Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms of all and is currently actively used by over 200 million people. But how does Twitter actually work? In this guide, we take a closer look at the short message service, clarify the most important terms and give tips on how to use it.
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This is what co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first notes and ideas for Twitter looked like.
Image: © Twitter/Jack Dorsey 2016
The microblogging service Twitter was founded in March 2006 and was originally planned as a communication platform based on SMS. Friends were to stay in touch via short posts and always be able to find out what was going on with the respective person.
Initially, Twitter was used as a development project for internal communication in the podcast company Odeo. However, the project had so much potential that Twitter was spun off and became its own company in 2007.
Interesting facts about Twitter
- The first tweet was sent on March 21, 2006 by co-founder Jack Dorsey with the following content: “just setting up my twttr.”
- Twitter was first known as “twttr.” On the one hand, the name was supposed to be an allusion to the short code writing in SMS. On the other hand, the domain www.twitter.com was already taken at the time of its founding.
- The blue Twitter bird was originally called “Larry the bird” and used to look quite different.
- Certain features such as hashtags, retweets or tagging using @ originated from the chat jargon of the Twitter community. They were only integrated natively into the service later.
When the short message service became available to all users of the Internet, user numbers literally exploded. By April 2010, 105 million people were already registered with Twitter. In the same year, the company released the official app for smartphones, which led to another doubling of user numbers within a year.
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In the first quarter of 2019, 330 million users use Twitter at least once a month.
Image: © Statista 2021
Since Twitter started as an SMS-based platform, users had to be brief with their tweets. For a long time, they only had 140 characters at their disposal. In 2017, however, the company decided to increase the character limit to 280. According to an analysis by Statista, there were around 330 million Twitter users who were active at least once a month in 2019.
How Twitter works: A little Twitter 101
In the following, we would like to introduce the short message service Twitter in more detail and explain the most important terms and functions.
Tweet
As mentioned earlier, users on Twitter can send short messages of up to 280 characters in length. These are referred to as tweets. A tweet does not necessarily have to consist of pure text, but can also contain images or videos. On the start page of Twitter, the tweets of other users you follow are displayed. You can find your own tweets in your profile.
To write a tweet on your PC, simply enter it in the text field on the start page. With a click on the respective symbol under the text field you can add up to four pictures, a GIF or a video. Now you just have to press the Tweet button and your tweet will go online.
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You can easily enter and send your tweet on the home page.
Image: © Screenshot TURN ON 2021
On mobile devices, submitting a tweet works similarly. To open the text field on the smartphone, however, you must first tap the plus symbol in the lower right corner in the Twitter app and then tap the feather symbol.
Tip: Compose longer tweets
Want to write a tweet longer than 280 characters? Just type your text into the text field. If the circle below the tweet is completely blue, the character limit has been reached. Now press the plus symbol. This opens a new text field where you can finish your longer tweet as a thread (reply).
Twitter handle and name
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The big name below your account picture is your editable display name, and below that is your unique Twitter handle.
Image: © Screenshot TURN ON 2021
When you’re on Twitter, you need an account with a unique identifier. This is the so-called Twitter handle, which always starts with an @. Each Twitter handle is unique and cannot be changed.
In addition to the Twitter handle, there is also a display name that is shown first for tweets. This is not unique and can be changed as often as desired. When it comes to searching for specific accounts or tagging them in a tweet, the Twitter handle is the more important account name.
Follower
A follower is a person who follows a Twitter account. When you follow a user on Twitter, their posts appear on your home page. Conversely, all your tweets appear on the home pages of Twitter accounts that follow you.
If you want to address a specific Twitter user with a tweet, you mention him right at the beginning of the tweet with his Twitter handle. Then the mentioned user receives a notification about his mention. Such a tweet can only be seen by Twitter users who follow both you and the person mentioned.
If you want all your followers to see a tweet of yours in which a certain user is tagged, then you must not put his Twitter handle at the beginning of your tweet. This could look like this: “How are you, @abc?”. If you want the mentioned user to be at the top of the tweet, you can help yourself with a little trick. Just put a dot in front of the Twitter handle, like this: “.@abc, how are you?”.
Hashtags (#)
With so-called hashtags, which are marked by a preceding hash (#), you can assign a kind of category to your tweet. This makes it easier to find and bundle tweets on certain topics. Twitter users often hashtag special events such as soccer matches, concerts or TV shows to discuss them online.
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On December 2, 2021, #SpotifyWrapped and #AdventCalendar were among those trending in Germany.
Image: © Screenshot TURN ON 2021
If a hashtag is mentioned particularly frequently in tweets, it appears in the trends on Twitter. On the PC, you can see the trends right next to your home page; in the Twitter app on smartphones, they are only displayed when you press the magnifying glass icon for the search.
If you are interested in a particular topic, you can simply click on the hashtag in a tweet or in the trends and join the discussion. You can also search for hashtags in the search.
