Want to try Twitter but don't know where to start? Here are some tips, including suggestions from new user Betty Shin, a student at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, and power user Andrew Korf, a user experience architect at Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis.
First, go to Twitter's website (www.twitter.com) and sign up for a free account. Then:
Add. Enter the names of people you know are on Twitter, and start following them.
Search. Look up topics of interest at search.twitter.com. Among those results, follow the users and organizations that seem compelling.
Hobnob. Look up your favorite celebrities and start following them. It's fun, and it is probably the closest you'll ever get to them. There's a good listing of who's who on Twitter at VIP Tweets (www.viptweets.com).
Wait. Start just by reading others' messages -- or tweets -- before interacting.
Tweet. Once you have a feel for how things go, start writing your own messages of 140 characters or less. (The Twitter interface lets you know how many characters you've used.) Think of it as micro-blogging -- writing short notes that answer the Twitter question: "What are you doing?"
Reply. If you're stuck about what to write, just reply to others' tweets. You do this by beginning your tweet with the @ symbol, followed immediately by the user name of the person you want to address. Then the ensuing message will go right to that person, like texting on a cell phone.