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@vahva’s guide to Twitter

Part 2: Creating your profile

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What is a tweet?

Twitter is based on the sharing of these short messages between people who choose to ‘follow’ each other.

It’s a bit like a micro form of email – but public rather than private

A tweet is a short message comprising 140 characters (that is letters plus spaces) which answers the simple question ‘what’s happening?’

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Create your accountSign up at

twitter.com and follow the instructions

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Choose a user name – this could be your real name or a nickname. The shorter the better (this will leave more room for your tweets – 140 character messages).

All Twitter addresses are the @ symbol followed by the username (it’s like a contracted email address). The actual web address is: http://twitter.com/username

@myusername

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Don’t stay as an egg – it renders you virtually invisible!

Choose a good picture that works as a small image. Think what it says about you.

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Complete the ‘bio’ section:

This will help people to find you and also help them to decide whether to follow you.

Some people use a list of key words, others write a greeting. It’s up to you but don’t leave it blank.

Add a web address – your work or blog or LinkedIn profile.

http://bryonytaylor.com

Real name

Username Bio

Location Website

Profile picture

Header picture

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Change how your profile looks at any time by clicking on the cog icon in the top right. You can add a ‘theme’ and Header photo as well.

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http://bryonytaylor.com

Start following people, twitter makes suggestions for you:twitter.com/who_to_follow/suggestions

Search for something you’re interested in (eg. books). Click the follow button on the profiles you like. The more people you follow, the more useful Twitter becomes.

Don’t agonise over who to follow, you can change your mind really easily at any time by clicking on ‘unfollow’.

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http://bryonytaylor.com

End of Part 2 – read the rest at http://bryonytaylor.com/twitterguide

Don’t forget to follow me! @vahvaAll images from royalty-free site: http://sxc.hu . This guide was written in July 2013.