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Now that you’ve got a handle on twitter and are sussed with the terminology, allow me to take you on a grand tour of Twitterville and help you find your feet. Knowing what to look for and where to find it will help you to make efficient use of Twitter, and achieve whatever outcome it is you desire. This is how you will navigate your way around:
Your new home – your homepage is where you’ll land whenever you log on to Twitter. On the right hand side is a stream of Tweets posted by all the people you “follow” on Twitter. The more people you follow, the more interesting this page will be.
Check out your profile page – access your Twitter profile page from the menu on the top navigation bar, or from your Home tab. Your profile displays your Tweets, stats, and information about who you are. Others see this when they look you up on Twitter. Edit this information by clicking on Edit your profile.
Post your own tweets – to post your own Tweet, click on the Compose new Tweet button in the top right corner of your page. You can link to images, videos, or web URLs in your 140-character message, as well as add a location if you want to show users where you are.
Know what’s trending – Trending topics are popular topics that are commonly being tweeted about by Twitter users. Twitter’s algorithm identifies subjects that are immediately popular, rather than those that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis. This helps you to discover the hottest emerging talking points.
Send/receive direct messages – a Direct message is a personal Tweet seen only by the sender and the recipient. To read yours, click on Direct messages from the dropdown menu in your navigation bar. To send one, just specify the username of the account you want to communicate with but they must also be following you.
Stay connected – the Connect tab displays the sub-tabs Interactions and Mentions:
- Interactions – track your Interactions. This timeline shows you how others have been interacting with you on Twitter. Twitter will tell you when someone marks your Tweet as a favourite, mentions your username, follows you, or re-tweets your content.
- Mentions – when another user includes your username preceded by the “@” symbol in a Tweet, it is called a “mention.” Your Mentions tab collects Tweets that mention you by your username so you can keep track of conversations others are having with you. Click on the Tweet to see the conversation.
Discover what’s happening – your Discover tab displays the sub-tabs Stories, Activity, Who to follow, Find friends and Browse categories:
- Stories – reveals stories that are breaking on Twitter among the people you follow and those who they follow. Stories are a collection of topics that people like you are talking about – not all Stories will have made it into Trends.
- Activity – this timeline shows you real-time information about the actions of the people you follow. See who they’ve re-tweeted, followed, replied to, and more. This is a good way to discover interesting content on Twitter.
- Who to follow – Twitter can help you find accounts to follow by directly recommending new accounts that may be of interest to you, based on the accounts you’re already following.
- Find friends – allows you to follow friends and colleagues with a simple contact import from your email address book.
- Browse categories – these are lists of engaging and well-liked accounts on Twitter which are organised by common interests.
With your Twitter-ctionary and Twitter-gater in hand, you’ve got Twitterville in the palm of your hand. Follow the lead and build up your own following while trending along with the rest of the birdies!
Mpho 
