After you’ve created an account on Twitter and started following your friends, it’s time to write tweets of your own. A standard tweet composed in the message box atop the Twitter home page goes to all your followers at once, but if you’re new to the site, few people will notice your tweets. To get in touch with people who don’t follow you yet, reply to a post or mention someone by username in a tweet. Once your friends start following you, you can use direct messages to send them private notes. Even if you have only a small group of followers, you might discover a sudden, short-lived fame if your post is widely retweeted. Retweets appear in the timelines of everyone who follows the retweeter, so if a popular account retweets you, thousands of readers might find their way to your profile. Mentions work similarly to replies. To mention someone in a tweet, type the person’s username, starting with “@.” If your tweet begins with the username, the tweet behaves like a reply. Insert the name in the middle of the message to broadcast to all your followers instead. For example, the tweet “@eHow Thanks for the help!” would not show up in your followers’ timelines unless they follow @eHow. On the other hand, add a period or move the name – “.@eHow Thanks!” or “Thanks, @eHow!” – and all your followers see the message. If you do have a smartphone or tablet, skip the cost of texting and download Twitter’s app instead. The app supports posting tweets, writing replies and sending direct messages, as well as reading your timeline and checking out other profiles. Writer Bio