Reply, Retweet, Like, Share
You can react to a user’s tweet in different ways. Four icons with different functions are available to you. If you press the speech bubble, you can write a reply. This is visible to all Twitter users who click on the original tweet.
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With “Retweet” you can forward the original tweet to your followers, with “Quote Tweet” you can say something about the tweet.
Image: © Screenshot TURN ON 2021
If you want to show a certain tweet of a Twitter user to your followers, you can use a retweet. To do this, click on the icon with the two arrows. Now you can choose between “Retweet” and “Quote Tweet”. With a retweet, the user’s original tweet is played out unchanged to your followers. If you decide to quote, you can add a few lines to the original yourself. If you simply want to show that you like a tweet, you can give a tweet a Like via the heart symbol.
Depending on the platform, there is another arrow symbol (PC) or a symbol with three connected circles (smartphone) in fourth place under Tweets. This allows you to share tweets in other ways. You can either send a direct message to a Twitter user, copy the link to the tweet and forward it via a messenger, for example, or use the “Share tweet via…” function. (PC) or “Share via” (smartphone) to directly select an app for sharing. You can also use the “Bookmarks” feature to save certain tweets and find them again later.
Direct message (DM)
If you want to communicate privately with another user on Twitter without all your followers reading, you also have the option to write a direct message (DM). To do this, simply click on the user picture or the display name of the Twitter account and then on the letter icon.
How Twitter works: Helpful shortcuts for PC users
If you mainly use Twitter on your PC, you can save a lot of time with various shortcuts when using the service. We have listed the most important shortcuts for you here.
Actions
- Compose new tweet = N
- Give Like = Click Tweet + L
- Reply to tweet = click tweet + R
- Retweet = click tweet + T
- Open menu for DMs = M
- Mute account = click account + U
- Block account = click account + X
- Open search = Shift + 7
- Send Tweet: Ctrl + Enter (PC), Command + Enter (Mac)
Navigation
- Skip to next tweet = J
- Skip to previous tweet = K
- Scroll entire page down = Spacebar
- Load new tweets = .[period)
- Show all shortcuts = Shift + ß
Tab navigation
- Back to home page: G + H
- Messages tab: G + N
- Mentions-Tab: G + R
- Go to profile: G +P
- “Like” tab: G + L
- List tab: G + I
- Direct message tab: G + M
- Settings/Data protection: G + S
- Call list with user accounts: G + U
Interesting Twitter bots
Twitter is not only home to private individuals, celebrities and companies, but also accounts managed by bots. These are computer programs that can perform small tasks on their own. Some of these Twitter bots have useful or amusing functions. We would like to introduce you to a few exciting bots here.
Thread Reader App (@threadreaderapp)
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Thread Reader App displays longer tweets with multiple threads as concise blog entries.
Image: © Screenshot TURN ON/@threadreaderapp 2021
As already mentioned as a tip, users can also send messages with more than 280 characters using threads. Unfortunately, these long tweets do not read very comfortably due to the reply structure. The Account Thread Reader app provides a remedy here.
Simply reply to a tweet that consists of multiple replies from the same person with “@threadreaderapp unroll” and the Twitter bot will serve you an easy-to-read version of the long tweet in blog format.
DownloadThisVideo (@this_vid)
If a Twitter user has tweeted an interesting video, you can download it using the Twitter account DownloadThisVideo. Just tag the bot with “@this_vid” under a tweet with an embedded video and the bot will send you a download link to the video after a short time.
EveryColor (@everycolorbot)
Want to bring a little more color into your life? Then all you have to do is follow @everycolorbot. The Twitter bot tweets a random color every hour and the corresponding Hex code. If you want to paint your room soon, the Twitter bot might give you some inspiration.
Year Progress (@year_progress)
Do you ever wonder what percentage of the year is actually over? The Twitter bot @year_progress tells you. The bot tweets a loading bar with the current status every time another percent of the year has passed.
Remind me of this Tweet (@RemindMe_OfThis)
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The Twitter bot “Remind me of this Tweet” is a great reminder for upcoming events.
Image: © Screenshot TURN ON 2021
Have you read an interesting tweet that you want to be reminded of at a later time? Then the Twitter bot Remind me of this Tweet is made for you. To be reminded of a person’s tweet, you simply tag the bot with “@RemindMe_OfThis” under the respective tweet. Then you write when you want the bot to remind you of the tweet. The time must be in English and can look like this: “@RemindMe_OfThis in a year”.
Abstract
- Twitter is a social media platform where users can post short messages of 280 characters (tweets).
- Your tweets are displayed to your followers and you see tweets from users you follow on Twitter.
- Hashtags are used to assign tweets to a specific topic. They always start with a hash (#).
- You have different ways to react to tweets. The choices are replies, retweets, and likes.
- Tweets can also be shared outside of Twitter.
- Direct Messages (DMs) also allow you to talk privately with Twitter users without your followers being able to read.
- On the PC, you can save a lot of time with shortcuts on Twitter.
- Some Twitter bots offer interesting and amusing functions.
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