Getting started:
So, you want to join twitter? And don’t know how? All you need to do is go www.twitter.com and set up an account. You set it up, write a biography about yourself in 160 characters, add a profile picture* and voila! Easy!!
*To do this, as you are setting up your profile, the fifth link along will say image and then you can add an image to your profile
So, you have just started twitter, it’s confusing and technical and you don’t know what all the twitter lingo means!! Don’t worry... Here is all you need to know in:
The Twitter Lowdown
Following someone: When you first begin Twitter you have now followers and are following no one. In order to begin following someone, simply click ‘who to follow’ and type in a name of a celebrity or civilian who you would like to follow. For example, searching for Amanda Holden or Alan Carr will immediately take you to their twitter page and you then click follow and voila, you are now part of their twitter family!
Verified: Remember, watch out, there are some people out there who are not who they say they are. Some people have created accounts pretending to be your favourite celeb. Strange, I know, but they have! In order to make sure you are following the right celeb or person you want; look out for a little blue ‘tick’ next to their name. This means they have been verified by the twitter powers that be and are definitely who they say they are Not all celebs have been verified so watch out, another way of making sure you’re following the right person, go through their tweets and see if it sounds like they are who they say they are!! Be careful
Trending Topic: When you log in to Twitter, down the right hand side you will see the word ‘Trends’. Depending on where you are in the world the trends will differ and you can set them to a different country, or to make it worldwide. Then you will see the top ten most talked about things that particular day. (I have mine set for United Kingdom Worldwide). They do tend to change hourly! The number one in the trends list is the subject, place, person, thing, or object that is the most trendy/talked about that particular day. So, for example, at the time of me writing this, the top trend is #vote2011. This is because today is the voting day.
# (hash) tag: When you write a tweet and add# before a word or a phrase, this becomes ‘clickable’ links. So, if you write #Emmerdale or #corrie you can then click on these links and see what other people have said about this particular topic or person, for example, #davidhassellhoff, at any time.
@ Tag: When you are talking to someone else on twitter add a @ before their name. For example, @amandaholden or @benshephard, these are their twitter names and it means you can write directly to them and they can then get the tweet and possibly even reply back. My particular twitter name is @hannah_bananax so if anyone writes that and then something to me, I am likely to receive a tweet doesn’t usually happen very often though!!
Re-tweets: Should you see a comment of a ‘tweet’ by a favourite celebrity of yours, you can retweet this to your followers: To do this, hover the mouse over the particular tweet and then click retweet.
Favourite and reply: If you see a tweet that you really like and want it to become a favourite of yours, hover your mouse over the particular tweet and click favourite. Also, should you want to reply to a particular tweet hover and click reply!
Who to follow: If u have just joined twitter and are unsure who to follow, or maybe you want some more celebs to tweet, click the ‘who to follow’ link at the top and this will take you to a page which will give you some suggestions on who is good to follow at that one time!
Follow Friday: Friday is follow day. This is where you list all the best people you follow and let all your followers know they should follow them!! To do this, simply write @ (insertnamehere) and your followers will thank you and begin to follow some of your favourite people!!
Hopefully after that quick fire lowdown and getting started guide to Twitter you are now ready to begin Remember, enjoy it, follow your favourite people and add me!! @hannah_bananax
Me and Twitter!!
Twitter is a worldwide phenomenon. Used by celebrities and civilians alike it is a great way to stay in touch with friends and to interact with your favourite celebrities in a way that makes you feel that you are almost talking to them over the phone or their friend.
Whereas Facebook is used to stay in touch with friends and family and update them with your lives, Twitter is used to keep in touch with celebrities and get updated with the goings on in their lives!
I have to say that I love it. I have been a twitterer for the last year and a half but only tweeted 235 times and only have 9 followers! Not the best when you look at celebrities such as Ashton and Demi Moore and Stephen Fry who have followers by the millions!
Although I am not a celebrity, obviously, just a fan of many, many celebrities and interested in what they are doing, keeping up to date with their lives and feeling as though I am part of it in some way.
