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Greetings once again, my fabulous friends! It’s your social media enthusiast, Edye Deloch-Hughes here to help you understand the basics of social media, emerging trends and how folks over 40 fit in.  Our world is changing from the industrial age to technology, that means in order for us to survive, we must adapt to change. We don’t have to be of the world, but we certainly have  to learn to live in it.  That’s why I started this blog. I’m here to give you the basics in emerging trends.  In this post I will try to demystify Twitter.

Many of my social media-challenged friends have asked me about Twitter.  If you don’t know much about it, here is the rundown:

Twitter is a popular and FREE social networking site that allows you to text snippets of information over the Internet at 140 characters or less (that includes letters and space between words). Tweeting is similar to mobile texting. If you don’t know about phone texting, well… I’ll explain it in another post.  Either you love Twitter or don’t quite understand it.  Some of us who are long winded, find it difficult to adapt to such limited constraints.  Others think it cuts the bull. I agree.

Folks who use Twitter tweet to do business, search for jobs, meet people, chat with friends or self-promote.  You can share your thoughts, links to blogs, photos and other stuff on the Internet. When used along with Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms, Twitter can expand your audience and reach. Here is a sample tweet at 59 characters (click my link to take you to Twitter):

Hi #Trendingover40 readers! Follow me at twitter.com@edyeld

The key to Twitter or any other social medium is to establish relationships.  Starting out, sometimes you find yourself speaking to the “Twitterverse”,  that’s the vast universe of tweets,  as opposed to a particular person.  This is common. Someone may pick up your tweet and tweet back. They may follow you too.  When you find others with similar interests as you and have a conversation via tweets, you make it personal.   The deal is to find a topic or people of interest and join in.  The Twitter Lists help you categorize those you engage with. You are notified of tweets or followers through your email. Tweet often. That’s what increases your relationships and following.  Tweets are also fleeting. You post a tweet and then it kind of floats into the Twitterverse as other tweets come in. Your message is of the moment. To be top of mind, it’s advisable to keep up the tweets. Some people tweet a few times a week, others tweet daily. But I know some who do it 10 times a day.  I’m more a Facebooker than a Tweeter. But I’m working on establishing my Twitter relationships. That’s more important to me than the number of followers (though I do want to increase my numbers). You can help me out by signing up at Twitter.com and following me, Twitter.com/@edyeld. Tell me what you think of this post. Here is a sample format you can copy:

@edyeld, I think your Twitter post on #Trendingover40 is … (Fill in the blanks. Remember, 140 characters or less)

You may ask, “What does that @ and # mean?”  Read on…

Basic Twitter Vocabulary

Tweet: The message you write and send

Tweeter or Tweep: The person who tweeted the message

Retweet (RT): A tweet, tweeted by another tweeter that you repeat on YOUR tweet

Twitterati: The tweeting upper crust, such as celebrities, who’ve built a huge Twitter following

Follow/Unfollow/Followers:  Those tweeters who keep up with other tweeters’ tweets by clicking the “Follow” button;  Click again to Unfollow;  Follow others and others may follow you. The more followers the greater the reach.

@ : This symbol before a twitter name means the tweet is directed at that specific tweeter Here’s a sample tweet:

@Edyeld, I love #Trendingover40. I will follow you and tell others to do the same 

Hashtag #: Is used  to mark keywords or topics of specific interest in a tweet.  It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. Example:

Putting finishing touches to my post about Twitter. I’m encouraging social media- challenged over 40 folks to try it – #trendingover40.com

 If you haven’t noticed, this Twitter post has also become a shameless plug for this blog and my Twitter page.

 Fun facts About Twitter:

• Twitter was launched in 2006 by Jack Dorsey
• 140 million active users as of 2012
• 38% of Twitter is conversational
• 40% is pointless chitter-chatter
• The rest is valuable news and self-promotion (over 3% spam)
• 54% Female
• 46% male
• 45% 18-34
• 24% 35-49
• 14% 50+
• Most popular tweeter: Lady Gaga, over 10 million followers (Barack Obama comes in 3^rd with over 8 million followers) http://www.infographicsarchive.com/social-media/twitter-facts-and-figures/
• African-Americans and Hispanics are likely to use Twitter than any other  racial or ethnic group http://searchengineland.com/pew-twitter-usage-grows-to-13-with-african-americans-leading-adoption-79354

For more information, go to Tweeternet.com. This site is full of information on Tweeting.  And don’t forget to sign up and follow me on Twitter. Tell me what you think about this post. I encourage you to try Twitter to see if you like it.  If you do,  send me a tweet! Twitter.com/@edyeld. If it doesn’t titter your inner-Twitter, don’t sweat it. It’s not for everybody.

Related articles

• Top 10 Twitter Abbreviations You NEED To Know (initi8marketing.co.uk)
• Reasons To Be Cheerful. Just Tweet! (tweakyourbiz.com)