Sometimes all the tools that are available on the Internet seem like a great idea in theory, but you just wish someone would show you the basics and lay it out straight for you. I have been inspired to start a “Back to Basics” series on the SWBN blog for a couple of reasons:

1. My sister recently joined Twitter and she was asking me some questions about using it that I now take for granted
2. A couple of months ago Allison mentioned that the same questions are repeated again and again on Twitter about how to do things on Twitter like “What does the @ symbol mean in a message?” and “What is retweeting?”

I’m probably the least technical of the SWBN team and I often search for a basic “how to” before using any new online tools – not because I can’t eventually figure it out for myself, but because (a) I don’t want to appear an idiot when I start using it and (b) why should I put myself through the agony of testing things out when someone has usually come before me and will show me how to use it (time is precious).

So, the Back to Basics series will start with a simple guide to getting started on Twitter (in a series of short videos).

How Does This Differ from Cool Tools?

The Cool Tools series is all about finding the new tools you might want to use online and showing you how useful they can be, whereas this series will feature tools you already know about but which some of you may need a helping hand getting started on.

How to Twitter

In this first video I start right from the beginning with Twitter. You’ll see how to create an account at Twitter and the very basics of getting started.

When creating a username for yourself, you will want to decide whether to use your actual name or whether to focus more on “what you do”. For example, I was originally audiomarketing on Twitter because I was ‘all about the audio and voiceovers’ and I thought that identified what I did better, but now people search and follow me for different reasons and using my own name makes a lot more sense. You can change your name at a later date if you choose (as I did), but it is worth giving it some thought before you sign-up.

In the next video you will see how simple it is to give you profile a bit of color and personality, and how (and why) to add your profile picture.