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1 How Do I Get Started with Twitter? COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

2 Are you ready to share with the word seect bits and pieces of your ife, 140 characters (or ess) at a time? I suspected as much. This means that you re ready to get started with Twitter, the microbogging service that has taken the onine word by storm. In this chapter, you begin, appropriatey enough, at the beginning by earning how to set up and sign in to a Twitter account. Even if you ve aready got a Twitter account up and running, this chapter aso takes you through a few other crucia Twitter techniques, incuding changing and resetting your Twitter password. Setting Up Your Very Own Twitter Account Signing In to Your Twitter Account Viewing Twitter s Current Status Changing Your Twitter Password Resetting Your Twitter Password Deeting Your Twitter Account

3 Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets Setting Up Your Very Own Twitter Account If a you want out of Twitter is to read a particuar Twitterer s updates, then you don t need to bother creating your own account. Instead, point your favorite Web browser to where user is the person s user name on Twitter, and then peruse the updates that appear on the page. This, of course, is no fun whatsoever. Twitter is a about sharing and participating in a community of feow Twitterheads, and you can t do either of those things if you re sitting on the sideines. Even better, joining Twitter iteray takes ony seconds of your time. So, without further ado (not that there s been much ado so far), here s how to join Twitter: 1. Dispay Twitter s Create an Account page by navigating your Web browser to If you re aready on cick Join today; if you re aready viewing a Twitterer s updates, cick the Join today button. 2. Use the Fu name text box to type the name that you want other peope to see when they ook at your Twitter profie. Two things to consider here If you want peope to find you on Twitter, be sure to type both your first and ast names. You can t incude the text twitter anywhere in the name. The maximum number of characters you can type is In the Username text box, type the username you want to use on Twitter. Here are some notes to bear in mind: The username defines your Twitter address (it s it appears before each of your updates, and it appears in various other paces in the Twitter andscape, so pick something you ike and that has meaning. The maximum number of characters is 15. You can incude any combination of etters, numbers, and underscores (_). A other characters are iega (you can t even type them in the text box). You can t incude the text twitter anywhere in the username. As you type, Twitter checks to see if your username is avaiabe. If you see username has aready been taken, then you re out of uck and need to try again. If you see ok then you re good to go. 4

4 Chapter 1: How Do I Get Started with Twitter? Don t sweat the username choice too much because you can aways change it ater. 4. Use the Password text box to type a password for your Twitter account. More informationa notes The password must be at east six characters ong. As you type the password, Twitter rates the password strength: Too obvious (if it s the same as your username, which is not a good idea!), Weak, Good, Strong, or Very Strong. To get your password up to the Very Strong rating, make the password at east eight characters ong, and incude at east one number and one nonaphanumeric symbo. 5. In the Emai text box, type the e-mai address you want to use to receive Twitter notifications and other messages. You earn in Chapter 2 how to customize these notifications. If you want to receive the Twitter newsetter, be sure to seect the I want the inside scoop check box. Figure 1.1 shows a Create an Account page ready for action. 1.1 Twitter s Create an Account page with a fieds neaty fied in 5

5 Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets 6. Cick Create my account. Twitter does just that, and it then offers to ook for your friends on services such as AOL and Hotmai. 7. You earn how to do this in Chapter 4, so cick Skip this step. Twitter dispays a ist of famous, semifamous, or just pain infamous peope who are on Twitter and asks if you want to foow them. 8. Again, you earn how to foow the famous in Chapter 4, so cick Skip this step. Do not cick Finish here, or ese you end up foowing a 20 peope! Twitter finaizes your account and drops you off on your Twitter home page. Signing In to Your Twitter Account With your shiny, new Twitter account fuy formed and primed for action, you re ready to venture into the Twitterverse. Twitter is kind enough to deiver you to your home page right after it creates your account, so if that s where you are now you can skip ahead. However, after you end your browser session and start a new one, you need to sign in to your Twitter account once again. Foow these steps to not ony sign in, but aso to te Twitter to remember your credentias so you don t have to bother with this again (at east when using the same browser on the same computer): 1. Send your trusty Web browser to You can aso cick the Login ink that appears on just about every Twitter page. 2. Type your Twitter username in the Username text box. 3. Type your Twitter password in the Password text box. 4. Seect the Remember me check box. This tes Twitter to add a cookie to your computer that saves your username and password, which enabes you to og in automaticay in the future. 5. Cick Sign in. 6. If you started off in some other Twitter page, Twitter redispays that page, so cick Home to get to your account s home page. 6

6 Chapter 1: How Do I Get Started with Twitter? Viewing Twitter s Current Status Twitter puts the fun in funky and the hip in friendship, but it can aso sometimes put the ugh in ugy. I m taking here about Twitter s occasiona reiabiity probems. Twitter s origina infrastructure wasn t buit to hande the massive amount of traffic it now bears, so every so often there wi be a hiccup, a gitch, or even an outright faiure. These faiures arise when Twitter s server simpy gets overoaded, so it can t process any new data unti some processing power is freed up. You know this is the case when you try to do something on Twitter and you see, instead, the infamous fai whae, as shown in Figure If Twitter gets overwhemed by updates, the impossibe-not-to-ove fai whae shows up to et you know. The good news is that the fai whae s moment on the stage is amost aways mercifuy brief, so you shoud be abe to continue what you were doing in a few seconds or, at most, a few minutes. 7