I follow over 200 people, all of them celebrities in some way, some American and some English. I follow the major twitterers and celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Phillip Schofield and the aforementioned Ashton and Demi, as well as such people as Myleene Klass, Holly Willoughby, Alan Carr, Chris Moyles and Olly Murs, to name but a few.
A lot of the celebrities that I follow on Twitter joined around the same time, almost two years ago! When Phillip Schofield first joined back in 2009 he had NO idea of the stir it would cause and how big it would become. Speaking at the time he said on his website blog:
“Well, what an extraordinary week of Twittering! What a sensational new discovery. So successful has it been that I’ve just been voted London’s No 5 Twitterer – one of my proudest accomplishments. It’s amazing how something that has been merrily bubbling under the mainstream radar should seem to, apparently, burst so rapidly into the public arena”.
This is completely true, as when he said this in 2009, Twitter was still virtually unknown. Now, it is a massive phenomenon and used by billions of people worldwide. People flock to twitter to comment on a new television show premiere, celebrities’ lives and gossip and, more recently, the super injunctions news stories which have caused such a stir. Back in 2009, Phillip only had 400 followers to begin with, he now has over 755,000!!
I find twitter fascinating, not least because I am on it all the time, checking in with what the celebs are up to, where they are touring, eating, drinking, driving and working. Knowing so much about a celebrity and what they are up to etc is borderline stalking isn’t it? Although it’s not as though I’m going to turn up where they are in London or the Caribbean holidaying any time soon is it?
It’s not just the well known, major celebs I follow; I also follow many other kinds of stars as well. From McFly to The Saturdays to JLS to Radio1 DJs Scott Mills and Greg James, as well as a range of Hollyoaks, Coronation Street and Emmerdale stars. Although the following of soap stars has something to do with the fact that I am a self confessed soap addict, regularly watching the soaps and I like to know about the soap stars and also to tweet them with kind words for their performances in a particular episode, the instant feedback is brilliant and they always thank their followers for their good or bad comments on a scene or storyline they are acting out on screen.
The whole ‘reading comments from other twitterers who are watching a particular television programme at the same time as you’ is also good for the celebrities as well, although I don’t know whether they would want to read all the comments which appear about their performances etc. But it is good for instant feedback and reviews for them to take into account I suppose. It’s funny as when everyone is watching a show at the same time, they instantly write their opinions and criticisms. So if it is an awards show for example and someone wins an award which they don’t like and they tweet about it, so do so many other people who are equally as outraged! Also, with reality shows such as Dancing on Ice on a Sunday, when ‘nasty’ judge Jason Gardiner says something controversial to a contestant, people take to Twitter to vent their opinions and feel outraged and angry at the same time as many other people!! At least you know you are not alone in feeling that some comments are harsh or knowing that hundreds of other people also like a particular actor or television show more than others, the same as you do!
Instant feedback is also something many celebrities ask for, using Twitter to ask for their opinions on a show they are involved in or thinking about doing, as well as asking whether they should wear a certain tie or shirt for a television appearance they might be doing. As well as using it for asking people to vote for them or their programmes in awards such as NTAs or Soap Awards and other such award ceremonies, or to sponsor them for charity work they may be doing. It must be a great way for them to feel closer to their fans than they have ever been able to before, something which must feel nice. To know they have many fans and loyal followers who love them and their work and admire what they are doing or have done and look up to them as a hero.
The celebrities have a ‘thing’ where they call their twitter families by a name. For example, Justin Beibers followers are known as ‘The Beleibers’. The ‘Emmerdale’ followers are known as ‘The Emmerdalians’ and Mariah Carey’s followers are ‘Lambily’. By lovingly calling their followers a collective, they make them feel part of a big group of people or a family and make their followers feel loved! All the celebrities that I follow do this really well and always seem so grateful to their loyal followers for complimenting them, following them and defending them if ever they need it. It can’t always be a good thing, but it must be nice to feel virtually loved in some way by a massive group of people from all over the world who read your daily updates and feel a part of your family.
The funny thing about twitter is you can follow celebrities and then realise that they follow the same people that you do. For example, I follow Holly Willoughby who follows Fearne Cotton, (as they are best friends, obviously) and a lot of the soap stars I follow also follow each other, so when they tweet each other it comes up on the timeline so you can see their interactions..It’s strange as it’s almost like reading someone’s text messages to a friend and the banter between many of the celeb friends is a lot of fun to read!
A lot of the ‘soap stars’ are friends and the banter between them is funny to read. Several of the Emmerdale, Corrie and Hollyoaks casts are regularly teasing and ribbing each other about one thing or another. For example, earlier this year Ryan Thomas (Jason Grimshaw in Corrie) posted a picture of his friend @scottyspecial (his twitter name) and their mutual friend Brooke Vincent (Sophie in Corrie) watching a DVD and put the tweet as something along the lines of ‘look at the way he is touching her arm, are they really just friends!?’ which, of course, was picked up by several tabloids and followed with the headline ‘Brooke Vincent has a boyfriend’. She took to twitter to defend herself and say she didn’t and that it was just banter, so although it was fun to tweet it was picked up by the tabloids!!
Tweets being picked up by tabloids and run as a story has become a new way of journalists getting a story, while it could be seen as lazy journalism it could also be seen as a good way of seeing what the celebs are up to. When a star announces they are leaving a television show, having a baby or, like Holly Willoughby, in labour! It instantly becomes picked up and the latest gossip. I suppose it is a really good idea when you think about it, although like Ryan Thomas proved-you don’t always know what is real and what just pure banter between friends is!!
As well as reading the arguments and ‘twitter rows’ between celebs which become stories in the tabloids! Including Piers Morgan and Alan Sugar arguing over the number of followers they have and also Denise Van Outen and Natalie Cassidy arguing over the best way to parent!
A lot of the exclusives which come out in a tabloid newspaper, either the dailies or the weekend tabloids, are also revealed on Twitter the day or evening before. I follow Dan Wooton who is a tabloid journalist for Sundays News of the World and whether or not the stories are true, he reveals them on Twitter on the Saturday night before the papers sell on a Sunday. For example, all the X factor USA gossip was revealed on Sat night on Twitter before hitting shops on Sunday. I like a bit of celeb gossip!!
Twitter is also a great platform to tweet well wishes, condolences and congratulations to a celebrity who is unwell or getting married or revealed to be pregnant etc. This was the case when Amanda Holden tragically lost her baby earlier this month and her celebrity friends, acquaintances and many, many of her loyal fans and followers used Twitter to send her so many thoughts, prayers, well wishes and condolences. It was really sweet to read some of the comments of the many people who sent their thoughts, not just the celebrities. It shows how well liked a celebrity is with people when something that happens to them or something they do or say touches the hearts and lives of so many people.
Although there are many good things about Twitter, there are, of course, also dangers and downsides to it as well, for example, cyber bullying and criticisms. Some people use it to actually find a celebrity and then target them with abuse and nasty comments as they are hiding behind words and an online account. As well as criticising people for having an opinion on a topic which they don’t agree with!
I just think that using Twitter in this way is a really bad thing as although they are words, words can hurt and so can criticisms and rudeness. Many of the celebs which I follow have had abuse sent to them via Twitter about one thing or another which they sometimes then retweet and ask their loyal followers to report them and get their account blocked and shutdown so they don’t send abuse to any other unsuspecting people.
I just find people who do this really strange as, yes it is good to have an opinion and feel strongly about something but to abuse someone because they don’t feel the same as you is ridiculous as everyone in the world is entitled to an opinion!
There are other wrong ways to use Twitter, a sort of abuse of the system; but used in the right, intended way and it is a shared phenomenon of the world with all the right intentions.
This is my Twitter.
Hannah Emery
@Hannah_bananax My house in Cornwall nr NQ xx
Journalism student at UCF, Brass Band player, HomeBird, Love friends, family, writing, sun, smiles, FunTimes xx
So, we have had a look at ‘How to use Twitter’, The lingo of Twitter, the ways I personally use Twitter and the celebs affectionate names for their Twitter family. Now, it’s time for 30 fun facts and figures about Twitter, courtesy of www.seotradenews.com)
1. Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched in July of that year.
