Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service, owned and operated by Twitter Inc., that enables its users to send and read other user messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page. Tweets are publicly visible by default, though senders can restrict message delivery to their friends list. Users may subscribe to other author tweets—this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers. If you took away everything from Facebook but kept the status updates, you’d be left with Twitter, and even then, tweets only allow you so many text characters to work with. But with Twitter, simplicity is power.
Why Tweet?
As a writer:
- Twitter is a powerful networking tool and a way to connect with other writers, publishing professionals, librarians, readers, fans and more.
- It allows you to post questions, participate in discussions, offer links to blogs and websites, offer news, even post Twitter novels.
- It is a great opportunity to participate in a community. (use wefollow.com to find others with similar interests)
- It is important to answer questions or make comments when you are so inclined. Twitter will allow you to respond to readers, interviews, or the latest news with instant communication.
- You can feed your blog posts to your Twitter for fresh content and a new audience, or vice versa.
- Even if you don’t have anything to say, you can “retweet” from another user.
Twitter appears simple on the surface, but there’s quite a bit of it that you should familiarize yourself with. We recommend reading this article, The Ultimate Guide to Twitter for Writers. The guide covers all the technical ins and outs of setting up and navigating the Twitter service, and goes into great detail about tips, tricks, and strategies beneficial to writers.
TIP: Sign up on www.wefollow.com. This site allows you to register in three categories, like editor, publisher and blogger so Twitter users with common interests can find you and follow you.