A Geekcentric Guide to Twitter

Since I started using Twitter again about a month ago, a bunch of people (and when I say a bunch, I mean a staggering 3 or 4 people at least) have been asking me questions about it.  After I got past the obvious ones, like "Why in hell are your tweets so boring?" I actually got down to some good questions about the nuts and bolts of using Twitter.

I actually had a Twitter account a few years ago and found it incredibly annoying and practically useless.  First, the format as a pain in the ass.  I had to say something meaningful in how many characters?  To quote a friend of mine (bitemeNsuckit - you should follow her, she's wicked funny and is going to be a great Twit once she gets used to it) who just joined Twitter, "I have more characters than that in my head."  My other huge failing was not following the right people.  "Wait" you say, "There are 'wrong' people to follow?"  Yes.  There are wrong people to follow.  There are also wrong reasons to follow people.  The person who lays out some of those wrong reasons better than just about anybody else is Wil Wheaton.  He also mentions another of the dangers I ran into in my first Twitter-go-round.  I had the updates of everyone I was following sent to my cell phone as text messages.  My cell phone battery had an average daily life of about 3 minutes.  Actually, it was about 4 hours, but you get the idea.  So, my first venture as a Twit was doomed to fail.  I stopped using it after only a few weeks.

This is where I take one for the team.  If you've never used Twitter, or barely used it and haven't really been able to "get into it," then LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS, STEP RIGHT UP and learn from my failures (and my successes).  I hereby present to you...

A GEEKCENTRIC GUIDE TO TWITTER

First off, if you have an Android, Blackberry or iPhone (my Tweapon of choice), you should find a good app that delivers your tweets not just to Twitter, but also to Facebook or whatever social networking platform you use.  I use TweetDeck and love it.  TweetDeck isn't perfect, for examply, it makes it a bit difficult to quickly look up your list of followers or followees.  So, I also have Twitteriffic on my phone for circumstances when I want to do something that TweetDeck doesn't do well.  For anything else, I just use the Twitter site.

As for the 140 character limit for each of your tweets, think of it as learning to write more concisely.  Challenge yourself to say things creatively, but please... PLEASE for the love of all that is holy, don't use so many abbreviations and/or "leetspeak" (if you don't know what that is, then I revoke your Geek credentials) that your tweets require a translator to read.  Also, you should use a link shortener to make your links fit into your tweets without using up all of your 140 characters.

That said, there are some necessary abbreviations, commands and acronyms you should learn.  Here are what I consider the bare minimum:

• @ - This directs your tweet "at" someone.
• RT - retweet.  If you like something that someone else tweeted, then by all means share it with your followers.  Just please remember to give credit where credit is due and attribute it to the original Twit.  The best way to do this is to preface it with RT @[original poster's name here].  That way, the original author knows that you found value or humor in what they tweeted and, most importantly, attributes their intellectual property to them.
• D or DM - direct message.  This is a private message that only you and the intended recipient receive.
• # - hash tag.  This is a meta tag used to group tweets about similar topics.  For example, you could hashtag any tweets about this blog as #geekcentricity.
• #FF - Follow Friday.  This is a Twitter meme where Twits share people that they enjoy following with others.  Fridays are a great time to recommend some of your favorite Twitterers to other people.

That leaves the biggest question of all:  Who am I supposed to follow on this thing?  This single question can make or break your Twitter experience.  The short answer is to find people you are interested in and follow them.  

If you're into shallow celebrities, then by all means follow Britney Spears,  Kim Kardashian, or Lady Gaga.  If that's your thing, then go right ahead.  I won't be joining you.

Since this is the Geek's Guide to Twitter, here are some suggestions of people for you to follow (in no order):

• Wil Wheaton - He's more than the guy who played Wesley Crusher and Gordy LaChance.  Actually, before you follow him, you should read why it will disappoint you. 
• Larry Hryb - XBox Live's Major Nelson.
• Grant Imahara - from Mythbusters.
• Kevin Smith - Yep, THAT Kevin Smith.
• John Kovalic - The cartoonist who writes/draws Dork Tower.
• Levar Burton - Another ST: TNG alum.
• Bill Amend - Writes/draws Fox Trot.
• Berin Kinsman - RPG blogger.
• Jane McGonigal - Game designer.
• Brent Spiner - Yet another ST: TNG alum.
• Neil Gaiman - Author.
• Stan Lee - Comic book genius.
• William Shatner - Actor from the original Star Trek.
• Leonard Nimoy - Another Star Trek cast member.
• Zachary Quinto - Different actor, different Star Trek.
• Sheldon Cooper - From Big Bang Theory.  Yes, he is a fictional character, but his tweets are hilarious.
• Johnn Four - From RoleplayingTips.com
• Steve Jackson Games - Venerable game company.
• Robin Laws - Gaming author.
• Gameplaywright - A gaming/writing site.
• Todd McFarlane - If you own action figures based on comic books, he probably designed them.
• Monte Cook - Writer, game designer.
• Jim Butcher - Author of the Dresden Files novels.

If you have any other Geekcentric names to add to this list, please let me know and I will edit the list.  My disclaimer here is that I don't follow all of the people above because I would suffer information overload and my brain would explode, spewing flaming chunks of my gray matter around for someone to clean up.  Also, there are other Geekcentric Twitterers that I follow, but I won't list them here without their permission, in order to save them from being flooded with followers.  If you really want to know who I follow, feel free to check in on me and follow my tweets.

I hope this helps you neophyte GeekTwits... or is that Tweeks?  If you have any more Twitter related questions, please ask.  In the near future, look for a Geekcentric Blog Reader, with some blogs I follow.  Until then, you can find many of them on the right sidebar.  Also, pt. 2 of my RPG building series is on tap soon.

I'll see you around the Twitterverse, my fellow Tweeks.  Yes, Twitterverse sounds as bad as Blogosphere.  Later.