Twitter in 5 Basic Steps

This blog has led to me to great people over the years… and that’s the part I like the best!

Putting myself out to another group of followers (besides Blog Readers) led me to Twitter (and in case you haven’t noticed a NEW Facebook page for Red Dirt In My Soul is in the works!).

Now, Twitter is a different animal… It’s hard to tell much of a story in 140 characters… at least for me.

If you’ve only “heard” of Twitter and wondered what the fuss was all about, let me tell you!

Here’s the short and simple about Twitter.

1. You sign up… easy enough to do… and give yourself your name.

Mine is rimrockes, not because I don’t under how to write the plural of rimrock, but because of Rimrock English Shepherds… my dogs/website that got me on the internet in the first place.

2. There you are. You have 140 characters to tell a story.

Make people laugh. Tell ’em GOOD JOB. Tell people what you’re doing. (Me, I don’t tell a lot… doesn’t seem right to publish the fact you’ll be gone for the next few hours in case you’ve got a burglar roaming your neighborhood who is on Twitter…) Or, you can use Twitter for complaints. I have done more of that than I realized. (My cameras were a source of contention for a bit… today the FedEx lady ticked me off complaining about trailing cows on the road. Hello. You are delivering a package to a RANCHER.) Remember: You are putting out the message to the WORLD.

3. Tired of talking to yourself? To become more “interactive”, you *follow* other people through existing friendships, fan bases, or searching for topics. There’s a search bar on the top of the page. Type in someone’s name or a topic… If you find the right person or company, click on their name and follow them! To do this, click on a green *follow* button. Sometimes, they follow you back. Ta-da! You have someone to tweet with!

4. You need to understand the @’s and #’s to figure out what people are saying. If you want to talk to me, you type out @rimrockes. That sends the message to my @ box… and if I don’t see it in real time, I can check my @ tab later and read posts people have sent to me. # are called hashtags. These are topics. You’ll see me including #Wyoming and #ranchlife or #agblog to some of my tweets. That means any who is typing in Wyoming in the search bar will find my tweet. If they like what I say… or even if they don’t… they can start following me. Sounds kinda dark and creepy, doesn’t it?

5. You do have the right to block people, or report them, or unfollow. But for the most part, Twitter people have been funny and supportive. Popping off a note to @WilliamShatner just makes me laugh! The thought that my tweet might actually be read by him… amazing. I’ve found some great links in tweets. One today led me to Truth in Food… and I’m going to have to check that out further.

You can sign up to win things or get the newest news from a company you support.

Overall, Twitter is a kick.

It’s easy and fun and you’ll meet new people from all over the world.

Go spread your wings and TWEET!

P.S. My favorite hashtags to get you going… #ranchlife #Wyoming #agblog #ag #rockinruralwomen #agchat

P.P.S. Feel free to follow me on Twitter!

Cow work tomorrow!