Twitter For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Glossary

@: (at symbol) @ both indicates a username and activates a link to that user’s profile. When used preceding a valid Twitter @username, it creates a hyperlink to a popup version of that user’s profile.

#: (pound or number symbol), which is used to create a hashtag (see hashtag).

^: (caret symbol) This symbol is usually appended to the end of a Tweet preceding the initials of the person sending the Tweet. The caret and initials taken together are known as a Cotag.

$: (dollar symbol) When used along with a stock ticker symbol creates a hyperlink to other Tweets containing that stock symbol.

@mention: An @mention is when you “mention” someone in one of your tweets. By placing the @ symbol (traditionally used in email addresses) before a user’s handle, you can tag that person in your Tweet, and the user is notified in the Mentions section of his account. If you tweet “Love this new blog post by @anum,” for example, Anum is notified. Many people use @mentions to converse on Twitter.

@reply: An @reply is when you respond directly to a user on Twitter. This tweet can be seen in user streams by you, the person you’re responding to, and anyone who follows both of you. On your Twitter profile, you’ll notice there is a “tweets” and “tweets and replies” section. Anyone who clicks the latter can see all your tweets.

@username: This is how you are identified on Twitter. Always used with the @ symbol preceding it.

AFAIK: Acronym for as far as I know.

avatar: See profile photo

bio: