Jul
2
12 Days of Twitter :: Day 1
(learn more about the 12 days of Twitter)
Twitter can be overwhelming to understand. When you get past the question Why would I want to use Twitter, there are still a lot of Twitter-specific abbreviations (some borrowed from the web, chat and SMS) that confuse people when they jump into the world of Twitter.
Twitter Terms
tweet = A single message on Twitter, up to 140 characters
@reply = a response to a specific person – If you want to send a message that you know I’ll see, you put @calilewis anywhere in your 140 character message and I’ll see it. It’s a public message, just like your regular tweets that anyone following you will see, but it addresses a specific person. I can then reply back by @replying you or sending you a DM.
DM = Direct Message – This is how you talk to specific people privately. Unlike an @reply, no one will see a DM but you and the person you send it to. To avoid spam, you are only able to send a Direct Message to someone who is already following you. To send someone a DM, you can type D username (remember the space) at the beginning of your message. There is a Direct Messages link on the right side of the Twitter pages. If you don’t click that link, you won’t see when people have DM’d you.
RT = Retweet – It’s a way of quoting someone else of Twitter. You like what they said, and you want to pass it on.
On the Web, you’ll need to manually copy and paste someone’s tweet and put “RT username” in front
On a Desktop Application, usually you can hover over a user’s picture and find a symbol, like the straight arrow in this screenshot:
# = Hashtag – A hastag is a single keyword with the # sign in front. It tells the world that this tweet is about a particular subject or event. It allows people to follow a subject easily.
Borrowed from Chat/SMS
Here are some common abbreviations borrowed from SMS, Chat and the Web that I see on Twitter quite often. This is just a short list of possible abbreviations. For a more exhaustive list, click here.
L8R = Later
<3 = Love (it’s a sideways heart…just stare at it for a moment!)
BRB = Be Right Back
FWIW = For What It’s Worth
IDK = I Don’t Know
PPL = People
TTYL = Talk To You Later
WDYK = What Do You Know
Borrowed from the Web
NSFW = Not Safe For Work
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
WYSIWYG = What You See Is What You Get
WTF = What The *beep*
TMI = Too Much Information
ROTFL = Roll On The Floor Laughing
I’ll be talking about TweetDeck on the next post.
Read More
Introduction to the 12 Days of Twitter
Day 2: Use TweetDeck to Manage Conversations
Day 3: Share Your Funny Anecdotes While They’re Still Funny
Day 4: Follow Responsibly
Day 5: 3 Newbie Mistakes Made by New Tweeters
Day 6: Use Twitter Search to Connect and Find
Day 7: Twitter Mobile
Day 8: Five Awesome Things You Can Do with Twitter
Day 9: Mix it Up!
Day 10: If You’re Not a TweetDeck, You Might Be a Seesmic
Day 11: Twitter for Prizes and Profit
Day 12: Schedule Tweets in Advance
just FYI (that was also left out) 
