Table of Contents
Foreword xiii
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
New for Third Edition 2
Motivation 2
Conventions Used in This Book 3
What You’re Not to Read 3
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book Is Organized 4
Part I: Twitter? Like Birds Do? 4
Part II: Finding Your Flock 4
Part III: Twittering in High Gear 4
Part IV: What’s the Point? Using Twitter to Your Advantage 5
Part V: The Part of Tens 5
Icons Used in This Book 5
Beyond the Book 6
Where to Go from Here 6
Part I: Twitter? Like Birds Do? 7
Chapter 1: Getting Started with Twitter 9
Figuring Out This Twitter Thing 9
How Individuals Use Twitter 12
How Organizations Use Twitter 13
How Businesses Use Twitter 14
The Twitter Ecosystem 15
Thinking in 140 Characters 17
Chapter 2: Welcome to the World of Twitter 19
Signing Up 19
Picking a Username 24
Finding Contacts 26
Using useful people-finding tools 28
Searching by using Twitter Search 28
Inviting Contacts 29
Getting Comfortable: Just Tweet It! 31
Customizing Your Profile 32
Changing your profile photo 33
Changing your header photo 35
Using your header image to expand your profile 36
Changing your personal background 37
Chapter 3: A Tour of the Twitter Interface 39
Navigating Your Home Screen 39
Your profile snapshot 40
Tweet interface 41
Trends 42
Who to follow 42
Your Twitter stream 43
Viewing Your Notifications Tab 43
Favorites 44
Retweets 44
@replies and @mentions 44
Direct Messages 46
Touring Your Discover Tab 47
Tweets 47
Activity 48
Who to Follow 48
Find Friends 48
Popular Accounts 48
Twitter Search 49
Checking Out Your Me Tab 50
Your Tweets 50
Photos/videos 51
Seeing Who You Follow 51
Figuring Out Who’s Following You 52
Revisiting Your Favorite Tweets 54
Chapter 4: Using Twitter Wherever You Think Best 57
The Desktop Experience 57
Desktop clients 58
Browser plug-ins 59
Widgets and gadgets 60
Lists that improve your desktop experience 60
Leaving the Nest: Twitter for Mobile 62
The Twitter mobile app 63
Text messages (SMS delivery) 64
Part II: Finding Your Flock 67
Chapter 5: So How Do I Start Twittering? 69
Finding People to Follow on Twitter 69
Seeing who’s talking 71
Searching for people 71
Doing a simple search 73
Inviting people personally, through Twitter 74
Checking out Twitter Lists 74
Following back 76
Following People 77
Using the Follow button 78
Replying to Tweets 78
Retweeting 80
Retweeting a link 80
Retweeting the old-fashioned way 81
Sending Direct Messages 82
Direct-messaging shorthand 84
Should I @ or DM? 84
Encouraging More Followers 85
Chapter 6: Who’s Using Twitter 89
Tweeting with Regular People 89
Popular Accounts 91
Verified Accounts 92
Building Company Relationships with Twitter 94
Talking Politics with Actual Politicians 96
Following Celebrities on Twitter 98
Twitter Directories 100
Signing Up for Automated Material 101
Part III: Twittering in High Gear 105
Chapter 7: How to Tweet Like Tweeps Do 107
Following Twitter Protocol 107
Language and abbreviations 109
Engaging others on Twitter 109
Tweeting frequency 110
Inserting Links into Your Tweets 110
Adding Your Location 113
Subscribing to Text-Message Notifications 114
fav 115
stats 115
get 116
whois 116
follow 117
leave 117
on/off username 117
invite 117
quit and stop 118
Chapter 8: Improving Your Twitteracy 119
Finding Interesting Twitter Talk with Search Tools 120
Twitter Search 120
Topsy 122
Joining the Hashtag Revolution 124
Conversations 124
Live events 124
Twitter chats 126
Trending hashtags 126
Expanding Your Twitter World by Using Clients 127
Desktop clients 128
Mobile clients 129
Tag clouds 129
Monitoring beyond Twitter.com 130
Google Alerts 130
Sidekick plus Zapier 131
Social Inbox 133
Knowing Your Network: Follower and Following Tools 133
Chapter 9: Flaunt Your Feathers with Photos and Videos 137
Exploring Your Uploading Options 137
Attaching photos to your Tweets 138
Making collages in your Tweets 139
Tagging users in your tweeted photos 139
Sizing Images for Twitter 140
Adding flavor with a header photo 141
Identifying yourself with a profile photo 142
Uploading photos with your Tweets 142
