Tech Linz' Blog

People often ask me about Twitter and how to interpret the symbols they see on twitter feeds. So I’m writing this post to give my fellow business peeps a quick tutorial on the language of twitter.

MOST COMMON TWITTER TERMS:
@twittername (example: @techlinz) : When you see the @ symbol before a name, the post is directed to a specific person. For example:
@techlinz when is the #f5expo?

Hashtags (example: #f5expo): By inserting a hashtag (#) before a keyword , you can group posts together with similar content. In this example, the keyword is F5expo and every time our company posts (tweets) about our upcoming expo, we include this hashtag – #f5expo. People interested in updates from the F5expo, can create a saved search on their twitter account or from their mobile twitter application so that they stay in the loop.

Below is an example of a search for #socialmedia. People interested in reading posts related to social media, can save a search for #socialmedia. In essence, your creating (or contributing) to a feed on a specific subject every time you use a hashtag in your post.

Note: Results from searches on twitter will query the entire twitter database, not just the posts from the people you follow ;)

D + post: Means you are sending someone a DIRECT MESSAGE and it will not be posted publicly to your followers. Only the recipient will see it on their feed. Example: D @techlinz

RT @username: This is a RETWEET. It means the message has been forwarded. Use this if you like what someone has said and you want to re-tweet it out to your followers.

NOTEWORTHY HASHTAG:
#followfriday (or #ff for short) – when you see this in a post with twitter names, the “tweeter” is recommending that you follow these people. For example:

OTHER RESOURCES:
Twitter Dictionary – allows you to search for twitter terms and provides answers instantly
More Twitter Terms – 66 terms to be exact ;)

I have been invited to speak for the Roaring Women organization. They are a talented and ambitious group of entrepreneurial women and I’m always thrilled to meet fellow felines who are passionate about business.

You’re welcome to join us on Thursday, November 5th on the topic of Twitter and Facebook for business – event details here.

Not only will you have the opportunity to learn more about social media, but you’ll also get a chance to connect with other amazing women in business. My business partner, Rosanna Wilbur will also be making an appearance.

Everyone needs to take a little time off for fun. So on Halloween night, I enjoyed the company of good friends at a dinner theatre. Afterwards, we whooped it up with some pretty crazy “characters” (haha, so witty!). Kudos to the following creative and somewhat techie costumes…these guys scored a close second in my books…Luigi from Mario Brothers (awesome!) and Chewbacca from Starwars — umm, I saw this guy from the car on the way to the restaurant and it took every ounce of self control I had, not to jump out of the car and give the big furry friend a massive hug!

My favorite costume was the TWITTER FEED. Brilliant! Yes it was homemade and not very glamorous…but I give the guy two thumbs up for being so dang creative. Go geeks go!!

He was very busy updating the world on current events 140 characters at a time, but that didn’t stop him from posting, ahhemm, I meant posing for the camera.

In hindsight, I wish I’d asked for the lowdown on what inspired the costume.

If you saw a wicked techie costume…please post a comment and share it here :)