Last week as I was concluding a Social Media overview for a local Association, a member stopped me and we chatted about Twitter. For some it is hard to wrap theirr brain around tweeting, or the value of Twitter. The Twitter interface and Hashtags can be a bit daunting the first couple of times you use it. And like everything in the world that is shiny and new, it has its own lingo that takes some lurking to figure out what people are talking about.
Well, thanks to a tweet from one of the savvy folks I am following @lizstrauss, she sent out a link to the Essential Twitter Dictionary at http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/the-essential-twitter-dictionary_b1205. I am going to have to finally put up some links around here, and this is going to go to the top of my list. It has a number of the most basic terms one must master to understand what the Twitterverse is about.
Here is one to take a look at early, even after 3 years as a Twitter user myself, it was only until recently that I learned this:
@reply – Written at the beginning of a tweet, an @reply indicates a direct correspondence between you and the Twitter user you @reply to. By typing @ and a specific username at the beginning of your tweet, you ensure that the user will see that tweet and know it is directly written to them. This is often used to facilitate a direct, two-way conversation between two Twitter users. Only yourself, that user, and any user who follows both of your accounts will see the @reply.
Good job AllTwitter (yeah, I’m late, the guide was published Dec 20th, 2010) I hope to share this. The next time someone tells me they dont understand Twitter, now I have a simple link to share with them.