Twitter FAQs
 
Augie Ray (a blogger) describes Twitter this way:
 
It may be best to describe Twitter as a place where you can share news, thoughts, ideas, jokes, and opinions, and anyone who cares to listen to you can do so. Of course, at the same time, others are also sharing their daily events, perceptions, and attitudes, and you can choose who you care to listen to. In some ways, Twitter is like a giant room of people talking, but you only hear the people you want to hear.
 
What will I see when I click on the Twitter link of my Rotary club’s homepage?
Clicking on the link will take you to the actual Twitter feed of your club. For example, mine is: https://twitter.com/RotaryCBC
Here, you will see the posts, or “tweets” that the member responsible for the club’s Twitter account, has sent out. It’s a great way to see past and future events, club announcements and to then be able to “re-tweet” that information via your own Twitter feed and out to your followers. An example would be, your club is having a fundraiser and is selling tickets to a raffle. You could see this if they’ve posted it to your club’s Twitter feed, and then you could “re-tweet” this to your Twitter feed without having to write or produce the content or brochure – you are merely forwarding the info along. This will become clearer as you work through the basics of Twitter, as presented below.
 
Frequently asked questions about Twitter
 
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a service that allows you to send and to read, short status reports, informational posts live to the Twitter website. It’s a service that connects you immediately to those whom you follow, those who follow you, and to those with similar interests and passions. Each post is limited to 140 characters.
 
What is a Tweet?
A Tweet is the actual message that you send or that you read, that may contain up to 140 characters, photos, video or a link to a website. A Tweet is visible to the followers of the person who’s sent it, or to people who follow certain events or interests.
 
What do I need in order to join Twitter?
All you need is a computer or smartphone, an email address, and an internet connection.
 
Where do I go to join Twitter?
The sign up page is at www.twitter.com
 
How do I post a Tweet?
From the Twitter homepage on your computer, you will see a box at the top near the navigation bar that asks: “What’s happening?”. That’s where you would place your cursor and type your update. You can upload a photo or video from that spot also, should you choose.
 
Why would I want to join Twitter?
Twitter is a fantastic source of current information. From global events and natural disaster info, to health information and just fun information. Hobbies ranging from Astronomy to Zoology, all have representation on Twitter. What you see as you scroll through Twitter is live. This is all happening now.
 
What are the 3 types of Tweets?
There are three main types of tweets.
  1. < >< >
    Direct Message
 
A Tweet is a 140-maximum-character message that you yourself send out. Your followers, or those who follow any subject that you discuss, will be able to view this. This is a public message.
 
A Reply is something that you send when you’ve seen a tweet to which you’d like to respond. This, also, is public. Anyone who has seen the original message, will see your reply and any ensuing public conversation.
 
A Direct Message happens when you engage privately with someone via Twitter. If you follow Joe, and Joe follows you, you can communicate directly with Joe via Direct Message. This is private. Joe’s followers will not see the conversation and neither will yours. But you both have to follow each other in order to have this level of conversation. It is not uncommon for one to send a Tweet to someone, perhaps a customer service representative for a company that you wish to contact for example, and to say, please follow so I can direct message you a question.
 
What is a hashtag?
One of Twitter’s fundamental values is the ability to direct, or to channel, a Tweet to people of similar interests and we do this by using a pound symbol, or hashtag. #
An example of this would be, you know that there is a massive natural disaster happening in Nepal and you would like to be kept apprised of rescue efforts and perhaps how to donate to those. A current hashtag (as of April 26, 2015) is #Nepal
And so, from your Twitter home page, you can do a search for #Nepal or whatever you are looking for.  Another example may be that you enjoy lawn bowling and so you may decide to look for any tweet with the hashtag #lawnbowling. Clicking on the page that comes up after searching for a particular hashtag, will show you people from around the world, people who are unknown to you, but who will be posting to Twitter using that particular hashtag – which has the effect of “channeling” their message on to that particular Twitter page. This is a very powerful tool.
 
What is a Retweet?
When you see a Tweet that is of interest to you, and one that you wish to share, you have the ability to “retweet” it without altering it (or perhaps you wish to alter it a bit). You may see an interesting piece of business news go past on your Twitter feed that you wish to share with your followers. Or by adding a hashtag to it, you can direct it to a general page that is of interest to particular people. An example would be, the Greek government have decided to take XYZ action with their central bank and this is live information that may impact the global economy. You see this tweet and retweet it so that it comes to the attention of those who follow you and perhaps to those who follow financial trends generally (providing there is an appropriate hashtag such as #economy or whatever you choose).
 
 
(With help from Twitter website: https://support.twitter.com/articles/13920-new-user-faqs and from Blogger Augie Ray)