Getting More out of Twitter
What does it mean to follow someone on Twitter? When I hear about it, I don’t get how people are keeping constant track of other people.
I’ve talked about Twitter briefly here and here, but let’s talk about it in more detail. You can follow people’s tweets, but how do you get the most out of it and join in on the great conversations that are happening all over the Internet?
Before you start following people, the first thing you want to do is go into Settings, then “Notices”. The “@ Replies” is automatically set to receive only @ replies from people you follow. I suggest changing that to receiving “all @ Replies”. This way, you know if someone talks to you even if you don’t already follow them. @Replying is just the way we all communicate to each other on Twitter. For more information, see this post.While you’re in Settings, click on the “Phone & IM” tab. This is the secret to keeping up to date on all the tweets. If you have an unlimited SMS plan, you can set Twitter to send you all your tweets from the people you’re following and any direct messages sent to you. There’s also an option to receive your tweets via Instant Messenger. This is the choice I make, since I don’t have unlimited SMS and I’m always on the computer, anyway.
UPDATE: I should mention that @Replies will only show up in someone’s “Replies” section of Twitter if you start your message with @calilewis.
Now, you’ll need some people to follow. Click on the “Follow” button on the person’s page you want to follow. Example: at www.twitter.com/calilewis, you’ll click the gray “Follow” button.
You’ll now see a yellow box with an option to receive notifications from this person. Turn notifications to “On”.
Here’s a cool way to get updates on a particular subject or keyword, without following more people than you can handle. Once you’re set up to receive IM or SMS updates, you can track a keyword and you’ll get updates from any tweets that go out with that keyword. For example, if I want to track my name, I’ll type “track cali lewis”. Make sure there’s a space in between “track” and your desired keyword(s). You can do the same with “untrack”. More details on this feature are here.
If you want to get even more out of Twitter, there are some great Twitter apps, which you can find here and here.
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Thanks for the tip on the @ reply preferences! I always wondered if you could reply to a person you’re following if they didn’t follow you. Better to at least have an “it depends” answer.
@ Cali, Thanks for the great tips on Twitter. I’m really enjoying it.
I just signed up for Twitter! Thanks for the info. Time to check it out!