7 Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets You aso be happy to know that our friend the fai whae shows up far ess often than he (she?) used to. Over the past year or so, Twitter has made impressive strides in not ony pugging the eaks but aso shoring up the foundations, so the service is now more reiabe than ever. Unfortunatey, that doesn t mean it s 100% reiabe (onine, nothing is). The fai whae sti drops by unannounced on occasion, but Twitter aso suffers from other gremins from time to time. For exampe, you might see the whimsicay mysterious Something is technicay wrong page, as shown in Figure 1.3, if Twitter bows the onine equivaent of a gasket. So it pays to keep on top of Twitter s current status. There are a coupe of ways you can do this. 1.3 If a wrench gets thrown into the Twitter works, you might see this page. 8

8 Chapter 1: How Do I Get Started with Twitter? First, send your Web browser to to open the Twitter Status page, which dispays updates on Twitter s woes and worries, as shown in Figure 1.4. Aternativey, visit account by checking out shown in Figure Drop by the Twitter Status page to keep an eye on Twitter s heath. Ideay, you shoud so you see the service updates automaticay. See Chapter 4 to earn how to foow foks on Twitter. If you re wondering about symbo that appears periodicay throughout the book, know it s a kind of Twitter shorthand that means the Twitterer with the username. means the Twitterer with the username twitter. 9

9 Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets 1.5 Check out account for the atest updates on the Twitter service. Changing Your Twitter Password When you forged your new Twitter account, you had to specify an account password, and Twitter is security-minded enough to rate your password on the fy: Too obvious, Weak, Good, Strong, or Very Strong. If you setted for a Weak or even just a Good rating, you might be having second thoughts and fee you d seep better at night with a Strong or even a Very Strong password. Conversey, you might be wondering what s the big whoop about a Twitter password? After a, it s just your Twitter account. It s not ike you re exposing your finances or nationa security secrets to the word (I m assuming here you re not the Secretary of State). True enough, but it s aso true that Twitter accounts have been hacked in the past, with the accounts of Britney Spears and a Twitter staffer (who was using the password happiness, which is about as weak as they come) being the most notorious. If you re using your rea name with your Twitter account, then you definitey don t want some maicious hacker having his way with this part of your onine identity. 10

10 Chapter 1: How Do I Get Started with Twitter? Fortunatey, changing the password for your Twitter account isn t much harder than what you had to go through in the first pace: 1. Sign in to your Twitter account. 2. Cick Settings. The Settings page appears. 3. Cick the Password tab. 4. Use the Current Password text box to type your existing Twitter password. 5. Type your new password in the New Password and Verify New Password text boxes. 6. Cick Change. Twitter updates your account with the new password. Resetting Your Twitter Password Okay, so you ve been on vacation for a coupe of weeks, or your nose has been grindstone-bound whie you finish off a few projects, and you ve been away from the Twitterverse for a bit. It happens even to the most dedicated Twitterers. You return to the ogin screen and, doh!, you ve forgotten your password. You try a your od favorites, but no joy. You re ocked out of your Twitter account! Fortunatey, a is not ost. You can ask the kind foks at Twitter to reset your password, which wi get you back up and tweeting in just a few minutes. Here s what you do: 1. Send your Web browser to The Forgot your password? page appears. 2. Type your Twitter username in the text box. You can aso type the e-mai address that you associated with your Twitter account. 3. Cick Send instructions. Twitter ships you an e-mai message (Subject ine: Reset your Twitter password ) that incudes a ink to a password reset page. 4. When you get the message, cick the ink. Your defaut Web browser pops up and takes you to the password reset page. 5. Type your new password in the New Password and Verify New Password text boxes. 6. Cick Change. Twitter resets your account with the new password. 11

11 Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets Deeting Your Twitter Account I have the feeing that you re going to ove Twitter, but it s aso true that microbogging isn t for everyone. The constant pressure to answer the canonica Twitter question What s happening? may simpy become too much after a whie. If taking a short break doesn t hep (I m taking about a few days or even a few weeks, not a few minutes), then you can wak away and move on with your ife. You coud opt to et your account ie dormant (it is, after a, free), but if there are updates you want to get rid of, or if you don t want new peope to foow you, then you shoud deete your Twitter account. Of course, it coud be that you ove the whoe Twitter thing, perhaps even to the extent that you ve created mutipe Twitter accounts. Lots of peope jugge mutipe Twitter identities (I have two, mysef), but it requires ots of ogging in and out, and ots of extra work updating and maintaining each account. If it a just gets to be too much, you might want to deete one or more of your accounts so you can finay get some seep at night. If you need to go the mutipe-account route, then I strongy suggest using a third-party too that supports mutipe Twitter accounts, such as TweetDeck. See Chapter 8 for a ook at some of these powerfu tweeting toos. Fortunatey, unike a ot of onine services that bury their account-remova features in some obscure nook or cranny of their site (or, worse, require you to ca the company to have your account terminated), Twitter makes it neary painess to deete an account. Here s what you do: 1. Sign in to your Twitter account. 2. Cick Settings. The Settings page appears. 3. Cick the Account tab. 4. Near the bottom of the page, cick the Deactivate my account ink. The Is this goodbye? page appears, which asks if you reay want to go through with this. 5. Cick Okay, fine, deactivate my account. Twitter deetes your account. Did you cick the Okay, fine, deactivate my account button and then immediatey regret your rash decision? Not to worry, because Twitter actuay keeps your account in imbo for six months. If you change your mind within that time, you can get your deeted account restored with amost no fuss. 12

12 Chapter 1: How Do I Get Started with Twitter? 1. Direct your nearest Web browser to 2. Use the text box to type the username or e-mai address associated with the account. 3. Cick Restore my account. You receive an e-mai message that offers a ink, and you cick that ink to restore your account. Yes, it is reay that easy, providing you restore it when your account is sti in that imbo period. 13