“If anybody knows of a movie role I would have to gain 20 lbs. to get, I'm halfway there.” -scottsimpson
“God, the unicorns in this story are so emotionally needy it's unrealistic.” -nick
“A little bit ago I was 1/2 drunk and now I don't really understand fractions that well.” -CranberryPerson
Ah, yes, Hollywood dreams, mythological creatures, and simple math. These themes make up some of the most popular tweets this week on Twitter. In 140 characters or less, humans, companies, and even robots are sharing their lives on the world’s number one microblogging website.
But for those of you who don’t tweet, the question remains, why should I care? Well, just as Facebook captivated web users in 2007, Twitter is the poster child of what’s cool online in 2008 and beyond. While your first experience on the site might be lacklustre, when you start to text your way into the land of a billion-plus tweets there is no turning back. Here’s how to get started.
Go to Twitter to sign up for a free account. You can send tweets, which are 140-character messages, from the web or from your phone. Now the first step is to figure out who to follow (and hope they eventually follow you). If it sounds a bit like a popularity contest, it sometimes is.
Check out Twitterholic.com for user rankings and stats. You’ll find top Twitterers including Hollywood types, such as Demi Moore (mrskutcher); politicians, such as U.S. President Barack Obama (BarackObama); and companies, such as shoe e-tailer Zappos.com (zappos).
After you pick a few people to follow (which basically means you’re subscribing to their messages), you’ll quickly realize that as far as content, anything goes. Some folks use Twitter to promote their work, to stay in touch with friends, or to share interesting links. Over the past year Twitter has also been THE online destination to keep on top of breaking news, from earthquakes to plane crashes.
When you see a tweet you like, you can respond with a 140-character reply. You can also exchange private direct messages, just like email, to anyone who you follow and who follows you. As for your status updates, AKA tweets answering the site’s only question “What are you doing?,” there are no rules about what you should write, but if you want to build up a legion of followers you will have to get creative to stand out from the talkative crowd. (Keep in mind that you might be just as happy with a small network of close Twitter friends).
If you’re looking for someone to follow, I’m Twitter.com/ambermacarthur (I can’t guarantee Hollywood, unicorn, and math chatter, but I’ll do my best). Happy tweeting!