitter update (a tweet) directed to another user in reply to their update. Sending a reply can also be a good way to start up a conversation with someone. Replies are sent either by clicking the 'reply' icon next to an update or typing @ username message (e.g., @user I saw that movie too)
Favorite: Favoriting a Tweet indicates that you liked a specific Tweet. You can
find all of your favorite Tweets by clicking on the favorites link on
your profile page.
Mention: Used to name another user within your tweet by using the @symbol with the other user's username
Direct Message (DM): These are private messages sent from one twitter user to another twitter users. You
can use Direct Messages for one-on-one private conversations, or
between groups of users.
MT: Means "modified retweet (RT)" Most often this is used when someone has used most of the 140 characters in a tweet that you want to share. It is best practice to add "MT" to the tweet so that people know the retweet has been modified.
Retweet: (RT): A retweet on twitter is used to show you are sharing
something that was posted by another user. The format is RT @username
where username is the person you are retweeting.
Follow Friday: (#FF or #followfriday) When you recommend someone on twitter, you add either hashtag to your tweet as a way to
call attention to a user's favorite followers and favorite people on
twitter.
Twitter Shorthand:
b/c: "because"
b4: "before"
BFN: Twitter shorthand for "bye for now"
BTW: Twitter shorthand for "by the way"
ICYMI: Twitter shorthand for "in case you missed it"
TBH: "to be honest"
TBT: "throw back thursday" Commonly used in a tweet to reference years past on a Thursday. Examples of TBT tweets would be an image of yourself as a child or photos of celebrities from years past.
What other suggestions would you have for people who are new to twitter and trying to learn the platform?