Rarely have I heard of a social media network — one of those things designed to increase connection and community — described as baffling or intimidating as much as Twitter is. Twitter itself is a great tool, for both listening and for reaching out and sharing messages and interacting, but it does have its own lingo and its own codes, which can put folks off on first sight.
With only 140 characters per tweet, real estate is at a premium on Twitter. Out of necessity, it has developed its own set of codes and shorthand to make room for the important bits. The good news is that those codes — once you learn them — are providing useful information, like “here’s where I heard this from” or “please share this with others!” or “hey, this is part of a conversation you may only being seeing part of, check the rest out!”
With that in mind — and every assurance that not only is Twitter really worth exploring, but that what can seem overwhelming at first glance is really easy to learn — here’s a glossary of common Twitter lingo to help ease the journey:
@: The @ sign is used to call out usernames in Tweets, like this: “Hello @Twitter!” People will use your @username to mention you in Tweets and to send you messages.
FOLLOW: Subscribing to someone’s stream of Tweets is called “following.” To start following someone, click the Follow button next to their name, and you’ll see their Tweets as soon as they post something new. You don’t have to ask permission to follow someone. Anyone on Twitter can follow or unfollow anyone else at any time.
@HANDLE: A user’s “Twitter handle” is the username the user has selected and the accompanying URL, as in: twitter.com/username. It is represented by the @ then name, e.g. the @handle for Twitter Media is @TwitterMedia.
HASHTAG: A hashtag is any word or phrase with the # symbol immediately in front of it. This symbol turns the word into a link that makes it easier to find and follow a conversation about that topic.
MT: Similar to RT (Retweet), an abbreviation for “Modified Tweet.” Placed before the retweeted text when users manually retweet a message with modifications, for example shortening a Tweet.
RETWEET:
You can pass along someone’s Tweet by clicking the retweet icon. Retweeting is a lot like forwarding an email — you’ll send along someone else’s Tweet to all of your followers. It can be abbreviated with a “RT” when a user manually retweets a message instead of using the retweet button.