Uploading Videos to Twitter 144
Vine 145
YouTube 145
GIFs 145
Uploading Other Visuals on Twitter 146
Instagram 146
SlideShare 146
Part IV: What’s the Point? Using Twitter to Your Advantage 149
Chapter 10: Finding Your Tweet Voice 151
Finding Your Voice 151
Individuals on Twitter 153
Businesses on Twitter 153
Mixing business with pleasure 154
Understanding Your Audience 156
Who’s following you? 157
Diversifying your network 158
Targeting specific networks 158
Measuring your influence 159
Measuring your overall presence 159
Measuring the reach of your Tweets 160
Understanding your extended network 161
Keeping Your Tweets Authentic 163
Being genuine 163
Evangelizing your causes 164
Keeping Twitter Personal...but Not Too Personal 166
Protecting personal details 167
Maximizing privacy and safety 167
Chapter 11: Twitter for Business 169
Understanding the Business of Twitter 169
Putting Your Best Face Forward 170
Public relations 172
Customer service 175
Networking on Twitter 177
Building Brand Awareness 178
Offering Promotions and Generating Leads 179
Promoting Bands and Artists 181
Sharing Company Updates 183
Building Community 184
Conducting Research 186
Going Transparent 187
Advising Employees on Tweeting 189
Sharing Knowledge 190
Chapter 12: Twitter and the Evolving Media Landscape 191
Tweedia: Understanding Twitter and the Media 191
Breaking News through Tweets 193
Breaking news from individual users 193
Breaking news from brands or organizations 194
Using Twitter as Your News Source 196
Integrating Twitter into your news experience 196
Building your newspaper 197
Following news-related trends 199
Being a Twitter Journalist 199
Citizen journalism hits the mainstream 201
Tweeting accurate info 202
Gathering your journalistic tools 204
Using News to Grow Your Business 204
Fueling your efforts with advertising 206
Engaging with your favorite programming 208
Chapter 13: The Social Side of Twitter 209
Using Twitter as a Support System 209
Connecting with People 211
Making New Connections 215
Searching for topics of interest 217
Attending Twitter-based events 218
To Follow or Not to Follow? 220
Getting Quick Answers 221
Accessing celebrities and experts 222
Checking breaking news 224
Getting recommendations 225
Sharing Information 225
Chapter 14: Changing the World, One Tweet at a Time 227
Twittering the Globe for Change 227
Tweeting for the greater good 228
Tweeting in politics 230
Tweeting during natural disasters 232
Tweeting to help others 232
Twitter to the rescue 233
Using Twitter to stay alert 233
Organizing People Online and in Real Life 235
The drive to change a nation 236
Organizing on a small scale 237
Banding together for creative purposes 237
Planning an event with Twitter 239
Planning a tweetup to meet Twitter friends 240
Part V: The Part of Tens 243
Chapter 15: Ten Tweets to Send Today 245
Say Hello 245
Retweet (RT) Someone 246
Answer a Question 247
Share Something Great 247
Say Thank You 248
Ask a Question 248
Put a # On It 249
Tell Us About Someone 250
Be Human 250
Don’t Tweet at All 251
Chapter 16: Ten Cool Ways to Use Twitter 253
Socialize and Network 253
Follow Breaking News 253
Find, Follow, and Fan Celebrities 254
Participate in Live Media: Sports and Television 255
Engage with Shared Media: Books, Movies, and More 255
Optimize Your Lifestyle 256
Support Charities, Causes, and Education 258
Plan and Promote Events 258
Find Inspiration and Personal and Professional Development 259
Invent New Uses of Twitter 260
Chapter 17: Ten Twitter Tools and Services 261
TweetDeck 261
Hootsuite 262
Social Inbox 263
Twitter App 263
Wefollow and justunfollow 264
Twitter Counter 264
Bitly 264
Buffer 265
Canva 265
Topsy 266
Chapter 18: Ten Resources for Twitter Glory 267
The Official Twitter Blog 267
#twittertips 267
“How to Write a Tweet: 8 Formulas to Get You Started” 268
Twitter Chat Schedule 268
Twitter Support 269
Mashable’s Twitter Category 270
@Twitter 270
Tweetup Meetup Groups 270
“Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Live-Tweet Your Event” 271
@Dummies 271
Glossary 273
Index 281
