Author: Wired Staff / Source: WIRED
So you wanna tweet? Great—you’re gonna (mostly) love it. Everyone from the President to Malala is tweeting it up these days, but it may take some getting used to if you’re a new kid on the block.
Twitter is where news is broken, links are shared, and memes are born.
It’s also a place for chatting with friends. Yet unlike Facebook, Twitter is public by default. And that’s not a bad thing. It means your jokes can go viral (if they’re funny) and in addition to your friends, you can interact with your favorite journalists, athletes, artists, or political figures, all in the same space.Generally speaking, tweets show up in the order they happen. At the top of a Twitter feed, you’ll see tweets that are only a second old. New tweets appear at the top, pushing the older ones down. If you haven’t signed on in awhile you might get a box of recommended tweets you may have missed, but outside of that the equation is simple: The further down you scroll, the older the tweets get.
This immediacy has made Twitter the go-to place to watch protests unfold around the world, follow and comment on sports games or TV shows as they happen, and make fun of celebrity missteps right when the news is hot. The best (and sometimes worst) part is that the people sharing information and tweeting photos aren’t necessarily newscasters. Anyone can be a reporter or a cultural critic on Twitter, and that’s led to a universe of diverse viewpoints, all amplified organically.
Tweets can contain links, photos, GIFs, or videos.
But if you’re tweeting text, you’re limited to 280 characters. It used to be 140, which was even more stifling, but once you get used to it you’ll learn to love the brevity. It helps make your tweets pithy, and there’s much less rambling you have to read when scanning other tweets. Some even say Twitter helps us become better writers.Stepping into the Twitter stream unprepared can leave you feeling rudderless. Who to follow? What to tweet? Does this show up on my Twitter page? Am I missing things my friends post? What’s an RT? Follow our tips to get started on Twitter, and set yourself up for a more fulfilling experience.
Step 1: Go to Twitter.com or download the app and sign up for an account. The “Full name” that you provide will be your display name, but unlike Facebook, you can change your display name to whatever you want as many times as you want, so it’s really easy to stay anonymous if you so choose.
Step 2: Enter in your phone number. This is a form of authentication that will help in case you ever lose access to your account. You’ll want to use a phone you actually have access to because the next step will ask you to verify a number sent via text.
Step 3: Pick a password, and make it secure! You don’t need a troll getting a hold of your account and dismantling the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build.
Step 4: Choose your interests. This will help with the next step, which is where Twitter will give you suggestions of people you can follow. You can also skip both of these by saying “skip for now” in the top right hand corner.
Step 5: Once you’re in, click on the grey silhouette next to the “Tweet” button on the top right of your screen, and click “Settings & Privacy.” At the top, you can pick a username you like. That will be your username, or handle, and people can notify you by typing @ in front of your username in a tweet. Choose something you like that you think isn’t taken, but also something easy to remember for others.
Step 6: Pick an avatar. The default picture is a silhouette, but you can make your avatar whatever you want (your face, a dog on a skateboard, the possibilities are endless). Just click the silhouette and head to “Profile” and then click “Edit Profile” on the right underneath the blue bar. You can update your header photo from this place, too. Be sure to read Twitter’s rules for avatar images to make sure what you pick is not in violation.
Step 7: Write your bio. You may wish to list where you work, live, or a line from a favorite poem in your bio. This is the short blurb that lets potential followers know who you are and what you’re likely to tweet. There is also a handy spot to list your website, if you have one.
How to Make a Twitter Account on Mobile
Step 1: Fill out your name and phone number/email address. Make sure to use your real one as the next step will ask you to verify.
Step 2: Enter in the verification number that you received at whatever contact information you put in in Step 1. Choose a password. Make it strong,…
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