How to Use (X) Formally Twitter: Beginners Guide

This article will teach you how to get started with Twitter, including showing you how to create an account and learn how to tweet.

1. Signing Up

• Open Twitter. Go to Twitter in your web browser.

• Select ‘sign up’. This is a blue button that will be on your page to the right.

• Enter your name. Type your first and last name into the text box titled ‘name’.

• Add your phone number. Enter your phone number into the text box that is titled ‘phone’. If you would prefer not to share your phone number, then you can sign up with your email address instead. You will find this text box under the ‘phone’ one.

• Select ‘next’. This will be on the right-hand side at the top of your webpage.

• Select ‘sign-up’. This will be a blue button that it as the bottom of the page.

• If you signed up with a phone number, you will have to verify this phone number. You can do this by selecting ‘ok’ when prompted. Then, you will open messages on your phone, and select the message that has been sent by Twitter. Remember the code in the message, then type this code into the verification text box on the website. Select ‘next’.

• Enter your password. Select the ‘password’ field, then enter your password that you want to use to log into your Twitter account every time.

• Select ‘next’. This will be at the top of the page to the right again.

• Verify your email address if you have used your email address to sign up with Twitter. Select ‘ok’ when prompted. Then, open your email inbox and find the email that has been sent by Twitter. Remember the code in the email, and type this into the verification code text box that you will find on Twitter’s website. Select ‘next’.

• Select ‘skip for now’. This will be at the top of your page to the right.

• Choose people to start following. Select the ‘follow’ button underneath any recommended profiles that you want to follow, then select ‘next’ when finished. This is going to take you back to your Twitter profile. If you want to skip this step for now, you can select ‘next’.

2. Set up Your Profile

• Select the profile icon. This is the outline of a person that will be at the top of your screen to the right. A menu will come down.

• Select ‘settings and privacy’. This will be in the menu that has dropped down. This is going to open your settings page.

• Select the ‘username’ text box. This will be near the top of your page.

• Replace the default username that you see with the one that you want to use. You can enter the username that you want to use if it is available. If it is, then you will see a confirmation message in green appear above the text field. If someone else is already using the username that you want to use, then the text will be red, and it will be telling you that you can’t use it.

• Go down your page and select ‘save changes’. It will be at the end of the page.

• When asked, enter your password. Type in the password that you chose before.

• Select ‘save changes’. You will find this option at the bottom of the prompt window.

• Select your profile picture icon. You will find this on the left side. This is going to take you to your profile. You will be able to access your account in the future by selecting the profile circle at the top of this page to the right, and then selecting your name at the top of the menu that drops down.

• Upload your profile picture. Your profile picture is the picture that everyone is going to see when they check out your tweets. To set your profile picture, select the + icon that you will find on the page to the left. Select ‘upload photo’ that will bring up a menu. Choose a photo from your computer. Select ‘open’. Adjust the photo so that it fits well within the space, then select ‘apply’.

• Enter your profile information. When you’re in the ‘edit profile’ view, you can include information to any of the text boxes that you see on the sidebar. This is going to fill out your profile. This is going to include your name, as you want it to appear on Twitter. It’s also going to include your bio, which is a description of yourself. You might also want to include a location, and a website if you have one.

• Choose a theme color. Select ‘theme color’ on the left side of the page, then select the color that you want to use.

• Select ‘save changes’. This will be on the right side of your page. This is going to save your profile changes, and it exists out of the ‘edit profile’ view. If you want to do any editing of your profile in the future, just select the ‘edit profile’ option that is near the top of your profile page.

3. Following Others

• Select the ‘search Twitter’ text field. This is a text box that you will see at the top of the Twitter page.

• Enter a user’s handle or name. Type in any username or name of someone that you want to follow.

• Select a user. Select the name of the user that you want to add in the drop-down menu. This is going to take you to their page.

• Select ‘follow’. This is at the top of the page to the right. If you have selected the user’s profile, then they will get a follow request.

• Find friends from popular email accounts. You can also find friends to follow from contact lists by going to the profile circle that you will find on your page at the top. Select ‘settings and privacy’ on the menu that drops down. Select ‘find friends’ on the left side of your page. Select ‘upload contacts’ right next to your preferred email account, then log into the account and follow the on-screen prompts so that you can import your contacts list.

4. Tweeting

• Select ‘tweet’. This is at the top of your page to the right. This will open a ‘tweet’ box. As long as you aren’t on the ‘messages’ tab, this button is always going to be to the right at the top of your Twitter page.

• Enter your tweet. You can type whatever you want into the ‘tweet’ text box. Currently, Twitter allows its users to type as many as 280 characters in the box. This includes spaces.

• Include an image with your tweet. If you want to post an image alongside your tweet, then select the photo icon. This is in the shape of a mountain. Select a video or photo from your desktop. Select ‘open’.

• Add a GIF to your tweet. If you would rather use a GIF with your tweet than an image, then select the GIF button that you will see right next to your tweet box. Select a category to look through, or type in a keyword to search for a GIF. Select the GIF that you want to use when you find it.

