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Twitter seems to be the talk of the town at the moment… well the chat on the Blogosphere at least! We can now refer to the Twitterverse.
The Hull Daily Mail correspondent Voice of Reason, however, complains of “a bizarre new world in which no one really communicates by talking anymore, but just sends text messages.”
Twitter is much more than text messages – it is ‘micro-blogging’ allowing news and information to traverse the globe many times – and all this can take place before the Voice of Reason has even opened his/her laptop in the morning!
I have used Twitter for several months now. Amongst those I follow regularly are the Department of Communities and Local Government and No. 10 Downing Street. A new account has been opened to accompany the launch of this blog.
Setting up a Twitter account is quick and easy (have a look at an earlier blog post of mine on Twitter – Getting started).
Go to http://twitter.com/ and while you’re there have a look at the explanatory video.
But what do you do with Twitter?
One of the first things to do is scroll to the bottom of your Twitter home page and look for the Search button. Click that and type in a subject that interests you. You can put any person, subject or issue in the search box. Hit the button and see what is revealed!
Search the results – then visit the Tweets of people you find interesting. Then hit the follow button. You are now following that person on Twitter. Hit your Home page and you will see that person’s Tweets.
Find people to follow – then start to send your own messages (remember 140 characters or less) and join the conversation. Most people being followed tend to check you out and quite often will follow you in return. Then your own Twitterverse really begins to grow.
Easy! Give it a go. For additional ideas on Twitter check out TwiTips.