Twitter Explained in Plain English
Twitter, the social networking site that deals in short messages and nothing else, has exploded in popularity in recent years. Learning the ropes on what seems to be a simple site can be surprisingly complicated. To get started, sign up for an account at Twitter.com and prepare to familiarize yourself with functions that include tweets, replies, DMs, mentions.
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Tweets
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A tweet is a message sent on Twitter. You can send a tweet via your account on Twitter.com, a text message on your cellphone, or a Twitter application on your computer or smartphone. Twitter has two privacy settings for your entire account: protected and public. If your account is public, anyone can look up your profile and tweets; if it's protected, only those you allow to follow you can see your tweets. Each tweet is limited to a maximum of 140 characters, including links and usernames mentioned in the tweet.
Following
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You can follow a Twitter user by clicking the Follow button on the user's profile page (Twitter.com/username). That person's tweets will now show up on your feed, which is the string of tweets on your Twitter.com homepage when you're logged in. If you don't want to follow someone anymore, go to that user's page; the Follow button will now say Unfollow. Click it to remove that user's tweets from your feed.
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Direct Messages
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Anyone you follow can send you a direct message, and you can send one to anyone who follows you. A direct message, or DM, is a private message that only you and the user can read. To send a DM, type "d username message" into the tweet box, or go to the Messages page on Twitter. If using the first method, it's easy to accidentally send the DM as a public tweet, so make sure to type "d" first and spell the username correctly.
Retweets
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Retweets, or RTs, are a way to pass on a tweet from someone you follow to your followers, spreading the message to more people. For example, if you follow a news site and they post a tweet about breaking news, you may want to retweet it to your followers. To do this, click the "Retweet" option below the tweet. You can also retweet a message manually by copying and pasting it into your tweet box and adding "RT @username:" before the tweet; this option allows you to edit the message or add your own comments, but you may run out of characters.
Replies And Mentions
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When someone replies to a tweet you've posted, the tweet will appear in your Mentions page on Twitter.com. You can reply to others by clicking the "Reply" link below their tweets. Tweets that begin with "@username" are usually replies; you can follow conversations by clicking the date/time link below the tweet. The Mentions page will also show tweets that mention your username but aren't necessarily replies, like "Had a fun time today with @username." The @ sign turns a username into a clickable link to that person's profile.
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References
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