Twitter™ for Dummies®

Chapter 7. Tricks of the Twitter Gurus

In This Chapter

• Minding your Twitter manners

• Adding links to your Twitter updates

• Exploring your Twitter activity

• Tweeting like a pro with shorthand codes

The more you use Twitter, the more you'll notice how complex the potential uses of this deceptively simple service have become. Celebrities, companies, and all sorts of everyday Twitter users are discovering their voices on Twitter, creating a whole new culture in the process. Yet at the same time, each twitterer has a slightly different way of using Twitter.

In this chapter, we provide an overview of protocol, etiquette, and culture that have developed on Twitter. This chapter can help you figure out what tends to be more effective and what tends to not go over well on Twitter, plus ways to be efficient. Keep in mind, though, you're going to come up with your own rules and standards while you tweet.

Following Twitter Protocol

Many Twitter neophytes want to know what the rules are or whether Twitter has standard protocol and etiquette. Like many other social media sites, Twitter sprang from a close-knit group of early adopters who set the rhythm. Because Twitter was a favorite of Silicon Valley's new-media elite long before it broke into the mainstream, some insider jokes and conventions used can be confusing. Longtime users have certainly fallen into certain habits or sets of rules. But now that Twitter has become so popular and diverse, you can find plenty of wiggle room to do your own thing.