TWITTER
Flummoxed by the latest redesign? Want to perfect those 280-character info-blasts? Craig Grannell shows how to get the best from the social network famous for succinctness…
THE BASICS
■ Get started
Make your handle memorable and, ideally, short (you get 50 characters, but using all 50 is madness). Tie your account to a phone number or email address, verify it with the code provided, create a robust password, then upload a profile image and 160 characters of brilliance to introduce yourself.
■ Make some friends
Twitter provides lists of people to follow – or just search for names (or @usernames) of people you know. Start a tweet with someone’s @username to send a public message. If you follow each other (or they have open direct messages), you can privately chat. Don’t follow too many people or Twitter rapidly becomes overwhelming. If it all gets too much, create themed lists from the menu that lurks behind your profile image.