How to Tweet Links

Links on Twitter must begin with "http://"

Twitter users share thoughts with one another in 140-character "status updates" or "tweets" -- but words are only half the purpose of Twitter. The other half is sharing Web addresses, or "URLs." Links are clickable URLs leading to Web pages outside of Twitter. Links dramatically change the landscape of Twitter by making each tweet a potential portal to a much larger world of socially curated information. Tweeting links is a matter of describing what the link leads to and then copying and pasting the URL into the tweet field. Linking works the same for Twitter "clients," or external applications, as for Twitter on the Web.

Instructions

1. Open your Web browser and go to the Twitter homepage (see Resources), or launch your Twitter client of choice.

2. Sign in to your Twitter account using your Twitter username and password.

3. Enter a description of the Web page you are linking to in the tweet field, such as "Article about pink elephants," followed by a space.

4. Copy the URL of the page you are linking to, and then paste the URL into the tweet field after the description.

5. Click "Tweet" if using Twitter on the Web or its equivalent button if using a Twitter client.

Tips & Warnings

• If your link does not fit inside the tweet field, use a URL shortening service such as bit.ly, is.gd or TinyURL.com to shorten the link before pasting it into the tweet field.

• Using a URL shortening service is common on Twitter but may reduce the number of clicks your tweet receives. Users prefer to know where a link is going before clicking it.

Resources

• Twitter Homepage
• bit.ly: Shorten and Share
• is.gd: A URL Shortener
• TinyURL.com: Shorten That Long URL Into a Tiny URL