How I use Twitter: Part 1, Know the Rules

Twitter is big these days. Very big. Me and lots of others are on it all the time. I joined in January of 2009 and since then have grown to love it and I'll admit that I'm totally addicted. I'm @dudeman718 ! Follow me! (Shameless Plug!) After talking with some other people on Twitter, I thought others may like to know how I see Twitter and how I go about my daily Twitter routine. I will say that there are no "right" or "wrong" ways to use Twitter. This is how I see and use Twitter. These tips may or may not work for you.

When I started to collect my thoughts I found that I had way too much info for one blog post. So I decided that this will be part 1 of a series. How many parts will we have? Don't know yet! How often will I post them? As often as I can! So here we go! :)

First things first, if you've never heard of or don't know exactly what Twitter is, here is the first paragraph from the Wikipedia page:

"Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. While the service costs nothing to use, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees."

Here is one of the more popular videos that explains Twitter:




While it would seem that the 140 character limit is the only rule, there are in fact lots of rules. This web page from Twitter lists them out:

http://help.twitter.com/forums/26257/entries/18311

Here is an example. Follow limits. Everyone on Twitter can follow 2000 people. If you want to follow more, you need an equal or larger amount of people following you.

It's important to know these rules and limits. They may seem annoying, but they are there to protect you and help you, the twitter user. Know the Rules!!

I will end this first entry here. Thank you for checking out my blog!! :)

Next Post: Part 2: Your Twitter Pics and Bio!