Wiley Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets, 2nd Edition 978-0-470-62466-1 User Manual

Product codes

978-0-470-62466-1

Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets

Setting Up Your Very Own
Twitter Account

If all you want out of Twitter is to read a particular Twitterer’s updates, then you don’t

need to bother creating your own account. Instead, point your favorite Web browser to

http://twitter.com/user, where user is the person’s user name on Twitter, and then peruse the

updates that appear on the page.

This, of course, is no fun whatsoever. Twitter is all about sharing and participating in a community

of fellow Twitterheads, and you can’t do either of those things if you’re sitting on the sidelines.

Even better, joining Twitter literally takes only seconds of your time. So, without further ado (not

that there’s been much ado so far), here’s how to join Twitter:

Display Twitter’s Create an Account page by navigating your Web browser to

http://twitter.com/signup. If you’re already on http://twitter.com, click Join today; if

you’re already viewing a Twitterer’s updates, click the Join today button.

Use the Full name text box to type the name that you want other people to see

when they look at your Twitter profile. Two things to consider here

If you want people to find you on Twitter, be sure to type both your first and last

names.

You can’t include the text twitter anywhere in the name.

The maximum number of characters you can type is 20.

In the Username text box, type the username you want to use on Twitter. Here are

some notes to bear in mind:

The username defines your Twitter address (it’s http://twitter.com/username), it

appears before each of your updates, and it appears in various other places in the

Twitter landscape, so pick something you like and that has meaning.

The maximum number of characters is 15.

You can include any combination of letters, numbers, and underscores (_). All other

characters are illegal (you can’t even type them in the text box).

You can’t include the text twitter anywhere in the username.

As you type, Twitter checks to see if your username is available. If you see username

has already been taken, then you’re out of luck and need to try again. If you see “ok”

then you’re good to go.

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