This is an 'introduction to Twitter' that I gave for an internal team at Sky that were not well versed in social media. The aim was not to delve into strategy, but simply to provide a gentle guide to using the service, it's etiquette, conventions and best usage. Others new to the network may also find it useful.

1. A beginner’s guide
Andrew Dobson, Sky Creative Technology

2. The Conversation
Microblogging – what can you say in
140 characters?

3. The rise of Twitter
100 million + active users
250 million + tweets per day and rising
50% of users log in every day
Direct access to famous and influential people
The Tweeter is the centre of the conversation, channelling information to their
sphere of influence
Most users do not use Twitter’s website directly, but use clients on their
phones
There are many subsidiary services which are used to augment the twitter
service – twitpic (photos and images), twitvid (video), URL shorteners,
twitlonger etc.
Twittiquette evolves out of the service’s use, it is not dictated by the business
or the technology. Use it wisely.

4. Why tweet
To tap into and contribute to the digital
pulse of information globally
(And to laugh at Kanye West)

5. Getting started
How to join the conversation
http://www.twitter.com

6. Choosing a name
Keep it short! Remember that your display name will
appear in most clients anyway.
Make sure you upload an avatar and fill in your profile –
you’ll look like a spammer otherwise.

7. Who to follow?
Friends
People who are useful, insightful or funny
Robots and services
Celebs
Spoofs
Avoid spam and block immediately.

8. Consider your tone
Are you going to be:
Personal?
Professional?
A Broadcaster?
A Conduit?
If you find yourself covering very disparate tones, consider separate
accounts
Remember that the majority of your followers probably don’t know you
personally
Finally, it’s ok to just listen

9. Send a tweet!
Type and send. You have 140 characters. There are twitter extenders
but don’t bother
One point per tweet
Avoid ephemera - stick to concise opinions, insight, knowledge
sharing and being funny
Avoid txtspk but don’t be verbose
You can also text (but I don’t know many people that do)

10. Anatomy of a Tweet

11. Retweet
A retweet is essentially a shorthand for “I agree with this” or “I think
you’d also be interested in this”.
Retweets appear in the timeline as if from the original author, even if
you don’t follow them (but clearly indicated). RTs are how stories and
comments spread – don’t be reactive!
RT vs Quote and etiquette. Always credit and add if you can. Short
tweets get retweeted more.

12. @
@usernames generally used to address people directly. Beware of
1:1 conversations though and take them to DM.
@names are also used inline to reference people “Going to see
@andrewdotdobson for a drink tonight”
Many companies use accounts for information “@firstCC are there
delays at St Albans tonight?” This can be very useful for information
and to reach out to people
Tweets which start with an @ only appear in the stream of people that
also follow the @person.

13. The hashtag
# signifies a metadata “tag” which aligns your tweet to a particular
topic.
They can be used #inline, or #tagged at the end of the post. #useful
#twitter101
Often used to signify sarcasm: “Really enjoying being pressed up
against the window on the train this morning #fail #fml”
Applications and campaigns use hashtags to collate relevant tweets
(#hignfy, #gottodance, #qt). There is no lookup table, but you’ll pick
them up just by following others lead.

14. Trending topics
Essentially just “what people are talking about”
Normally reactive to current events
What’s on TV, breaking news, deaths, announcements all figure
highly
Media, gossip and sport always trend
Campaigns are rare, unless they’re very good or sponsored
Beware spoilers!

15. Hashtag games
Almost daily occurrence
Quickly get hijacked or fizzle out but will have high traffic
e.g. #6wordfilmplots: “Nemo gets lost. Nemo gets found.”

16. Twitter traditions
• #ff Follow Friday – one person with an explanation please!
• #mm Music Mondays – TUNES!
• The fail whale – Twitter often goes over capacity and shows this fella
• /via and HT (hat tip) – used to acknowledge sources, particularly off twitter
• OH - Overheard
• MT – Modified tweet (editing the original tweet before reposting)
Traditions rise and fall all the time. Treat Twitter like joining a conversation in
a pub with people you don’t know.

17. Etiquette
Avoid auto updates and cross posting to twitter
Acknowledge people but don’t flood them (treat as you would a CC)
Remember that it is a very public forum, even if you’re only following friends,
and that the shortness of responses makes context very hard to set.
DM if you’re having a 1:1 conversation
Most companies monitor twitter for reputation management

18. Events
Real time events are where Twitter comes into it’s own.
TV show feeds provide and alternate commentary to the programme (see The
Apprentice, Question Time, Masterchef for good examples).
Conferences, press events (like big tech launches) and breaking news stories
will always have lively coverage
Learn to separate the signal from the noise and be wary of misinformation
and the twitter echo-chamber

19. The APIs
Application Programming Interfaces allow developers and companies to
leverage functions of the Twitter service without having to interface with it
directly
Tweetboards, Zeebox, data visualisation are all being used with increasing
frequency
Twitter is driving game shows, audience participation, polling, access to data
services (like timetables etc) and providing direct access to consumers and
businesses. Lots of creative applications
There are popular clients for every platform and device. iOS5+ has it built in.
Many apps can also send updates directly to Twitter (i.e. Instagram)
Find the client and useage that is right for you

20. Good luck!
@andrewdotdobson
Further reading:
http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/the-bare-bones-guide-to-twitter/72283/
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/a-brief-and-informal-twitter-etiquette-guide/