Twitter Cheat Sheet printable pdf download

TWITTER CHEAT SHEET

June 2013

Like Facebook, Twitter is a great way to engage not only with League members and the broader public,

but also the press, key opinion leaders, fellow advocates and organizational partners. Twitter differs

from Facebook in some important ways, most notably, the length of posts and the continuous flow of

information. It is important to understand how quickly Twitter moves. Unlike Facebook, tweets are not

weighted based on interactions; they stream in real time and can be quickly pushed down a user’s feed.

Twitter’s hallmark is that posts are limited to 140 characters. It is remarkable how short that is and how

much it can communicate.

What can be said in 140 characters or less?

 Be the change you want to see in the world – Mahatma Gandhi (62 characters)

 Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love

can do that – MLK (118 characters)

 The care of human life & happiness & not their destruction, is the first & only legitimate object

of good government - Thomas Jefferson (138 characters)

Ideally, you’ll get in the habit of being on Twitter periodically throughout the day or week. Tweet on a

smartphone or tablet when you’re in line waiting to check out at a store or on public transportation.

Tweet it from your home computer during the ads of your favorite television program. It is okay to just

get on for a few minutes and then hop back off. Don’t feel like you have to catch up to where you were

last time.

W I T T E R G L O S S A R Y

 Handle – this is your user name that starts with “@.”Our handle is “@LWV”

 Mentions – you can use someone’s handle in your tweet, and this will notify that user that you’ve

mentioned them. If you start a tweet with an @mention, it’ll only be seen by people who follow

you and that user. If you want everyone who follows you to be able to see it, put a “.” before the

mention (for example: “.@LWV”)

 RT – Retweet. You can retweet other people’s tweets to share with your followers. You can also

ask your followers to retweet or share your tweet with their followers. Sometimes a retweet is

prefaced with RT, sometimes it isn’t. Unfortunately, there’s no uniform way, so you’ll just have

to keep an eye out to see how others do it. If you use the RT button directly from Twitter, RT

will not be added. This helps keep the character count down. If you use a third party application

you generally have the option to add “RT.” Some people will retweet and add their own thoughts

at the beginning or end of the tweet.

 MT – Modified Tweet. Used in lieu of RT if the user has made some small edits to the original

tweet. This is generally done when a user needs to delete a few characters from the tweet being

retweeted to make room for commentary.

 DM – Direct Message. You can send private messages through Twitter by starting a tweet with

“DM.” This is a good way to share information with journalists or other users you’re engaged

with on Twitter if you don’t want that information shared publicly. In order to send a DM you

and the other user must already be following one another.

Twitter Cheat Sheet

June 2013

Twitter Cheat Sheet