Confused about all the fuss over Twitter?  Not quite sure if it’s the thing for you?  Read on to find out more…

Twitter is a social network where users record their thoughts or current status in mini-posts of up to 140 characters, creating a ‘mini-blog’ that others users can subscribe to. This keeps things short and sweet, with users often linking to news stories of interest elsewhere online, post pictures or pass comment on anything from Prime Minister’s Questions to the X-Factor!

Twitter is free to join, so simply go to www.twitter.com and sign-up to get going. Unlike other social networks like Facebook, Twitter is less about connecting with people you know (although you can do this) and more about following people who interest you. This works by finding someone who you’d like to ‘follow’ using the ‘Find People’ tab. For example, to find Celia Bowring’s Prayer Tweets page, search for ‘celia bowring’ and then click on her profile and choose the button. From now on, all of Celia’s ‘Tweets’ will come up on your homepage. Over time, as you find more people to follow, the number of people whose Tweets appear on your homepage will increase. You can choose to ‘unfollow’ someone at any time, simply click the  button and choose ‘unfollow’ from the list below.

To post a ‘Tweet’, simply type some text into the box marked ‘What’s happening’ (see below) on your Twitter homepage (remember to keep it under 140 characters!) and when you’re ready press the Tweet button.

If this all sounds a bit much, it’s important to remember one thing: just because you’re on Twitter, it doesn’t mean you have to Tweet.  Many people use Twitter as a simple way of keeping up-to-date with the latest goings-on in the world, whether that’s current affairs or the world of entertainment.  At the bottom of this article you’ll find a list of Twitter users who might be of interest to you to follow.

Five Top Twitter Tips

1.       If you’re copying links to other sites into your tweet, use a ‘URL Shortener’, such as http://bit.ly or http://tinyurl.com to keep the length of your link to a minimum – giving you more space to say what you want!
E.g. turn http://www.care.org.uk/news/impact-direct into http://bit.ly/c5ysNt

2.       If you find someone you’d like to follow, see who they follow themselves – you’re much more likely to find other interesting people to follow doing this than by just searching at random.  Similarly, Twitter will automatically produce a list of ‘suggested users’ found under ‘Who to Follow’ on the sidebar of your homepage, based on people similar to those you already follow.

3.       Twitter has its own etiquette – if you want to use a link from someone else’s Tweet, then you can ‘Retweet’ it, which will post it to your own feed, but also acknowledge who you have got the link from.  To mention someone by name in your Tweet, simply place an @ in front of their Twitter username and they will get a notification of your message (NB: this is not a private message, so other’s can see it too!)
E.g. to compliment Celia on her Prayer Tweets, send a tweet saying ‘Really enjoying the prayer Tweets @careprayerdiary, keep up the good work!’  She will then be notified of your Tweet.

4.       You can set up Twitter on your mobile phone as well, you don’t need a fancy smartphone to do it either.  Just go to http://bit.ly/9falvM for instructions and you’ll be able to send Twitter updates via text message from anywhere in the world, whether you’re near a computer or not!

5.       Beware!  Twitter can become quite addictive, so just take it slowly to start with, find a group of 20-30 people to follow and maybe a few news outlets as well.  Most importantly, follow the various CARE Tweeters to keep updated with the latest news from CARE!

Suggested users to follow to get you started…

CARE Tweets:

www.twitter.com/careorguk – Main CARE Twitter feed
www.twitter.com/careprayerdiary – Celia’s Prayer Tweets feed
www.twitter.com/garethcare – Tweets from Gareth Davies, CARE’s Development Officer
www.twitter.com/loosethechains – Tweets relating to our human trafficking campaign
www.twitter.com/MyManifesto2011 – Tweet your Manifesto for the elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Or find all of them in one place at: http://twitter.com/#!/careorguk/care-tweeters-2

Other Christian Organisations:

www.twitter.com/Theosthinktank
www.twitter.com/JubileeCentre
www.twitter.com/Tearfund
www.twitter.com/EAUKNews
www.twitter.com/BibleSociety
www.twitter.com/christianorguk
www.twitter.com/susadotinfo

News Organisations:

BBC News: www.twitter.com/BBCNews
Channel 4: www.twitter.com/channel4news
The Guardian: www.twitter.com/GuardianNews
The Daily Telegraph: www.twitter.com/TelegraphNews
Tweetminster (Latest news from Westminster): www.twitter.com/Tweetminster