• Add a tweet to your first tweet if you want to start a thread. If you want to make a thread of content, then select the ‘+’ icon at the end of your window, and then enter the text for your tweet. This process can be repeated for each tweet you want to add.

• Select ‘tweet’. This will be at the bottom of your window to the right. This is going to post your tweet to your profile’s feed. If you are tweeting a thread, then you will select ‘tweet all’ in the same place on the screen.

• Tweet a poll. If you want to use the poll feature on Twitter, you can do so by selecting ‘tweet’ and then adding a question to the main text box. Select the ‘poll’ icon and add poll choices in ‘choice one’ and ‘choice two’ fields. You can add more choices by selecting ‘add a choice’. Set a time limit by selecting ‘one day’ and selecting how many days, hours or minutes you want your poll to run. Your poll can run for up to seven days. Select ‘tweet’.

• Respond to someone’s tweet. If you want to respond to someone’s tweet, then go to the home page. Find the tweet that you want to respond to. Select the speech bubble below the tweet. Enter your response. You can also add a GIF, an image, or a poll if you want as well. Select ‘reply’.

• Pin a tweet to the top of your profile. You can pin a tweet to the top of your profile to keep it at the top of your profile page until you decide that you want to pin another tweet. You can only pin on tweet at a time. Open your profile page and find the tweet that you want to pin. This has to be a tweet that you’ve created, not someone else’s. Select the arrow that is pointing down that you will find at the top of the page to the right. Select ‘pin to your profile page’ in the menu that drops down and select ‘pin’ if asked.

5. Retweeting Someone Else’s Tweet

• Open your home feed. Select the ‘home’ option that is at the top of your Twitter page to the left.

• Find a post that you want to retweet. Go down through your feed until you find a tweet that you want to include on your profile.

• Select the ‘retweet’ option. This is a rectangle that is made up of two arrows below the tweet. A menu will come up.

• Include a comment as well. If you want to add a comment to the tweet that you are retweeting, select ‘add a comment’ which will be above the tweet. Enter your comment before retweeting it.

• Select ‘retweet’. This is going to post the tweet to your profile.

6. Sending a Message

• Select ‘messages’. This is a tab that you will find at the top of your page. This is going to open the ‘messages’ window.

• Select ‘new message’. This is at the top of the pop-up window to the right.

• Choose a follower that you want to message. You can either select the name of the follower that you want to message or type the name of the follower into the search box if you don’t see them on the list here. You can choose more than one follower to message, but you need to choose at least one. If you are trying to message someone who isn’t following you, then your message will come up as ‘requested’ in their messages folder.

• Select ‘next’. This is at the bottom of the window to the right.
• Enter your message. Enter your message into the text box at the bottom of the window.

• Include a GIF or photo if you like. Just like with the tweets that we discussed up there, you can include an image or a GIF in your message. Follow the instructions we talked about above.

• Select ‘send’. This will be to the right of the message that you’ve just written. This is going to send your message through to the person getting it. If the message has successfully sent, then a grey checkmark will appear under your message. If the checkmark is blue, then this means that the person has read it.

7. Using Twitter on Your Phone

• Download the Twitter app. You can either download it from the App Store for iPhone, or the Google Play Store for Android.

• Open Twitter. Select the bue and white icon to open the app.

• Sign into your Twitter profile. Once the Twitter app opens, sign into your account and enter your password and email address. If you haven’t created an account yet, follow the setup process for Twitter on mobile.

• Create a new tweet. Select the ‘tweet’ icon, which is a feather pen in a box at the top of your screen for iPhone, or the bottom of your screen for Android. Then enter your tweet and select ‘tweet’ at the top of your screen to the right. Just like on desktop, you can include images and GIFs to your tweets. If you want to respond to someone’s tweet, select the speech bubble underneath the tweet, and then select ‘reply’ once you’ve entered your reply.

• Retweet Twitter content. You can retweet any tweet that isn’t protected by going to the tweet in your home feed, and selecting the ‘retweet’ option, and then selecting the following: ‘retweet’ or ‘retweet with comment’.

• Search Twitter for more users to follow. Go to the search bar, which is the big magnifying glass that you will find in the menu at the bottom of your screen. Select the search bar that appears at the top of the screen, and then enter the name of the user that you want to find. You can also enter a name in the search results to see their profile. Select ‘follow’ to the right of someone’s profile page if you want to follow them.

• Check your notifications. In the menu at the bottom of your screen there is a bell icon. This is where your notifications will come up. You will be able to see all recent notifications, like messages, comments, and recent likes from followers.

• Send a message. If you want to send a message to someone, select the envelope-shaped icon in the menu at the bottom of your screen. Select ‘new message’ that is at the top of your screen to the right for iPhone, or the bottom of your screen to the right for Android. Select the person you want to send a message to, then select ‘start a message’. Enter your message, then select ‘send’.

• View your profile. Select your profile picture at the top of your screen, then select ‘profile’ in the menu that appears. You can edit your profile by selecting ‘edit profile’.