The ‘Twittersphere’ has given rise to an entire vocabulary of terms, phrases and abbreviations which can be confusing to those just starting out. This cheat sheet drawn from BlueChip’s social media training sessions explains some of the terms you’re most likely to need to successfully establish your – or your company’s – Twitter presence.
DM
A DM, or ‘direct message’, is a private message that only you and the recipient can see. You can only send a direct message to a user who is following you; you can only receive direct messages from users you follow. Like a regular tweet, DMs have a 140 character limit.
HANDLE
A user's ‘Twitter handle’ is the username they have selected. BlueChip’s is @BlueChip_Comm – follow us here.
HASHTAG (#)
Hashtags (#) categorise your tweets by keyword; clicking on a hashtagged word in any tweet will show you all the other tweets marked with that keyword. Aim to use at least one hashtag per tweet to give your content exposure outside your follower circle.
#AUSPOL, #AUSBIZ, #AUSBUDGET
These three hashtags are frequently used by financial services journalists, industry associations and commentators. Use #auspol to track and tweet about developments in Australian politics; #ausbiz for business news; and #ausbudget for, you guessed it, conversations about the upcoming budget announcements.
LISTS
One of Twitter’s least used and most useful features, Twitter lists allow you to categorise the people you follow into groups and view curated Twitter streams. For example, you can create a list of people from within your company, clients, financial services news outlets or people who are interested in running. Viewing a list timeline will show only tweets from people on that list. Lists can be public or private – you can also follow public lists created by others. Note that lists are used for reading tweets only; you cannot send a tweet exclusively to a list.
@MENTION
A @mention is a tweet directed at another user by inserting the ‘@’ symbol immediately followed by their username.
A tweet that begins with ‘@username’ (e.g. ‘@BlueChip_Comm hi there’) will only appear in the timeline of followers who also follow the person you’re referencing. If you place the @mention later in your update (e.g. “Hi there @BlueChip_Comm”), it will appear to everyone who follows you.
Alternatively, if you would like all your followers rather than just mutual followers to see a @mention, you can preface the @ symbol with a full stop: ‘.@BlueChip_Comm’)
@REPLY
An @reply is a Tweet posted in reply to another user’s message. This is usually done by clicking the ‘reply’ button in their Tweet. @replies always begin with the “@” symbol, followed by the username.
RT
A retweet is a re-posting of someone else's Tweet. Sometimes people indicate re-posted content by including ‘RT’ at the beginning of a tweet.
MT
This is a ‘modified Tweet’, in which you or another user has edited or added to another person’s Tweet before ‘retweeting’ it.
For more info on getting started on Twitter, read my last blog with 8 tips for Twitter success.
