Today I woke up to the notification that its my 7th Twitter Anniversary. Funny thing is I didnt realize we were married and I didnt even remember that seven years ago today on the 27th of October, I logged onto twitter, for the first time and logged out a couple of times but I never really left…….
Do you hear that, playing in the background, faint music…… voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say…
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here
You can log-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!
Nobody quite understands Twitter (not even its creators) but its provocative yet addictive…. Its like talking in a crowded room of people all talking at the same time and not even to each other but @ each other….
Its a message in a bottle thrown out in the deep blue sea and hoping someone reads it….
Twitter is a tool and like any tool and can build or destroy, depending how you wield it.
Twitter is the most real-time dynamic social media platform ever, if you doing it right you can find breaking stories way before they trickle to Facebook and Whatsapp or become viral…. If you think its just social media what other site do they read posts from on live news?
In honour of my Twitterversary, I will share 7 handy tips to surviving on Twitter
- get a decent number of followers and the only way to do that is to tweet and follow others; some will follow back.
- Some people are trolls out to get retweets, an audience, and attention….
They are like Gremlins do not feed them not just after dark… but ever
- Hashtags are your friends, use #Hashtags to find content and tweets that you relate with, (as an author I recommend #amwriting) One my personal faves is #vss for very short stories, most of my tweets are of this format and I eventually turn them into a story, my Twitter Timeline is basically a draft folder. Wednesdays evenings I host a poetry event tagged #AbWPE if you are of poetic persuasion do check it out. I have a special group of blogging friends and they use #BlogIndaba find us, find them. If you have any others drop them in comments.
- Trending topics keep you updated on …. well the trending Hashtags. You can set your twitter feed to show you:
Topics trending worldwide
Topics Trending in your country:
**For some reason Zimbabwe and a few other African countries do not appear on the list 
…….And South Africa has the option to pick Trends by city location
Tailored Trends: based on the people you follow
- I follow 5000+ people on Twitter and I have long since learnt, you dont have to read every tweet. My twitter news feed refreshes every second, and I would probably miss tweets from even my favourite twitter accounts but then I use twitter lists.
- I group my followers into manageable chunks,soon as as I add them; I have lists for blogging connections, authors, crushes, journalists, hilarious accounts and those I must never miss updates from. I simply load the list and get a form “tailored newsfeed”
For those people who say they only follow a few people to avoid their newsfeed getting overwhelmed you could simply create a list of those people near and dear to you and still follow a whole lot of other accounts….. you are welcome.
If you have any useful tips of your own do share and maybe one day we will do The Guide To Understanding Twitter
You can find me on twitter @Beatonm5
~B
PS There is a Mute Button, an Unfollow Button and a Block button: They will save you a world of drama if used judiciously….
I love the mute button though, its like blocking but without the permanent commitment, its just as good saying, I like knowing you around, though I dont really want to see you.
Becoming The Muse 
The greatest lesson I have learnt since coming on the platform is that:
ITS NOT JUST TWITTER.
What you tweet, has impact it can make or break real human lives.
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ITS NOT JUST TWITTER
~B
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Entertaining post about Twitter Beaton. Some love it, some don’t. Some have a short romance with it and then divorce follows. I’ve always liked twitter, I have no idea why, but I do!
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Apparently there two Types of people in the world, those who like twitter and those who dont….
~B
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I thought I was too too wordy for twitter, but I like it again. I liked it most when it was about conversations and micro stories and not so much marketing.
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Hey twitter does teach you a brevity of expression and concise thought there is only so much you can pack into 180 characters at a time…..
I mean even if you are going to market yo could do it in a conversational way not just spew posts links and stuff like robot programmed ….
That said I am still on twitter for the conversation and microstories and micropoetry …. Do we follow each other there ?
~B
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@gypsiewriter
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Found you!!
~B
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Loce this! Really great tips! You are so right the only way to achieve followers on twitter is to tweet, follow, retweet and really engage. It is not he kind of social media platform you want to use if you are not committed.
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Somehow I missed this comment, yes twitter requires some form of commitment otherwise you will run away from it in a day and never come back ha!
~B
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I love lists. 🙂
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Hahahaha….. Lists are great they make sense of things
~B
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Something I love about Twitter is the amazing community that can be found there. I remember posting about the airline price hikes that occurred over the course of a day when Irma was officially announced as a hurricane. So much support from the twitter-verse poured in! I had a few a-holes comment mocking and attention seeking posts, I ignored, but my community lashed back with a great force!
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Very informative. Still learning the ropes.
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Its not rocket science hahahaha but it might as well be….
~B
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Thank you! This is so informative!!
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I mostly just use Twitter to keep up with #SafariLive, and a few organizations who post news stories that I sometimes share on my blog. Actually being good at Twitter seems way too complicated for me. How do you create lists?
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I answered this comment in my head then totally forgot about it….. To create lists just click on the lists button and start tagging the twitter people or if you go to person’s profile you click on that more options button where you find option to mute and message…. There will be an add to list option
This works via the twitter app or using a PC browser
~B
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Thanks B! I really need to up my Twitter game…it might get me elected president in the future!
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Great info! Do you use the original Twitter app, or another like Buffer or Hootsuite? I’m using TweetCaster and really like it.
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I use Tweetcaster too its handy and has a better feel than the Twitter App and I also use TweetDeck when on a computer to it saves having to open multiple tabs and I can keep track of hashtags easily on one page
~B
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A group for crushes? I’d like to be in that group 😅
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you are ~B
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*you’re too much*
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I try ♥…..
~B
by the way….. A friend asked me tell you that you have a beautiful smile, and and an even lovelier soul
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🙈🙈🙈😂😂 I am just …. Going to go and turn red in my corner over there. Tell your friend I say thank you. 😌
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They said you are welcome
~B
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Thank you so much for posting this, it’s been really helpful. I am new to Twitter and really struggling with it. Will now give it another shot and hopefully start enjoying it some more!
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Glad to be of use… Twitter is a crazy place but don’t be fooled it’s really an intricate space with vast potential waiting… What’s your twitter name and will look for you.
I might drop a few more tips or if you have questions I may or may not be able to help but I will do my best to try
~B
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Wow, you are so kind! I’m also a new blogger – 1 month old and I have been overwhelmed at how supportive the blogging community is. You can find me at @spicegirlblogs – I thought the name alone would generate a bit of interest!
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Ah! I follow you on the twitterverse now, interesting name and congrats on the blogging journey, the thing I love most about the blogging community, is the helpfullness and I try to pay it forward as much as I can 😊
~B
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These are some great tips B. Thank you!! I just may survive this round of Twitter after all.
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You are welcome…
See its not an unmanageable mess 😂
~B
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