Thanks to @david_elks for this idea. It developed from a post he put together for The Sentinel on Twitter in Stoke-on-Trent.

The idea is how to get started on Twitter when you’re new to it.

You might be wondering how people would be new to it, when it’s all over the media. Radio presenters ask you to tweet them (big example being BBC Radio 1), music artists use it, and of course everyone and anyone has an opinion on it. However, Twitter has 105,779,710 registered users (Guardian tech blog). That is worldwide. Clearly, seeing as it is an American based company, some people have yet to sign up.

This is all about staying local, but local is what you want it to be. Local neighbourhood means following people from around you. Interests ‘local’ to you means different experts and people you know in the fields you’re interested in.

So, you want to register, and tweet, but have no idea where to start. Well, here a few tips amassed through collective knowledge. References where I remember them, but if you told me something and I didn’t credit you, then scream at me on @andrewstuart.

• Use it regularly. Use it often. Use it on the bus, on the train, at work, at home.
• Don’t overuse it. Yes, very contradictory, but don’t become obsessed.
• Follow people you know. Then follow 10 people or so from your interests. Search them out using keywords, and ask for recommendations. (Tip from @paulbradshaw)
• Interact. Look at it like this: You go to a party, stand in the corner, never open your bottle of wine, say nothing, then leave. Did anyone notice you? Did anyone want to speak to you? No. If you talk to people, they’ll talk to you. You’ll never hold court for too long, you keep passing around, and learn new things. Much like Twitter, with 140 character limits.
• Agree on a theme with yourself, and stick to it. If you tweet work related stuff, tone down the brand new dog tweets. If you’re personal, then not many people care that your company has made a massiver acquisition. If you’re family friendly, don’t go crazy on expletives. (Tip from @fieldproducer aka Neal Mann.)
• Make your bio something that relates to you. Use a decent picture that describes you.
• Tweet interesting articles and websites you check out, recommend things you’ve seen (that mornings paper, maybe, or a new shop in town). This relates to following people and who you follow. Nobody will care about something they can’t easily get or asipire too. A good holiday is tweetable. If you live in Dunstable and your followers are in Liverpool, they don’t care that Sues sweet shop is doing 50% off Freddo’s (She should do it.. but thats another story.)
• And like anything, listen. Know who you follow and know whats being said. Retweet it, but don’t copy. Hat tip ideas, and link instead of describing things.

Acronyms and terms you’ll need to know. Hashtag is a search string you can click on and find related tweets. It’s literally a hash and a tag. “#xfactor” will find other tweets related to X Factor. RT is Retweet, a repost of another tweet. Most people add << at the end if they want to comment on it, usually after the RT. H/T is hat tip, where you credit an idea or link to someone else.

Now, for people. Go to twitter.com and search for people you know. Find people in your area. If you’re staying local to you, search police officers, councillors, business owners, community groups, and local prominent tweeters. If you’re going to go by interest, then search along topic lines, visit blogs, and click around until you find someone worth following.

I’ll post another blog soon on whats best to use, how to interact and anything else I can think of. If you have ideas, comment below or tweet me @andrewstuart.

Thanks!