Twitter for Absolute Morons

I was going to entitle this post “Twitter for Dummies” but really, who am I kidding?  Anyone who could possibly be interested in the post is, or was, a step beyond Dummies when it comes to Twitter.

When I first jumped on the Twitter bandwagon I totally got the concept behind it.  Spit out thoughts in 140 characters or less?  Check.  Totally do-able, right?  My only problem was that I didn’t know what to do beyond spitting out my 140 character thoughts.  I didn’t know how to see if anyone cared about what I said, I didn’t know how to do anything, really past that first step of publishing a Tweet.

Twitter didn’t really work for me because I wasn’t interested in having a conversation with myself, so, I quit.  And then a few someones gave me tips and Twitter became a whole lot more appealing.

I don’t claim to be a proficient Twitter-er, but, I have learned a thing or two.

Like:

There are Twitter applications out there that can make Tweeting so much easier.  Examples are TweetDeck (I love to tweet via TweetDeck) and TweetGrid (a must in my opinion for participating in Twitter parties).  There are also Services that help maximize ones “productivity” on Twitter, like SocialOomph.  I like Social Oomph because it’s kind of like a management service for me.  They send me an email every day with all of the tweets that have mentioned me in them.  Essentially, if I don’t want to check Twitter for Tweets for me, I don’t have to because I have an email that will tell me if I missed anything.  They have options for following everyone that follows you or unfollowing those that unfollow you.  You can even send those that begin to follow you a welcome message.  Need to schedule a tweet?  Easy.

Moving along.

Navigating around within Twitter was a real challenge for me.  I don’t think it’s terribly user friendly, but that’s just me.

I hate to admit this, but it took me FOREVER {thus, absolute moron} to figure out how to see if anyone had sent me a tweet.  I didn’t know that if one clicks the  “home” tab when they are signed into Twitter then in the right hand column, their handle will be displayed and one only has to click on that to see tweets that have mentioned you.   Whew.  That was a mouthful.  Congratulations if you made it through that.

It also took until now to figure out that categorization of people you follow in the form of “LISTS” is SO helpful.  Some people I follow are personal friends, some are bloggers, some only tweet giveaways, etc.  When I want to see what say, my “friends” have been saying, if they are in a LIST then only the tweets my friends have been sending out are listed when I click on their particular list.  And, just so you know, my friend Carissa, who lured me into Twitter in the first place just informed me that one can only have 500 people per list.  Just so you know.

Now, within the LISTS category, one can have public lists and private lists.  Anyone can follow public lists, but they can’t private ones.  Besides the lists that I have created, I also follow a few lists that others have created.  For example, @SITSgirls created a list of Peeps who are attending Bloggy Boot Camp in Phoenix.  Since I’m attending, I follow the list.  All the Tweets of those on the list are now displayed for me when I click on the list, and I didn’t have to do a thing to assemble it.  I LOVE this feature!  Oh, before I forget, I love that if you click on the “Lists” tab in the right side bar of your twitter page it’ll show you both the lists you follow, and those that follow you.

I never used the search box in Twitter until recently, and can I just say that it’s so helpful?  It’s like any other search box……seek and ye shall find.

I did not know until someone kindly DM’d me to tell me that there is actually a correct way to ReTweet tweets.  Who knew?  Apparently the placement of the “RT” matters.  If it’s one place it’ll RT to all of your followers.  If it’s in another it’ll only RT to the person who originally sent the tweet out.  Now, if I wasn’t a absolute Twitter Moron, I could tell you the correct way to RT, but honestly, I don’t care enough to remember.  Perhaps some day I’ll eat my words, but for today….don’t care.

Oh, Oh, sending pictures on Twitter.  So simple. One way (I’m sure there are many more) is to go to Twitpic, open an account and follow the easy instructions on the site.  Even an Absolute Twitter Moron like me had no problem!

If you have any Twitter Tips for the Absolute Twitter Moron (that would be me), then, please, feel free to share.

*Last chance to enter to win a  $100 gift card to Barnes & Noble !

About Angie

Angie is a CRAFT dabbling, recipe making, WORD loving, sunshine hording, book DEVOURING, Mama to a lot! She's kind of in love with Instagram right now, so if you want her attention, go find here there. {smiling}

Comments

  1. Oh I didn’t realize that the “RT” had to be placed in a certain spot – hmmm… I will have to investigate this one. Thanks!

  2. So THIS is why I’ve never been able to get into Twitter. Because I’m a Twitter Moron! I didn’t know about ANY of this and even now that I do I probably still won’t use it. I mean, I already use Facebook. How many updates do I want to put out there daily?

    Justine 😮 )
    .-= Justine´s last blog ..So, A Bunch of Italians and a Polack Went To the Zoo… =-.

  3. I have been on Twitter a while and I am still learning new things. 🙂
    .-= Jen´s last blog ..Is It Possible to Teach Concentration? =-.

  4. Call me MORON!
    Thanks for the info… My twitter account has suffered. You give me twitter hope.
    .-= Andrea´s last blog ..Tink-a-tude and Sunday Poo Poo Face =-.

  5. I still haven’t done the lists thing. Just seems like too much work. Does TweetDeck display each list? I use Tweetie, and it doesn’t

  6. I had no idea the RT had to be in a certain place…do you know where? I’m twitter-stupid.

  7. I didn’t know about the RT thing either. I’ll have to look into that!

    The first time I tried Twitter I hated it! The second time around things seemed to click. I am no where near an expert or anything, but it’s more enjoyable now.

    Thanks for the info!!
    .-= Evonne´s last blog ..Weekend Wrap-Up =-.

  8. Twitter intimidates the pee out of me. Especially that whole list thingy. But I’m also the last mom on the playground to not have an iPhone.

    Moron? Try Twitter Loser – that’s me.
    .-= Ash´s last blog ..Serving up potluck – Nirvana style. =-.

    • Second to last. I don’t have one either, and don’t see one in the near future. 🙂

  9. It’s so addictive once you start. The RT still eludes me.

  10. There are times I love it( tweetdeck) and other times (Dm Spam) but for the most part I have made some great friends online through it. I find it great to read authors tweets like Melissa Marr/ Maggie Stievfer/cassandra clare to name a few.
    The list thing is okay and following Sits and did a LDS/mom of 5 list. I’ve embrased it but there are times I feel like I have ADD with it.

  11. Thank you for this post! I put Twitter in the same category of Things I Just Don’t Get, which also includes, for me, Uggs and velour sweatsuits. I keep trying, though…will check out some of those twitter apps!
    .-= gigi´s last blog ..Friday Flip Offs, 4/30 Edition =-.

  12. Susie's Homemade says

    Great tips!!

  13. Wow, that was a boatload of helpful information. I had no idea there were so many things to do with twitter. Call me a moron!
    .-= Amanda @ Looking Glass Jewels´s last blog ..Just wait ’til you see what I have for you! =-.

  14. Don’t feel bad….I’m a bit of a twitter moron myself. Thanks for the tips.

  15. And then there are the applications for entering contests via Twitter. I happened to post about one today…2 of my cherubs were in the Twitter Biz BIG time this past weekend!
    .-= Melissa B.´s last blog ..Extra Credit Opportunity =-.

  16. I rarely used Twitter before Tweet Deck on my laptop and Swift on my Android phone. Tweet Deck totally opened a whole new world to me. Since I’ve been using it, I LOVE Twitter. I love seeing all my @replies and DM all at once plus it updates instantaneously and Twitter.com is SO slow and you have to hit refresh to see new tweets.

    I need to split some of the people I follow into lists because now I follow enough people that I feel like I miss some of the important stuff my “tribe” tweets about.

    As for automatically following people back and I honestly don’t necessarily do that. If you start following me and I click your profile and you aren’t only posting giveaways marketing and another mom blogger I’ll probably follow you. If I follow you for awhile and you clog up my tweet stream with spam/marketing and/or whiny/complaints all the time, I’ll unfollow you. To me Twitter loses some of its significance if you follow so many people you can’t keep track of everyone. I am only following 200 and found it better closer to 100. I know some people get really annoyed when people don’t follow them back.

    That’s my two cents. You are not the only one. Twitter is horribly confusing at first.

  17. I am a moron on Twitter, I’ll admit it. I don’t really care; I use twitter for 3 things: 1. more entries for giveaways, 2. following celebrities (you included of course), and 3. if I want to catch up with Tiffany LOL
    .-= S Club Mama´s last blog ..what a little sweat can do =-.

  18. Thanks for the tips! I have probably a really dumb question, is there a way to see the twitpics on your phone? I see a link, but don’t know if there’s something I should be doing to be able to “see” the pics. LOL

    I’m sure I win the Moron prize!

    Mindi

  19. WOW! I am a twitter moron! I just started Twitter and am still trying to navigate through. I am going to have to bookmark this page to re-read once I acutally have time to “organize” my tweets! Thanks!
    .-= Rachel´s last blog ..Recipe of the Week: My Mama’s Vegetable Risotto =-.

  20. I haven’t joined the Twitter flock yet. Just. Can’t. Do. It. I would absolutely be sucked in, obsessed with figuring it out, and pulling my hair out at having another online time-suck. Though I am tempted … every day. I know, I know, it’s just a matter of time. How-to posts like this don’t help my resolve. =>
    .-= Stacia´s last blog ..Splitting Heirs =-.

  21. Thanks! This is really helpful for another Twitter moron like me. 🙂
    .-= Buckeroomama´s last blog ..Mother’s Day Card =-.

  22. I can’t understand it for the life of me. I am going to make sure I am following you though : ) because if and when I ever do understand it, I know I will want to know what you are saying in 140 characters or less.
    .-= Life with Kaishon´s last blog ..Peaceful =-.

  23. I promised myself I wouldn’t do Twitter. SO far I have kept my promise. I guess I get turned off when anything gets too popular, like this whole Social Media thing. I miss the good ole days. Sorry 🙂
    .-= Live.Love.Eat´s last blog ..Banana-Nutella Galette =-.