Twitter 101
Janet Corder
Twitter and Your PLN
How do I Begin?
- Open Twitter.com
- Click Sign Up.
- You will be asked for your name and phone number. The name option is where you designate your Twitter Handle (screen name). Think about this carefully! Make your username short and memorable so it does not take up too much of Twitter’s character limit and people can remember it
- Click Next.
- Click Sign Up.
- Click OK so that Twitter can text your verification code to you.
- Enter the code that you received via text message and click Next.
- Create a password. It must be at least 6 characters.
- You can select things you are interested in or you can click Skip for Now.
- Suggestions for you to follow will appear. You can select some or all of these of click Skip for Now.
- Select either Allow Notifications or Skip for Now.
- Click Got It.
- Click Find People to Follow. Choose some of the listed people and/or Seach Twitter for some of these people and organizations:
- @corderj - Janet Corder
- @MrMerrillsClass - Joe Merrill
- @tonyvincent - Tony Vincent
- @ShakeUpLearning - Kasey Bell
- @ericcurts - Eric Curts
- @gcouros - George Couros
- @ClassTechTips - Monica Burns
- @rmbyrne - Richard Byrne
- @JakeMillerTech - Jake Miller
- @EdTechMason - Mason Mason
- @burgessdave - Dave Burgess
- @jmattmiller - Matt Miller
- @SEANJFAHEY - Sean Fahey
- @pinkpatterson - Heather Patterson
- @8Amber8 - Amber Teamann
- @TaraMartinEDU - Tara Martin
- @lhighfill - Lisa Highfill
- @PintoBeanz11 - Christine Pinto
- @TCEA
- @edutopia
- Finally, click on the small circle with a person icon in it to create your profile.
- Select Profile
- Click Edit Profile.
- Upload a Profile Photo, a Header Photo (banner) and create your bio. Describe who you are and what you do. Answer the remaining questions.
- Tweet something! Click on the Tweet button and compose your tweet or use the suggested first Tweets that Twitter recommends. Use a hashtag and/or refer to someone using their username. You might want to start with "Learning about Twitter today & this is my 1st time to tweet. I am excited about growing my PLN. #kelleru"
- Follow others. Search for educators you know and click the Follow button. You will now begin seeing their tweets in your Twitter feed.
Twitter Lingo
- Tweet - A Tweet is Twitter message that is limited to 280 characters. It used to be limited to 140 characters.
- Twitter Feed - A running list of tweets is called a Twitter Feed.
- # - Hashtag - Twitter Hashtags are a way to categorize tweets by a keyword or phrase.
A hashtag can be a topic (ex: #coding, #sketchnoting), a conference feed (ex: #TCEA18, #kelleru), or a twitter chat (ex: #nt2t, #txeduchat). Searching Twitter by a Hashtag can be very helpful when you are looking for ideas! - @ - at - The @ symbol connects to Twitter usernames. It is placed at the beginning of a username. Think of it as the address for a person or organization (Ex: @corderj is the username for Janet Corder).
- RT - Retweet - Retweeting is a way to send out someone else's tweet to the people who follow you. You can retweet word for word or you can add a comment to the tweet.
- MT - Modified Tweet - A Modified Tweet is similar to a Retweet, but some of the words have been changed.
- DM - Direct Message - This is a private conversation between the sender and the recipient and it cannot be seen by others. Look for the envelope to see your direct messages or to compose a DM.
- #FF -Follow Friday - This hashtag is used on Fridays to recommend other users to your followers.
- Ts - Teachers
- Ss - Students
- PLN - Professional Learning Network - Your PLN is the group of people you rely on for your learning. Tweet out questions or ideas and you will be surprised at the helpful responses you will receive from your followers.
- Twitter Chats occur when a group of people tweets about a specific topic using the same hashtag (#). By using the same hashtag, participants can all follow along and respond to questions posted by a moderator. The chats are at a specific time and usually repeat weekly. Click here to find a Twitter Chat that interests you.
- Notifications (in the top left of your Twitter window) are used to tell you when someone has mentioned you in a Tweet or liked/responded to one of your Tweets. On your cell phone, the Twitter app icon will have a number by it that indicates how many notifications you have.
- URL Shortener - Since characters are limited in a Tweet, it is a good idea to use a URL shortener such a Bit.ly or Tiny URL to consolidate characters.
How Do I Participate in a Twitter Chat?
The chat moderator will usually begin the chat with introductions. Tweet your name and position, etc. Don't forget to include the chat's hashtag. After introductions, the moderator will post the first question with a Q1 in front of the question. Click reply and begin your answer with A1. Continue answering questions and replying to others in the chat. You do not have to respond to every question. Retweet or Like posts you want to share or save for later. Twitter Chats are a great place to add to your PLN!
Ideas for Using Twitter in Your School or District:
- Hold regular Twitter Chats where teachers can share their thoughts and ideas for implementing the skills in their classroom that were taught in the PD session(s).
- Use Twitter to share events, awards, congratulations, etc. with your school, community and stakeholders to keep them informed.
- Create challenges for your staff to encourage them to use Twitter. For example, tweet a short video of a student explaining a math problem, science experiment, etc. Of course, giving prizes/rewards will help motivate everyone!
Tips and Tricks
When you are on your Home screen, you will see your tweets in chronological order. Click the down arrow on the right side of the tweet you want to delete and select Delete Tweet.
How do you block someone?
Occasionally you will have someone follow you that you don't want to follow back or see their tweets. When you are on their timeline, you can select Block from the drop-down menu (3 dots) on the right of the page.
What is the blue checkmark beside some names?
The blue checkmark means that you have been verified. Most of the verified people have a high public profile such as a celebrity or athlete. Click here to read more about this.
What is night mode on Twitter?
Night mode changes your screen to a dark background. To activate Night Mode click your profile photo (on the right-hand side of the screen) and select Night Mode.
What is a List?
A List is a curated group of Twitter accounts. Viewing a List timeline will show you a stream of Tweets from only the accounts on that List. Click here to find out how to create a List.
What is a Moment?
A Moment enables Twitter users to combine multiple tweets into slideshow-like stories. Click here to learn more about Moments.
Wakelet
Click here to find directions for saving tweets to Wakelet using an IOS device.