Twitter Basics Part 2

As a follow up on “Twitter Basics” here are some screen shots which show exactly how usernames may be hyperlinked in twitter posts and how effective use of this tool will ensure your post is seen by those you mention.

These screen shots were taken from Tweetvisor.com, which is the tool I use to view and manage my tweets. There are many tools out there. I use this one because it’s web based and I like what shows up on the screen - a status update box, my replies (or mentions), my direct messages and my twitter stream. This Twitter Cheat Sheet is helpful for exploring a multitude of Twitter tools.

HYPERLINKING A USERNAME IN YOUR STATUS UPDATE

Here you can see I typed the @ before the username “paperdress” and I used the built in URL shortener to include a hyperlink to the blog post I refer to in my status update.

Once I post my update, @paperdress is hyperlinked to http://www.twitter.com/paperdressgirl which will take one to paperdress’ Twitter stream, where one could then chose to follow her:

REPLIES & MENTIONS

Below you can see samples of my replies section. This is where I see every tweet with my username, which includes mentions and retweets. This first one shows me thanking @gmatlinks for mentioning me in his follow Friday tweet.

In the next tweet, @cristinacr wants to get my attention so she’s used the @ symbol and my username to ensure that her tweet will show up in my replies section instead of getting lost in a stream of countless tweets. Anyone who views her stream may click on my username and be taken to my stream to see who I am and why she’s tweeting me.

Follow Friday tweets are a way to tell your followers of others who they might want to follow. In this case, the usernames suggest that all these users are tweeting about grad school preparation. Each is formatted so that it will appear as a hyperlink to those users’ twitter profiles.

RETWEETS

In following two tweets, @akilbello and @riordanprograms have been kind enough to retweet my message. By doing this, their followers see my initial tweet. With only 140 characters to pass on a message, you can expect that liberties may be taken with your original message. Here you can see @riordanprograms shortened some of my words and added context but the point of the message remains clear.

Etiquette calls for me to thank both of them, which I usually do through direct messages.