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What is Twitter?

As you may know, Twitter is a networking service for friends, parents, co–workers or those with like-interests to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of frequent answers to one question: What are you doing?

Twitter allows members to send their “followers” 140-character-max updates via mobile texting, instant messages or Twitter.com. The updates are shown on the user’s profile page and followers can receive them via text, RSS, email and other applications. Often, Twitterers go far beyond the basic status message to “Tweet” questions, concerns, recommendations, Web sites, news items or jokes.

Why Twitter?

Twitter is catching on fast because it allows users to reach their entire network instantaneously from anywhere. It requires short, pithy messages, yet enables you to trade tips and get questions answered fast by companies, friends or strangers with similar interests and experiences (including parenting). Anybody can benefit from Twitter, whether you’re a CEO, a parent, an artist — or all three. For example, say you’re on your way to the movie theater but you still haven’t decided whether you should see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Slumdog Millionaire. Grab your cell phone and Tweet “Benjamin Button or Slumdog?” and get instantaneous recommendations from all your Twitter followers.

How do I get started?

Intrigued? Go to twitter.com and select ‘get started now’. Choose a “handle” or user name and fill out your basic contact information. Next, upload the emails in your address book (Twitter can automatically do this for Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail and MSN) to see who is already on Twitter. After that you can click on Settings to customize your account. In the Account section fill in your one-line bio, location or homepage to tell people about you. Click on Devices if you’d like to synch your account with your cell phone. And the Picture and Design sections allow you to customize the look of your Twitter page.

How do I follow people/socialize?

To build your Twitter contacts you can search for people by name or user name if they’re already Twitter users. Or you can search for those talking about issues of interest to you. Once you’ve found someone you want to connect with, simply click “Follow” on their profile page.

Twitter is a socializing site. It’s encouraged to follow the people who follow you, but be mindful of the amount of people you follow. Friendships need nurturing and reciprocation—that includes Twitterbuds. It’s okay to follow a lot of people and have a lot of followers, but make sure to react to and interact with your Twitterbuds. Twitter is meant to be a two-way street. Those who are most involved in Twitter keep their profile public and Tweet often. Used correctly, Twitter allows you to build trust and credibility with your followers. You never know who may be able to help you out with something!

How do I manage my account?

Once you’re set up you may find yourself wanting a cleaner application to run Twitter on (watching the updates on Twitter.com can be confusing), a better tool to organize the people you follow, easy ways to post pictures or simply the ability spell check. There are a number of free applications to help you do this: TweetDeck, Twitterfeed, Twhirl and Twitterific to name a few. Click here to check them out.

What does a Tweet look like?

There are as many ways to Tweet as there are people doing it (currently numbering around 6 million). However, those on Twitter have developed some conventions.

• People use hashtags to designate key words in their Tweet, connect with others discussing the same subject, or track a trend or issue. We’d recommend using the hashtag “#BjornBelievers” to designate those Tweets that are relevant to BabyBjörn Believers (that way other Believers can easily find what’s being said, and reply.) Ex: You want to hear feedback on the Synergy Baby Carrier, and you want to make sure other BabyBjörn Believers see your question. You Tweet: “Anyone tried out the Synergy yet? #BjornBelievers”
• Reply to fellow Twitterers by placing @ in front of their handle. Ex: if your friend “daddyabc” asked which preschools everyone recommends, you’d reply: “@daddyabc, we really like the programs at First Plymouth” Remember that these @replies, though often directed to an individual, are public and are collected in the replies tab on your profile page.
• If you want to send a private message (since most Twitterers keep their Tweets public) you can use the Direct Message function. This only works with people who are following each other (in order to prevent spam). Direct Messages look like this: D+username+message. (example: D daddyabc we really like the programs at First Plymouth)
• Some users put a star at the end of a Tweet to designate it as a favorite. These are then compiled in the “Favorites” section of that user’s profile page.

What are BabyBjörn Believers Tweeting?

One way to see what the BabyBjörn Believers are talking about is to search for #BjornBelievers. This will only work if BabyBjörn Believers remember to include this hashtag with any relevant posts. Some software like TweetDeck allows you to create standing searches, so you’re automatically updated when anyone Tweets with #BjornBelievers.