Twitter Made Twerrific

A few days ago the debut of Thursdays are Trivial sponsored by BDB swept the nation. The question was HOT, the response was enough to fry servers across America...and the prizes were legendary. But as always, Bernie has his pulse on his readership. Some of you are still afraid to take the reins of Twitter and ride off into the Twittersphere.

I feel ya. I once was reluctant to embrace Facebook. I was even more reluctant to put my arms around something called Twitter. But I've grown into quite the Twit. If you're not signed up yet, but are mildly interested...read on. You could learn from my mistakes.

If FB is about social networking on a wide scale, Twitter is about quick interactions. Interactions that could grow if needed, but brief and to the point.

Let's start with some definitions:

1. Tweet - an update you send out that anyone who is following you can see; pretty much the same as a FB status update, but limited to 140 characters...choose carefully and learn to abbreviate when necessary.
2. ReTweet - an update that someone has decided to forward, usually because they like it and think it relevant enough for their own followers to read...or it just contained a picture or cool update that the person wants to stake a claim to. Symbiosis meets social networking.
3. Follower - someone who has decided you are cool enough that they would like to check out your updates on a regular basis. When your first person follows you, don't get all David Koresh up in here...keep it real. More I wanna know more...and less Branch Davidian Kool-Aid.
4. UnFollow - kind of like getting dumped before prom, but with a lot more ambiguity.
5. Following - the people you choose to include in the updates you view; any update your following posts, you can see. I call it the Al Gore Magic of the internets!
6. Tag - a word or phrase preceded by a # is a tag that denotes a specific topic; if I tag the word Dawgs in a Tweet, it can be pulled up in a search or listed under Trending Topics; it also shows your Following topics you tend to Tweet about.
7. DMs - direct messages between you and one other person in your following; no one else can see this message unless you work in a cubicle in the center of an office floor.

Hey look everybody! Frank's flirting online with some chick named @BerthasBarcoLounger...

There's a lot more, but that's prolly enuf for now. Jus get used 2 short'n yur sentces so they fit...

Lastly, some tips to make Twitter mo' better:

• The best way to make Twitter useful to you is to be careful who you follow. Just because you are being followed by someone, doesn't mean you have to follow them back. When you receive a notice that someone is following you, check their followers and their updates. If you don't make it past the first handful....don't bother reciprocating.
• Beware of Spammers...especially chicks who want you to join some subscription site to view their pics. Twitter does a fair job of "suspending" these vixens, but learn from @BPMackie's mistake...they just want your clicks...not your raw sex appeal.
• If you like it after a week, download a Twitter crackpipe. I was mildly amused by twitter for a couple months...until I was advised to use TweetDeck. It truly is like Twitter on methamphetamines. Organizes Tweets into groups (like Dawgs, Media, ...Vixens..??) and has quick buttons to shrink tweets to under 140, shrink links, and add pics or tags.
• There are a number of these crackpipes. If you have a smartphone, many are available as apps there as well. Ask somone who uses the same phone/service as you and go from there.
• Be careful adding celebs, athletes to your following. Some are imposters living the good life vicariously through Twitter. No...@BernieDawg does not consider himself a celeb....yet. Afterall, not everyone can have @champbailey following them.

Just Sayin'...

Whether you're using it to network or just to occupy a few minutes of your time each day, Twitter can fit the bill. I don't always have nice things to say about @MarkBradleyAJC, but on Saturday he found a really useful way to implement Twitter into an old form of communication.

Simple. Easy. Quick.

Twitter.