Yesterday, I provided the basic steps for joining Twitter. Now it's time to start using it!

First, I recommend adding a little more information to your profile, so people will be able to get a better feel for whom they're following.

Click the Settings link in the top nav bar.

You're now on the Account tab. Here are some things to consider as you're filling it in.

• Your name, username, and e-mail address will be pre-filled.
• I haven't quite figured out why you need to enter your time zone, since the tweets are listed by how long ago they were made, not the specific time. But, assuming there's some reason, you might as well change it.
• The More Info box lets you list a URL for a website or blog. Mine goes to my writing website, www.ElizabethKricfalusi.com.
• Use your one-line bio to express a little bit about your personality, let people know your interests, add other websites, etc. Mine says, "Freelance writer, travel addict, animal lover, blogger: www.TechForLuddites.com EmbraceAdventure.com LifeInSquirreldom.com". (I don't have commas between my blog names because each one ends up on a line by itself on my profile page.)
• Location is one way for people to search for other Twitterers, so entering it will help people in your area find you. I just put my city and state.
• Language = self-explanatory.

All of the info above will show up at the top right of your profile page, which people see when they click on your name in a tweet.

Now, one of the questions I've seen the most involves the checkbox that says "Protect my updates." If you check this off, when other users go to your page, they won't be able to see your tweets. Instead, they'll see this notice.

When they click the Send Request button, you'll receive an e-mail asking you to approve the request. As soon as you do that, they'll be able to see your timeline.

Note: Protecting your updates also prevents your tweets from showing up in the Everyone timeline or in search results.

I think some new users choose this because they are concerned about being too public too fast. But protecting your updates kind of defeats the whole purpose of Twitter, which is finding people with similar interests to engage in conversations with. Putting up obstacles to that doesn't make a lot of sense to me, so I suggest you leave it unchecked.

Once you've made all your changes, click Save.

Click the Notices tab.

Note that I've skipped over the Password tab, because it's self-explanatory, and the Devices tab, because that's for setting up your cell phone to use Twitter, which I'm not going to cover at this point.

The one thing that's a bit confusing about the Notices tab is the @Replies dropdown box. I'm going to talk a bit more about @Replies in a later post but, for now, I suggest you select "@ replies to the people I'm following". This means you'll see tweets that are replies to ones you write, as well as those between others as long as you follow both of them. If you select "all @ replies", you'll see a lot more tweets involving people you're not following, and that can be a bit intimidating when you first start on Twitter.

Click Save.

Click the Picture tab.

If you don't upload a picture, you'll end up with this really ugly generic one beside your name everywhere. (If you happen to know what it's supposed to represent, feel free to share!)

So I definitely recommend you upload your own picture. Some people upload images related to their business, like a logo or a book cover, but I think even if you're joining Twitter for business purposes it's nice to see your face beside your tweets.

The page provides plenty of tips for your picture but there's one thing they don't mention. If you're a control freak, like me, and want to make sure your picture is as high quality as possible, then you should upload one that is exactly 73 x 73 pixels. That's the size they use as the full picture on your profile page.

Where it appears smaller on the site, Twitter is automatically resizing it, so you have no control over those images. For example, after you've uploaded the picture, this is what you'll see:

Note: If you haven't used graphics software before, I'll be writing a post in the near future that shows you how to do a basic resize using the graphics program that comes with Microsoft Office. Stay tuned...

If you want to go into the Design tab to change the background theme and colours, feel free. Creating a background image like I have on my profile page is a more advanced topic that I'll cover at a later date.

Okay, you're done letting the Twitterverse know who you are. Now it's time to get out and mingle! (Twingle?)

Follow me.

Go to www.twitter.com/EKricfalusi and click the Follow button below my smiling face. (Don't worry—you can always "unfollow" me later if you find my tweets boring... :)

Click the Home link in the top nav bar.

You'll now see my icon under the Following secion on the right-hand nav bar. The area where the list of tweets appear is called your "timeline". Because you're now following me, you will see tweets that I've written there. These will include ones that I've written to everyone (by default) and the ones I've written as replies to other people's tweets. These are always prefaced by "@ [USERNAME]" and you can click on a name to see that person's profile and decide if you'd like to follow him/her as well.

(If you made the change I suggested above on the Notices tab, then you will not see tweets I've written as replies to people that you are not following. If you chose "all @ replies" you'll see tweets I've written as replies to anyone, regardless of whether you are following them or not.)

When you click the Follow button on people's profiles, they will receive an e-mail that you're now following them, unless they de-selected that option on the Notices page. (People with thousands of followers often do that.) They can then go to your profile and decide if they want to follow you. Don't be offended if they don't. Everyone has different criteria for who they do and do not want to follow and it's unlikely you'll end up with a one-to-one match of your followers and followees.

If your other friends have given you their usernames, you can go to their profile pages by typing www.twitter.com/[USERNAME] in your browser, and then you can follow them as well. If you know people who are using Twitter, but don't know their usernames, you can search for them using their real names by clicking the Find People link in the top nav bar and then clicking the Find on Twitter tab.

Tweet!

Before you start following a lot of people, you're going to want to write at least one thing about yourself, so they will see something when they come check out your profile. Your first tweet doesn't have to be fancy. Something as simple as "Twitter newbie taking the plunge" will do just fine.

Note: Unless you've protected your updates—which I suggested you don't do—be aware that everything you write will be viewable by anybody on Twitter. They may find you through a search or by clicking on the Everyone link in the right-hand nav bar. So don't write anything you wouldn't want the general public to read!

This would also be a good time to let your friends know that you've joined and what your username is, so they can come and welcome you. Once that first tweet is out there, you'll probably start getting replies from people pretty quickly.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about @Replies, direct messages, and a few other things you'll probably come across before too long. In the meantime, click around and add a few more tweets as you become more comfortable. If you have any specific questions, please send them along and I'll include answers to them in a subsequent post.

Posted in How To, Social Media, Twitter