How to tweet and much more (2018)

How to tweet

So now you have your twitter account and are ready to make your first tweet.
(Click here to learn how to create a new twitter account. Click here for an overview of twitter  )

On your profile page you will find different tabs showing different tweets.

Tweets tab contains all your tweets, retweets and the tweets, retweets of people you follow.
Tweets & replies contains all tweets that only you tweet, retweet or reply.
Media tab contains all the tweets which you have tweeted using media files like images, videos, GIFs etc...
Likes tab contains all the tweets which you have liked.

On your homepage or on your profile page you will see a circular button with a feather symbol to compose your tweet. When you click on it you will see something like this:

Here you can type your tweet but remember that you have to fit your tweet in 280 characters. You can also add images, videos, GIFS, polls, location etc... to your tweet. As you type you will see the circle icon below starts filling up showing you how many characters are left...

 If you exceed the character limit then all the extra characters will get highlighted and you will see the that the circle turns red. Also the 'Tweet' button will get disabled. For example you will see something like this.

In this example the tweet has 80 extra characters which need to be removed in order to successfully tweet. You don't have to trim the tweet from the highlighted part only. You can edit it any how you like and just make sure that the total characters in your tweet do not exceed 280. 

Next go ahead and click Tweet. Your tweet will be published.

Such tweets will be visible in the 'Tweets' tab of your profile. If you want to see the replies you have written to tweets you can find them in the 'Tweets & replies' tab.

Usage of hashtags 

You can use hashtags in your tweet. When you type # in your tweet you will find a list of prompts below. They will be the hashtags which others have used or are currently trending. If you want to use any of those hashtags just click on them and they will get added to your tweet one at a time. If not you can create your own hashtags.

If you are using multiple hashtags, use space between two hashtags else it will be treated as one word and not a tag. When your hashtag syntax is correct it changes color else it remains black.



For example :

 #India #USA is correct for using 2 hashtags. There is space between them.

If you write #India#USA this will not be considered as a hashtag.



If your account is public, your tweet will appear along with tweets of all those people who have used same hashtag/s. 

Likes, Retweets, Comments and more :

There are a bunch of things you can do with a tweet. 

Take a look at this tweet below and observe the sections highlighted in red.

Below the tweet you will see how many Retweets and Likes it has received. Below that are the options to comment, Retweet, Like and share.

If you click on Comment then you will be able to add your comment to the tweet. While you are composing your reply you will see all the accounts that are associated with the tweet, it will be "Replying to @xyz....."  Same rules apply while commenting, your reply is also a tweet which can have a maximum of 280 characters. Once your reply is ready click on 'Reply' to publish your comment. 

If you click on the heart shaped icon it means you 'Like' the tweet, just as you like a Facebook post.

The heart icon turns red denoting that you have liked this tweet. To unlike a tweet click on the heart icon again. You can find all the tweets that you have liked from the 'Likes' tab of your profile.

Retweet and Retweet with comment :

The second icon is that of Retweet and its function is similar to Facebook share. 

You get two options : 

1. Retweet

2. Retweet with comment

Retweet : 

If you click on Retweet then that tweet will be directly shared as it is on your timeline. Also note that the Retweet or RT button will turn green. On your timeline that tweet will appear along with a label 'You Retweeted'

But now what if  you feel like you want to quote that tweet instead and add your own comment to it? 

Then you will have to undo your previous retweet by simply clicking on RT button again. Read below about quoting a tweet.

Retweet with comment:

If you click on Retweet with comment, then you get the option of adding your thoughts to the tweet.

Again the same rules about the 280 character limit apply. Compose your tweet and Click on Tweet.

Sharing: 

The last icon below the tweet is that of sharing

If you click on it you get the following options

Direct Message or DM means sending a personal message on twitter to someone's inbox. So clicking the first option will let you share the tweet to someone's inbox. You can only message those people who have DM enabled i.e if they allow others to directly message them. This setting can be changed from the settings menu.

You can also bookmark the tweet for your reference.

Lastly Share Tweet via allows you to share tweet on other apps like Whatsapp, Gmail, Facebook or any other relevant apps which you have installed.

Another way of sharing tweets is by getting a link to the tweet. Click on the drop-down arrow besides the tweet.

From the options select 'Copy link to Tweet' and now you can paste this link anywhere, Whatsapp, Facebook, email etc...

Overview of Twitter (2018)

Overview of Twitter:

Many people have a twitter presence from celebrities and brands to governments and even ordinary people.

Facebook is more informal and personal that keeps you connected with a (small) number of people, whereas, twitter helps you connect with a large number of people.
Tweets are like Facebook posts, you can write your thoughts and add images but they come with restrictions. Your tweet can contain only 280 characters and you can add 4 photos in a single tweet. You can tag others in your tweet or images.

Account name and handle:-

On twitter your account has two elements, one is the account name and the other is your account handle(username).

Take a look at Amitabh Bachchan's twitter profile. The handle begins with @ so @SrBachchan is his account handle or his username. Every handle name is unique.

Amitabh Bachchan is his account name. This doesn't need to be unique, you can find many profiles having the same name but each of their handle will be different.

You can change your account name as well as your handle name anytime you want. we will see that in another tutorial.

Another thing to note is that some accounts have a blue tick mark next to them. This means that it is the official or verified account. So if you want to follow important people you can use this to identify the verified accounts. Not all accounts have this so you can also check the account bio or number and type of followers to determine the authenticity.

