First thing I forgot to mention in the previous article is that there is a distinction between a "follower" on Twitter and a "friend" on Facebook. A Facebook friend - is more like a real friend, you can read about one another and see updates. Twitter, on the other hand is more like a peeping Tom. I know it sounds odd, but it’s not necessarily a reciprocal relationship unless someone you choose to follow, decides to follow you, then you can actually make real connections. A good way to find people to follow is to:
What makes Twitter unique?
For starters, information is easy to find. For example, on Facebook, most people's information is viewable only by their approved friends.
What to post?
Once you start posting and attracting followers, you might begin to post details that elicit little response. On Twitter, you likely have never met or heard of your followers - also different from Facebook where you know your friends. The question becomes, who are these people and what information do they want to read?
A good approach to understanding is to look at your followers tweets. you might reply to some of them as well. Also, if you "retweet" (this is when someone finds your tweet interesting enough to send it to their followers preceded by the code "RT @rubymarcom."This can result in lots of new followers. If a tweet is retweeted say, 10 times and for each retweet, you gain 2 new followers, you might have 20+ new followers. Also, asking questions is another effective way to gain more followers. People love to give their opinion so ask interesting questions and you’ll likely get a few answers.
One trick you must do is if you want to post a link, use a link-shrinking service. I use http://bit.ly, it allows you to maximize the space you get (140 characters).
Just a heads up - when you reply to a tweet, using the @reply your tweet will be broadcast to all your followers. It’s basically a reply all function, but beware because you don’t want to start spamming people. You can send a direct message to another Twitter user with the Direct command. Enter d username message, and users will get your ping if they have direct messages enabled on their phone or IM account.
If you enter a Tweet with @username at the beginning of it, your message is understood as being intended for that particular person, although others will be able to see it. (However, @ tweets won't show up on your home page unless you are the intended recipient.) Be sure the person who you want to see your message is following you, or they won't get it.
Twitter is useful you can really get a clear picture of what people are saying about your brand. you certainly don’t need to commit to read each and every tweet - but rather engage when you can with whom you want.
Twitter Glossary
As you may have already noticed, there are lots of terms on Twitter that it can be confusing. You may want to check out one of the available Twitter glossaries online:
