So here is a followup to my HOW TO: #Hashtags on twitter (#quote, #followfriday, etc..) post.

I have recently recieved some questions about using twitter, here are your answers.

1) What are the @ symbol’s I see?

Using @twittername is a simple way to send a message to one person. It is not a private message like the DM (Direct Message). This is the most common way of conversing with other’s on twitter. Anytime someone uses your name with an @ sign in front it will show up in your “@Replies” or “Mentions” sidebar tab. Using the @ before a name also turns the name into a link that goes to that user’s profile.

Examples: To send a message to me you can use “@montanaflynn hey this is a test message” and I will easily be able to see on my replies page. Or you could use multiple people in one tweet like on #followfriday as follows “Here are my fav’s for #followfriday: @AprilFilms @BellaTosta @Invoke” and they would all get the tweet in their replies pages.

2) What does RT mean?

RT stands for retweet, which basically means your copying someone else’s tweet. So if I wanted to retweet someones message I would copy the message and add RT @ to the beginning.

Example: “RT @montanaflynn I love yoohoo’s!” would be used if you wanted to share my original I love yoohoo’s tweet with your followers.

3) Hashtags? whaaat?

Hashtags are used to “Tag” your tweets. Basically tags are a way to describe the content of your tweet. Their are many other uses such as #followfriday and #musicmonday. For a full How To click here.

Examples:
– “John Maeda is an amazing designer! #design” In that example #design is used to tag the whole tweet. This way anyone looking for design related tweets can click the #design link and see who else is tweeting about design from search.twitter.com

- “Here are my fav’s for #followfriday: @AprilFilms @BellaTosta @Invoke” #followfriday is a way to share interesting people with your followers. So every Friday you use the #followfriday hashtag and name some people you like using the @ symbol.

4) DM or Direct Messages.

The only private way to send messages through twitter is using direct messages. You can only send DM’s to people who follow you and it can be done by clicking the tab on the right called “Direct Messages”. You can see DM’s sent to you and DM’s you sent from that page.

If your using twitter with text messages these are the commands available:

Did you know: you can perform certain actions, like following or marking a friend’s update as a favorite, by using the designated Twitter commands? Use the commands listed below from your phone, the web update box, or your favorite third party application.

Turning Twitter off and on: device notifications

* ON: turns ALL phone notifications on.
* OFF: turns ALL phone notifications off.
* STOP, QUIT: stops all messages to your phone immediately

* ON username: turns on notifications for a specific person on your phone. For example, ON alissa.
* OFF username: turns off notifications for a specific person on your phone. For example, OFF blaine.

* FOLLOW username: this command allows you to start receiving notifications for a specific person on your phone. Example: follow jeremy
* LEAVE username: this command allows you to stop receiving notifications for a specific person on your phone. Example: leave benfu

Fun Stuff: friends, favorites, and stats!
There’s more to Twitter than OFF and ON! Use the commands below to send private messages, mark updates as favorites, or even remind someone to update their Twitter page if you’re wondering what they’re doing!

* @username + message
directs a twitter at another person, and causes your twitter to save in their “replies” tab.
Example: @meangrape I love that song too!

* D username + message
sends a person a private message that goes to their device, and saves in their web archive.
Example: d krissy want to pick a Jamba Juice for me while you’re there?

* WHOIS username
retrieves the profile information for any public user on Twitter.
Example: whois jack

* GET username
retrieves the latest Twitter update posted by the person.
Example: get goldman

* NUDGE username
reminds a friend to update by asking what they’re doing on your behalf.
Example: nudge biz

* FAV username
marks a person’s last twitter as a favorite. (hint: reply to any update with FAV to mark it as a favorite if you’re receiving it in real time)
Example: fav al3x

* STATS
this command returns your number of followers, how many people you’re following, and your bio information.

* INVITE phone number
will send an SMS invite to a friend’s mobile phone.
Example: Invite 415 555 1212

Noteworthy Facts

* using on/off username from your phone only stops notifications to the place the command comes from; you’ll still collect a person’s updates on the web.
* using follow/leave username from your phone is the same as using on/off username
* following someone from a phone for the first time will also cause you to follow them on the web
* there is no way to stop following a person on the web without visiting their profile and removing them. The off, leave, stop, and quit commands will only disable updates for the device(s) from which they were sent.
* you don’t have to use ON/OFF username from the phone, you can also set individual notifcations from a person’s profile page, or check your following page and manage all phone notification settings there.

A tiny, hidden gem lies in Twitter’s footer navigation bar: Twitter Search! Twitter search is an incredible tool that allows you to find virtually anything and anyone by adding the ability to search for key words, locations, phrases, and more! Type in any word and you’re guaranteed to get real time results.

* Want to know what people think of a new movie? Try searching for it.
* Search for any phrase (‘I dreamt’ is an interesting one)
* Want to know what people are saying about your company? Try a keyword search.
* Wondering who sends tweets from your area? Try searching for ‘location:cityname’ to see a list of people who are from that city.

The results you get from Twitter show what people are saying and doing right now!
Hope this clears up some things, if not leave commments!