Basics of Twitter @Solsticepublish @Solsticeshadows

Lately I’ve been expanding my following on Twitter.  It really is an amazing site.  I am Rivalgates1 but you can be anyone you want there and write whatever you feel.  There are basically two types of accounts.  There are the people who are just on as themselves or whoever they wish to be.  Then there are the members of fandoms.  If you are in the first group you put a little biography about yourself or who you want the world to believe you are.  For example you could say you are a mother of 3 working as a toll booth operator in New Jersey.  On the other hand you could say you are a windsurfer giving lessons in Tahiti.  How much truth is in the biographies is open to debate.  For the most part I figure, so what if it’s not true?  It’s all for fun anyway.  Maybe in real life you are the toll booth worker but on Twitter you can be anyone.  Usually people like to paint personas of the type of people they want to be associated with.  If you want to be friends with skateboarders, then write something about skateboarding.  If you want to chat with people about reading you would likewise mention it.  The second groups of Twitter accounts are what are called Fandoms.  In this type of bio you place a # in front of a key word you want to use to draw other people of the same liking to you with.  So if you write #Call of Duty then all the people liking the game ‘Call of Duty’ who do searches will find your name.  You can search the same way and find people with #Call of Duty in their profile.  They might have their identification they use in the game so you can find them when you’re gaming on line.  There might also be other fandoms listed on their bio in which you might be interested.  Once you find someone you’re interested in you click ‘follow’ and then you can see all the little messages or ‘Tweets’ they send out.  That person will be sent an email saying you followed them and show your bio.  If they are interested in you then they will follow you back.  A word of advice; don’t follow big name celebrities and expect them to follow you back.  I’m still waiting for Britney Spears to follow me back.  I don’t think it’s going to happen.  After a while you build up a group of people with similar interests to you and see all the different things they post.  You can post links you like as well and it is fun.  The really nice part about it is if you aren’t on line and someone writes something, they don’t really expect you to see it unless they send you a direct message.  That goes right to your email and only to you unless they put multiple recipients.  Then you can answer just them.  The rest of the messages on twitter just roll down the screen.  It’s fun and harmless so give it a shot.  After all, it doesn’t cost anything.