New to twitter and can’t get yourself to fit in there? Here is a starters guide to help you. 
Setting up your Profile :
* A short but meaningful username is ideal. (less than 10 characters)
* Next, get the much needed profile picture. Please dont put up your fav actors snap !
* Next up is bio and it is as important as the others fields mentioned above. People can know your interests and then follow you. Should be short and precise.
* If you have a blog or a site, you can add it too. Its adds value to your profile.
Next lets get to know the Twitter Terminologies :
Twitterers/Tweeps/Tweeples – These are people like you (and me) who use Twitter.
Updates/Tweets – This is how you’ll be communicating with other people. All you do is type what you’re upto and hit enter.
Reply – This is how you can send messages to other Twitter users. All you need to do is type “@” followed by Username of the user whom you want to reply to followed by the message.
DM/Direct Messages – These are private messages.
ReTweet/RT – Tweeting updates ( from others ) you liked is not plagiarising on Twitter as long as you give them credit. It is done by typing “RT” followed by @username of the original tweep followed by the message.
Hashtags – Updates on the same topic can be bound together to appear in search stream using “#” followed by appropriate topic name. ex – #ipl , #f1
Now getting followed and finding followers:
» The trick in getting started is to start small.
» Follow your friends, colleagues, classmates, relative, neighbours, people from your place & other known people first. No-ones gonna follow you if you go right at it following anyone you see, so start sensible, take time. Finding first few followers is a bit slow process.
» Also try to follow more active people, as they can reciprocate faster and follow you back soon.
» Try to maintain a good followers : following ratio.
» Follow people with similar interests. You can find them using Twitter Search or from other twitter related sites.
Other Tips:
1. Now when you’re not getting a return follow, you’re are free to unfollow the tweep. There is no law binding you to follow him for eternity, unless, ofcourse his/her tweets are way too good or he/she is a celeb whom you admire/love.
2.Twitter web and Mobile Twitter are not the only way you can tweet. There are lot of Twitter clients and apps. Find one that suits your need from here. My favs : tweete.net (mobile client) & Tweetdeck (desktop)
3.@reply is a good way to communicate with a friend, but don’t overuse it, IM still exist for that purpose.
4.ReTweet is a good way to share the tweets you enjoyed. Its not gonna offend.
5.Be active on twitter.
Thanks to @Sumeet for giving permission to post this article here ~ original post.
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April 30th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Nice and informative guide for newbies..
+1 from me…