Terms & Definitions for Twitter
Twitter is a free, online service that allows users to post short messages, known as "tweets," of 140 characters or fewer. It allows users to let friends, family and colleagues know what they are doing at any time of the day or night. Tweets can be monitored online or they can be received directly to a cell phone, via the short message system (SMS).
Other People Are Reading
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Tweet
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"Tweet" can be used as a noun or a verb, referring to the message itself, or the act of posting the message on Twitter. To post a tweet via the Web, you need to log in to your Twitter account, type your message into the "What's happening?" box at the top of the screen and click on the "Tweet" button. The tweet will appear immediately in the real-time list of tweets on your Twitter homepage, known as the timeline. If a tweet contains the maximum 140 characters, it is known as a "twoosh."
Following
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"Following" another Twitter user means that you subscribe to their tweets as a follower and their tweets appear in your timeline. If you follow someone, you grant them permission to send you private, or direct, messages, which can only be read by the sender and the recipient. Messages begin with "d username," where "username" is the Twitter username of the recipient.
You cannot send a direct message to someone who is not following you and vice versa. If you accidentally make a direct message public, or make any other mistake, such as a typo, this is known as a "twhoops."
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Retweet
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"Retweet," sometimes abbreviated to RT, can also be used as a noun or a verb, referring to a message that has been forwarded to you by someone you follow, or the act of forwarding the message. Retweets are often used to share valuable information on Twitter, but bear in mind that you cannot retweet from users who have chosen not to share their tweets publicly; you can see their tweets in your timeline because they have accepted your follow request, but you can't forward their messages.
Replies & Mentions
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You can reply to another user's message by clicking on the "Reply" button in your timeline. Replies always begin with "@username." A "mention," on the other hand, is a tweet that contains "@username" anywhere in the body of the tweet, rather than at the beginning. So, a reply is in fact, a type of mention, and appears under the "@Mentions" tab on your Twitter homepage.
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