Twitter Cheat Sheet

I am training a client on how to use social media to help launch her new business. I decided to come up with a Twitter cheat sheet to help her translate Twitter speak. She is familiar with Facebook so that wasn't necessary but had no experience. I know that she found this helpful and I thought someone you may know could use it too.

Cheat Sheet

Tweet- This is the most basic of all Twitter speak. It is when you send a message out into the Twittersphere. Don't make it long. You're limited to 140 characters.

EX: Hey Everyone! New to Twitter. Taking a Look Around.

Follower/Following- You're on Twitter now so get used to not feeling creepy for saying you are following someone or that someone is your follower. All this means is that someone finds you interesting and would like to hear what you have to say or that you feel that way about someone.

RT- This is an abbrevation of retweet. Retweeting is exactly what it sounds like. Somebody likes what somebody else said and they want all their followers to see it too. People often add their own thoughts to what their retweeting.

EX: Welcome! @MadeUpUsername: Hey Everyone! New to

Twitter.Taking a Look Around

DM- This is an abbreviation of Direct Message. You can think of this as a private tweet because the message still needs to be at or under 140 characters.

# (Hashtags)- If you see this symbol (which by the way was GQ's symbol of the year) followed by a word or phrase then you have seen a Hashtag. This means the tweet is referring to whatever is written after the number symbol. It is sort of like the subject line in an email. These hashtags are searchable so you can read what others are writing about on a subject you are interested in. Phrases are not separated with spaces.

EX: #AmericanIdol, #Marketing, #SocialMedia, #Oscars,

#GoTeam, #anyonewithme, #truth

@- The at symbol is used when replying to, mentioning or referencing another Twitter page. It sends a notification to the person or company you are talking about while also creating a link for others to click bringing them to that person's page. There is no space between @ and the username.

EX: @CariEllison @CNN @FoxNews @Subway

URL Shorteners- You will come across some interesting looking urls on Twitter. Users put regular URLs through a link shortner. The result is some funny looking links. We use shortners because full length URLs can be more than 140 characters or they don't allow for you to say anything about them.

EX: bit.ly/n04hEAs, ow.ly/n04hEAs, on.mash.to/n04EAs

#FF- This is a hastag that stands for Follower Friday. This can be one person that someone really enjoyed following that week, a new follower, or a group of followers. Most often you will see a group of followers mentioned in #FF

EX: #FF @schneidermike, @ScottyMonty, @ShannonDonelson

I can send you the Word Document if you ever need to give this to anyone. If you can think of anything else that she might need to know please comment or tweet me!

'Til inspiration strikes,

Cari

An apology...

Dearest Web World,

I promised myself that when I started this blog that I would blog at least once a week. As you can tell, that did not happen. I could make excuses and tell you why I stopped but that is not what's important. What's important is that I start again. I would like to start by catching the world up on what I've been doing. I graduated with a degree in Communication from Auburn University! Yay Me!

I went to visit my friend Stuttgart, Germany. I ate weird food (I had rabbit cheek one night. It was delicious). We went to Prague (It was a road trip so I got to experience the autobahn) and Amsterdam (I got to go to the Van Gogh museum and he is by far my favorite artist). It was great. The picture below is me in front of New Castle in Stuttgart.

After traipsing around Europe I came back to My hometown of Tampa, FL and have been on the hunt for a job. I have become somewhat of a professional interviewer. Then again, my not getting hired may make me more of a amatuer interviewer :). Alas, I have the problem many recent graduates run into. The wall that employers put up that has a large sign stating "MUST HAVE EXPERIENCE" and under it in small italics "but we're not willing to give you any." I'm not complaining though. Facing this job market and all it's adversity has made me push myself to do something with the time I have.

I have been doing a lot of side work. I have planned some small parties for a local construction company. I was the wedding planner and save the date designer for a couple in the Tampa Area. I have just been hired to start a social media community for a restuarant in town. So, I've kept busy! I was also hired to take pictures of a precious new puppy, Tinsley.

One good thing about not having gainful employment is I have been allowed to explore all my passions. I have been reading all about Social Media. I have taken pictures. I have painted. I have planned. I have played. I have networked. I have cooked. I have created. I can't lie and say that it has been great. I am a worker. I love having projects, deadlines and plans. They give me a structure which is comforting. I am excited to see where I go next and what I do next. I hope you are too.

And so, my dearest web world, I leave you with a promise. I promise that I will write on this blog about whatever passion is striking my fancy that day. I have a lot of different loves and I'm always... carrying on.