QUICK TWITTER GLOSSARY
Direct Message (DM)
“DM” is short for “Direct Message,” a tweet-like message sent in private between two Twitter users. Unlike the public @Mentions, DMs are private and do not appear to anyone besides their specified recipients, but you can only send a DM to someone who’s following you. They’re still limited to 140 characters, though.
Favorite
To favorite a Tweet means to mark it as one of your favorites by clicking the yellow star next to the message.
Hashtag #
The # symbol is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users.
Mention
You direct public messages to other Twitter users by inserting an “@” sign immediately followed by their username. For example, “@jk5455 (aka JOSH KEENE).” This causes your tweet to also appear in the “@Mentions” section of the target’s Twitter account.
A tweet that begins with “@username” will only appear on the home pages of followers who also follow the person you’re referencing, but if you place the @Mention later in your update, it will appear to everyone who’s following you.
Reply
A Tweet posted in response to another user's message, usually posted by clicking the "reply" button next to their Tweet in your timeline. Always begins with @username.
Retweet
The act of forwarding another user's Tweet to all of your followers.
Notes about retweeting: There are no set rules about when to retweet, but in general, you should retweet when you find something particularly interesting or noteworthy. For example, if someone you follow tweets something that is absolutely hilarious, that would be a great time to retweet. Or, if you want to let your followers in on a conversation you are having, that would be another good time to retweet.
Avoid retweeting articles and blog posts simply because they have a "Tweet This" button or a link to send the article out on Twitter. If the article is meaningful to you in some way, by all means, tweet it.
“DM” is short for “Direct Message,” a tweet-like message sent in private between two Twitter users. Unlike the public @Mentions, DMs are private and do not appear to anyone besides their specified recipients, but you can only send a DM to someone who’s following you. They’re still limited to 140 characters, though.
Favorite
To favorite a Tweet means to mark it as one of your favorites by clicking the yellow star next to the message.
Hashtag #
The # symbol is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users.
Mention
You direct public messages to other Twitter users by inserting an “@” sign immediately followed by their username. For example, “@jk5455 (aka JOSH KEENE).” This causes your tweet to also appear in the “@Mentions” section of the target’s Twitter account.
A tweet that begins with “@username” will only appear on the home pages of followers who also follow the person you’re referencing, but if you place the @Mention later in your update, it will appear to everyone who’s following you.
Reply
A Tweet posted in response to another user's message, usually posted by clicking the "reply" button next to their Tweet in your timeline. Always begins with @username.
Retweet
The act of forwarding another user's Tweet to all of your followers.
Notes about retweeting: There are no set rules about when to retweet, but in general, you should retweet when you find something particularly interesting or noteworthy. For example, if someone you follow tweets something that is absolutely hilarious, that would be a great time to retweet. Or, if you want to let your followers in on a conversation you are having, that would be another good time to retweet.
Avoid retweeting articles and blog posts simply because they have a "Tweet This" button or a link to send the article out on Twitter. If the article is meaningful to you in some way, by all means, tweet it.