Hashtags:-

When you compose your tweet you can also use hashtags. Hashtags are nothing but keywords beginning with # symbol. for example, #Twitter , #India , #Quotes etc...  You can use one hashtag, multiple hashtags or no hashtags at all.

But if you want your tweet to be noticed or if you want to add your tweet to a certain topic, it is advisable to use hashtags. If you click on the Search icon you will find a list of trending hashtags in your location.

If you click on any of the search results you will find all the tweets tweeted by people from all over the world with that particular hashtag. (You will only see those tweets which you can access i.e those made by the people you follow and those made by people whose accounts are public. You won't be able to see tweets of people whose accounts are private).

Here is an example of what happens when you click any of the hashtag. The hashtag used here is #MondayMotivation 

If you notice there are filters available above. 

First is 'Top' :- Here you can see all the popular tweets containing the hashtag #MondayMotivation 

Popular tweets are those which get a lot of 'Likes' and 'Retweets'.

Second is 'Latest'  :- Here you will find all the latest or fresh tweets irrespective of the number of Likes and Retweets.

Similarly there are other filters for People, Photos, Videos, News etc...which can help you narrow down your search results.

Followers:-

Your twitter account can have followers. This is similar to having Facebook friends. Your followers will be able to see your profile, likes, tweets, retweets and interact with you.

Similarly when you follow someone you will be able to see their likes. tweets, retweets etc on your timeline. As you explore around you will be able to customize your settings to suit your needs.

How to follow?

You can search for the name or handle of the account that you wish to follow. Or you can click on the respective account and reach their profile page. On the top right you will see a follow button. Click it.

If that account is public you will immediately start following that account, else if that account is private, a request will be sent to that account and they will decide whether to allow or deny your request.

For example if you search for Twitter you will see a list of accounts having 'twitter' in their name. If you are searching for a specific account, for example you want to search for official handle of Twitter, type @twitter in the search bar.

Click on appropriate account to open the profile page and then click on the follow button.

Once done the button will change to 'Following' which means you have successfully followed. 

Notifications:

Now that you have successfully followed a twitter handle, you can choose what kind of notifications you want to receive from that handle. 

Click on the bell icon next to the Following button.

You will see the notification settings window for that account. If you want to change it click on the first option that is displayed. In this example by default the notifications were off so we will enable them. 

After clicking on the first option, you get the following choices, select the one you want and click the back button to return to the account page.

 The bell icon will now look like this which means you will receive the notifications that you have selected.

If you wish to stop receiving notifications you can click the bell icon again and it will go back to its previous form.

You can see the list of people you are following as well as the people who follow you from your profile. 

Click on the Home button to reach your homepage, from your homepage click on your profile icon in the top left corner. The left side menu will slide out. From there either click on Profile or directly click on Followers to find out who all are following you.

Following : This is a list of all the accounts that you follow.

Followers : This is a list of all the accounts that follow you.

Note: 

If your account is private you will receive follow requests from others which you will have to approve or disapprove each time. Also, here your tweets will only be visible to your followers and no one else. If you go and reply to somebody's tweet, they will not be able to view it unless they follow you. Even if you use hashtags in your tweets, still your tweet will not be accessible to others who do not follow you. Here your influence is limited only up to your followers.

If your account is public, anybody can follow you directly. You will not receive any follow requests  and your tweets, retweets, likes etc... will be visible to everybody. If you use hashtags in your tweets,  your tweet will be accessible to everyone even if they do not follow you. Here you can influence people from all over the world and not just your followers.

How to make your account private or public?

Click on your profile pic on the homepage.  From the menu that expands, click on Settings and privacy. From the Next window, click on Privacy and safety. Here if you check the box next to 'Protect your Tweets', your account will become private. If you leave it unchecked then your account is public.

How to create Twitter account on android

How to tweet, retweet, comment & share 

How to create Twitter account using Android's Twitter app (2018)

Creating a twitter account:

If your smartphone doesn't have the twitter app installed, you can download and install the twitter app from the Play Store. Once installed, open the app.

Step 1: 

Here is what the startup screen looks like. 

To create a new twitter account, click on 'Get started'.

On the next page enter your name and your email id. Once you have entered correct information you will see a check mark next to each field ✅ , after that click next. 

On the new page click Sign up.

Step 2:

Now you will be asked to enter a password. Enter appropriate password and  then click Next.

Step 3:

(a)

Now you will be given the option of connecting your phone's address book to twitter, this is optional and you can skip it so click on 'Not now'.

(b)

Next you will be asked for your topics of interest, you can select the topics you like or click on 'Skip for now'

(c)

Next you will be shown a list of accounts which you can follow. If you want you can scroll through this list and put check marks next to all those accounts that you wish to follow. You can unfollow them later and also follow a lot more accounts so don't worry. You can also click on 'Skip for now' 

to proceed further.

Step 4:

Now you will be prompted to set up your profile. Click on 'Get started' 

Step 5:

Here you can enter your Name and other details like some information about yourself which others will see when they visit your profile, upload a profile pic, upload a cover pic etc.... (If you want you can edit all this information again later.) Once you have filled the information of your choice click on Save. Next you will see the following screen.

You have almost completed your basic profile. Click on Lets Go to explore twitter with your account but make sure to complete Step 6.


Step 6:
You will have received a confirmation email from twitter, so check your email and verify your account by clicking on the 'Confirm now' button. Once this is done you can close the twitter app and restart it to refresh.



 Overview of Twitter

How to tweet, retweet, comment & share