I was speaking at an event last night on the subject of social media and building your business online and when I got to the part about Twitter, the question came up around Twitter lingo. You know… all of the stuff that is said via Twitter that leaves some people wondering what it means? I do realize for the social media savvy, these may not be new to you but for a lot of you, it might help clear up some of the unknowns.

@Name

This is the “handle” or the ID of each and every Twitter user. This is how things like replies, direct messages and mentions get flagged for that user so that they can see that you’ve responded to them. It also helps you to share that person with your own followers. It’s a great way to help promote others and communicate with them.

For example:

@ErinBlaskie – Where did you say I could grab that free ebook from?

Putting the @name first means that only the person it’s directed to will see it.  Your other Twitter users won’t see it unless they go to your profile.  They will also see it if that person follows you and the person you are writing to.  Alternatively, if you wanted to send a Tweet everyone could read, you would structure it like this:

Can’t wait to read the free e-book from @ErinBlaskie – where can I download a copy Erin?

Then, everyone will see it including me.

DM (also known as a direct message)

A direct message is a Tweet that is private.  You can send these by clicking on anyone’s user name and choosing “Message” or “Direct Message” or just by typing d username (example: d ErinBlaskie).  Note the space after the d and the lack of the @ sign.  It’s not required when direct messaging someone.

Your own direct messages show up when clicking on Direct Messages in the sidebar of Twitter.  If you are using a tool like Tweetdeck, they will show up in their own column.

Example:

d ErinBlaskie Just wondering if we’re still meeting for coffee later?

RT (also known as re-tweet)

This is what is called a re-tweet. A re-tweet is when you see something a friend or colleague has Tweeted that you feel may be beneficial for your Twitter followers to also read. So, you can use the re-tweet button on Twitter’s website or the re-tweet button in many of the Twitter tools (like Tweetdeck). The best way to structure this:

RT @ErinBlaskie – New on the Blog: Twitter Lingo Explained http://www.erinblaskie.com/twitter-lingo-explained/

You can also add your own comment like:

Awesome read!! RT @ErinBlaskie – New on the Blog: Twitter Lingo Explained http://www.erinblaskie.com/twitter-lingo-explained/

Or, you can structure it like this:

Twitter Lingo Explained http://www.erinblaskie.com/twitter-lingo-explained/ (via @ErinBlaskie)

#Topic (also known as a hash tag)

Whenever you want to tag something and have it come up with other Tweets of it’s kind, you would use a hash tag.  This could be the name of a group, an event, a topic, a subject or anything that you want to classify information as.  You can generate your own hash tags or use others that you see on the web or are instructed to use.  Hash tags do not need to be created anywhere online… you can just simply start using one.

An example would be:

Heading to the #GenYOTT event tonight with @JenButson and @TrinaLamarche!

That would classify it as a Gen Y event and anyone else interested or attending the event could look at all of the Tweets regarding that event in one easy place.  To view the Tweets in a category you can either click on the hash tag or go to http://search.twitter.com and search for it.

Twitter Lists

Tweet-Up

An offline, real world meet-up of Twitter users.

Favorite (also known as the star icon)

Any Tweets can be favorited or saved inside of your favorites list on Twitter.  Next to each Tweet there is a star icon if you hover over the right side.  Once pressed, it will light up the star in yellow so that you can note it.  I use the favorites for positive feedback or testimonials on Twitter.  Then, people can pull up that list to see what people are saying and I can use it to build my testimonials page.

Add to the List!

What am I forgetting?  Add more Twitter lingo to this list and let’s build out a helpful tool for first time Twitterers!!