2. Twitter’s origins lie in a “day long brainstorming session” that was held by board members of the podcasting company Odeo. While sitting in a park on a children’s slide and eating Mexican food, Dorsey introduced the idea of an individual using an SMS service to communicate with a small group.
3. The first Twitter prototype was used as an internal service for Odeo employees and the full version was introduced publicly on July 15, 2006
4. The original project code name for the service was ‘twttr‘, an idea that Williams later ascribed to Noah Glass, inspired by the name of the social media image website ‘Flickr’ and the five-character length of American SMS short codes.
5. The team finally settled on the name ‘twitter‘, which means ‘chirps from birds’ in essence ‘a short burst of inconsequential information’
6. The tipping point for Twitter’s popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. During the event, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000.
7. It had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007
8. In 2008 there were only 3 million registered users
9. In 2008 there were only 1.25 million tweets per day
10. Jan 2008 there were only 8 employees
11. In 2009 or 2 years ago Twitter had 8 million registered users
12. In 2011 there are now over 400 employees
13. 75% of Twitter traffic comes from third-party applications
14. 60% of all tweets come from third-party apps
15. There are over 100,000 Twitter applications
16. A Forrester report revealed that “Twitterers are the connected of the connected, overindexing at all Social Media habits. For example, Twitterers are three times more likely to be Creators (people who create and share content via blog posts and YouTube) as the general US population” (source Forrester report “Who Flocks to Twitter”)
17. 3 years, 2 months and 1 day…the time it took from the first tweet to the billionth tweet.
18. It now takes one week for users to send a billion Tweets.
19. In March 2010 the average number of tweets people sent per week was the the 350 million.
20. 140 million is the average number of tweets people sent per day in February 2011
21. 177 million tweets sent on March 11, 2011.
22. When Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 there were 456 tweets per second (TPS)…a record at that time.
23. The current TPS record is 6,939 tweets per second set 4 seconds after midnight in Japan on New Year’s Day
24. 572,000 is the number of new accounts created in one day (March 12, 2011)
25. 460,000 is the average number of new accounts per day created in February, 2011
26. 182% is the increase in number of mobile users over the past year.
27. In March 2011 there are an estimated 225 million users
28. 25 billion tweets sent on Twitter in 2010
29. 100 million new accounts added on Twitter in 2010
30. The first unassisted off-Earth Twitter message was posted from the International Space Station by NASA astronaut T. J. Creamer on January 22, 2010
Fascinating, isn’t it!? Can you believe all those facts?
I do love Twitter. Possibly too much as I follow 226 celebrities and, although I like knowing what they are doing and tweeting some of them with good comments and birthday wishes etc. It does make you feel closer to them. Almost like you do know them in a way, and I suppose in some way you do. In a virtual, twittery kind of way! If you decide you want to join Twitter after this, I’m sure you will learn to love it as well and begin to feel just the same way about it that I do!
If (or should that be when!) you join Twitter, make sure you follow me! Or, if you want to follow someone more famous than I then here are some of the funniest Celeb Tweets of the week to give you a taste of what to expect should you wish to follow them!
@jimmycarr Jimmy Carr
I went to the Apple Store with my Grandmother the other day. She’s so old fashioned. She still calls it the greengrocers.
@therealgokwan Gok Wan
So gonna (sic) pee myself if this traffic doesn't move quickly! Radio 1 can you please keep a clear entrance! Desperate homo coming through!
@Amanda_Holden OfficialAmandaHolden
Missed last bit was too busy farting on stage to music!
@planetjedward JEDWARD
Guess who is going to have breakfast! we are going to have breakfast! we are gonna (sic) break that fast so fast that is breakslow (sic)
Right, that’s all from me now, I hope you have enjoyed my personal account of Twitter, the lowdown and the language of! And remember...
Happy Tweeting Everyone!
