If you are like most new Twitter users, you will soon find out that Twitter has its very own language and it can be a little confusing. Every day there is a new Twi-word that appears. In fact, there are literally thousands of meaningless Twi-words to describe life on Twitter. However, while working with a new client, I created a small glossary of the most important terms you will run across on Twitter. I’ve listed them below for you in one handy location along with some of my personal notes and tips.
How to Speak Twitter:
Third-Party Applications (Tools): Twitter.com is great for managing followers and finding people to follow. It’s also great for new users. However, there are tons of third-party applications that help to simplify using Twitter. Note: I recommend TweetDeck (desktop app) or HootSuite.com (web app).
Microblog: Twitter is often referred to as a “microblog”, because it allows people to update their status using only 140 characters. Note: The sky is really the limit on what you can accomplish in 140 characters.
Tweet: A message or post made on Twitter by a user.
Follower: This is someone who is reading your tweets.
Following: These are the people whose tweets you’ve selected to read; their tweets appear in your “feed” or “stream”.