A basic how-to for journalists who want to learn how Twitter works and how it can be effectively used to gather and share news.

1. A Journo’s Intro to
Or: Yeeeahhhh, can you fit all that news
into 140 characters?
With a picture?
And make it SEO friendly?
By @jamieg, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 2009

2. Twitter is…
• Breaking news as it happens.
• Keeping up with breaking news and tips.
• Quick opinion polling.
• Story sharing.
• Source finding.
• Ego building.
• Gossip following.
• Sometimes incorrect — fact-checking still matters.

3. Write short.
• Sacrifice AP style: Only 140 characters!
• Good: Taking thought into multiple tweets.
• Bad: Letting a thought get cut off in a single tweet
because you wrote more than 140 characters.
• Shorten links: Use a URL shortener — copy in
the URL, paste in the new, short one. (Twitter will
use Tinyurl for you. Other services are even
shorter.)
Examples: Tinyurl.com, Is.gd, Tr.im, Bit.ly

4. Twitter identity
• Pick a short, descriptive, memorable username. It
can be changed, but it’s confusing if you do it after
establishing yourself with a different name.
• Unless it’s a group account or you’re Tweeting as the
voice of a company/organization — AJC, for instance
— use a real photo of yourself.
• Link to your blog/Web site in your profile. Unless your
account is ALL personal, state where you work.
• Remember: Most won’t separate or understand Work
You and Real You or Online You and Real You.

5. Be smart.
• Unless you’re doing something fabulously
interesting, don’t answer the question “What
are you doing?”
• Interesting to you? Probably to others, too.
• Post links. Give credit.
• Be real. Are you newsy? Topical? Snarky?
Friendly? Local? Funny?
– Whatever you are in real life, be a more concise
version of that on Twitter.

6. Engage.
• Twitter is (usually) a waste of time if you post
without responding or talking to others.
• To get, you must give. Users must trust you
before they’ll reach out to you.
• To gain followers, start following people who
interest you, or who mention similar topics.
• The more you follow/are followed by the
easier it is to get info.
• Talk. Help. Share. Argue. Agree.
• Don’t like someone? Click “Unfollow.” Done.

7. Who can see me Tweet?
• Unless you’ve protected your updates
(Twitter.com>>Settings>>Account),
everybody can see your tweets.
• “Block” means a user can’t follow you, but
can still see public tweets. (Block spammers!)
• Everybody can see/search your @replies.
• If you send a direct message, only the person
you are messaging can see it. You can’t send
DMs to people who aren’t following you.
• Tweets can be deleted, but generally not from
clients like TweetDeck, mobile clients etc.

8. Twitter glossary: abbreviations
• RT: Retweet
• OH: Overheard
• DM: Direct Message
• IRL: In Real Life
• FTW: For The Win*
• IMO: In My Opinion
* For the Win: Yea!

9. Twitter glossary: symbols
• @username: @ shows a specific
Twitter user is being addressed, or
credited. Shows up in @replies column.
• #hashtag: # denotes a tag to ease
searching for specific topic,
conversation or event. Remember
#iranelection, #atlgas or #socon09?

10. Twitter glossary: terms
• Tw- prefix: Tweeple,
Twitterati, Twaffic
— people will say or
type these things to
signify Twitter-specific
terms, but it’s not really
clever or charming
anymore. Do it
• Fail Whale: The sparingly, if ever.
image you see when For real: not cute.
Twitter is overloaded
or broken.

11. Update via browser: Twitter.com
That’s me,
@jamieg.
@ signifies a
messages to me
that all can see.
Direct messages
are those only I
can see.
More options:
Twitterfall
TwitterFox

12. Updating via Browser
• To update on Twitter.com, just login,
type your 140-character-or-less
message and click “update.”
• “Home” shows the tweets of everyone
you follow. “Profile” shows your tweets.
• Want to customize your Twitter look?
Go to: Twitter>>Account>>Settings>>
Design

13. Update via client: TweetDeck
Not your style?
Try:
DestroyTwitter
Tweetie
More than one?
That’s cool.
Try:
Hootsuite
Splitweet
New applications
are in the works
all the time!
Folks I follow:Journos, People talking AJC mentions: Links, thanks,
pals, sources, locals, to/mentioning me: PR complaints, rumor, gossip.
businesses, nice people. lady, local blogger, journo,
AJCer, little sister.

14. Updating via client
• Twitter apps like TweetDeck allow easy
searching and constant updating, which
makes it easier to keep an eye on
news and subject searches.
• TweetDeck streamlines updates by
giving the option of linking to Facebook
status updates and including a URL
shortener.

15. Update via mobile device: Apps!
Cell phone: Go to Twitter>>Settings>>Devices, enter
your cell phone number. Program 40404 into your cell
phone. Text it to post to Twitter. You can also set your
phone to receive updates and direct messages.
iPhone BlackBerry
Free: TweetDeck Free: Twitterberry
$2.99: Tweetie Free: UberTwitter
$4.99: Twittelator QuickTimeª and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
$4.99/$9.99:
Free/$4.99: TweetGenius
Twitterfon

16. Updating via mobile device
• When updating via text message,
remember that most text messages can
be 160 characters, but Twitter only
accepts 140.
• Other services allow you to post links to
cell phone photos via your phone, but
not Twitter itself.

17. More Twitter Tools
• Search: Search.twitter.com
• User search: Twitterholic, Twellow, Mr. Tweet
• Photos: Twitpic, yfrog, Flickr
• Music: Blip.fm
• Shutting people up: Twitter Snooze
• Updating FB status: Facebook app
• Helpful/gratuitous Twitter apps: Squidoo list