How to use Twitter ?

The popular social networking website and micro-blogging service allows users to post their latest updates in a quick, burst-like fashion of 140 characters or less and it has become the arena for worldwide conversations.

World leaders use Twitter. The PGA Tour has streamed live on Twitter.

Fans give opinions on albums seconds after they are released on Twitter.

Now that you know what you may have been missing, here are some quick steps, pointers, and tidbits explaining how to use Twitter like a social media boss.

To tweet or not to tweet: There really is no question.

Build Your Timeline

The entire point of Twitter is to follow and be followed. So what’s the point if you’re not reading and retweeting the latest gossip from all your friends, colleagues and favorite celebs? Plus, Twitter gives you options of who to follow immediately after signing up so you need not go far.

Suggestions: Choose who to follow from the dropdown menu of notable celebs like Kanye West and Stephen Colbert or news networks such as CNN and the New York Times.

Twitter will also give you the option to browse a slew of categories from sports to technology.

Search: Use the search bar to find anyone the suggestions may have missed — whether they are celebrities, politicians or just your friends.

You can even search for people to follow through your email accounts (Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail).

Add Character

The placeholder bio will introduce you as a rocket ship-building, pizza tossing, Giants fan with a couple of kids. However, a bio is only suggested, not required.

The placeholder bio will introduce you as a rocket ship-building, pizza tossing, Giants fan with a couple of kids. However, a bio is only suggested, not required.

The placeholder bio will introduce you as a rocket ship-building, pizza tossing, Giants fan with a couple of kids. However, a bio is only suggested, not required.

Get to Tweeting

ou’re officially a full-fledged Twitter member with a list of friends and followers, but now it’s time to join the Tweeter ranks. Just type inside the What’s happening?

box above your feed or click the blue Tweet button in the upper right-hand corner at any time to get started. Once there, punch in some text, upload an image or video, add a GIF, and/or set your location. This is how you update your Twitter

let people know what you’re up to. Tweets are traditionally limited to 140 characters, but Twitter has been experimenting with expanding the limit to 280-characters

Twitter Pointers

You’ve signed up and tweeted your first thought into the beyond, but what do you do now? Well, it’s time to learn the finer points about how to connect with your audience and join the global conversation.

Hashtags: The hashtag symbol (#) is a great way to mark specific topics or keywords in a Tweet.

It was created by Twitter users as a way to classify messages and has since become a cultural phenomenon.

All you have to do is place a hashtag in front of a word or phrase in your tweet. Simple as that.

GIFs: If you plan on tweeting, you need to know how to use GIFs. GIFs are great for quick responses when you can’t think of anything good to type and you don’t want to get lost in the Twitter conversation.