Twitter or not?

I signed on to Twitter after being gently encouraged by a young friend who said it was a great way of not only getting my lorry driver campaign out into the world but also learning a lot about health and welfare. I took a deep breath and haven't looked back.

The 'help' from Twitter itself is excellent and gave me confidence to try things out.

I wouldn't use it for 'fun' but if you have something to impart or want to find out what's going on in a particular field it's really useful.

I like twitter and follow BBC news and weather, good for getting instant updates, the Guardian, no need to buy the paper, various interesting and funny people , such as Steph and Dom, local news etc. , I rarely tweet, but it's a good way of knowing what's happening. And it's good for complaining.

Of course.

She's not quite as important as he is, though.
I do not use either, but that cameronmustgo thread did make me waver. But I'd only be another voice on a twitterfeed. I'd much rather sign up to an e petition.

I'm not on FB, neither do I use Twitter. Never felt the need.

Bet Emily Thornberry wishes she hadn't either...

I bet Cameron wished he did not tweet now.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/24/cameronmustgo-twitter-users-decry-david-camerons-record

A lot of Gransnet Local pages have Twitter accounts as it is a good way to get things known about.

My personal account is used to follow family, friends and celebrities. Sometimes a TV programme will show a #at the beginning so that you can chat about it eg. Sir Alan is very funny while the Apprentice is on.

Twitter is a very immediate form of communication and can be personalised to suit you. Just be aware that everything you say is public!

I "got into" Twitter when Carol went missing too. I had tried it before and been as befuddled as people mention on here but necessity made me try harder and it really wasn't so bad. It is what you make it, like so many things in life.

Thanks All. Off to have a go.

Oh dear, looking at my last post I think I should be on Twit Longer although I have no idea how it all works.

Make me one Cari. Pleeeease!

#grandsonswon'ttry

I wonder if his pals called him Lance.

(and it's someone not too far from GN)

There,s also an app called Twit Longer (or something like that; I have used it a few times), for people who, ahem, talk too much

And I know someone who has just completed her very first loom bracelt. And it's very pretty.

#wishicoulddothat

Capability Brown's real Christian name was Lancelot.

I learned that on Twitter a minute ago.

See. It is worth it.

It's also wonderful for getting a swift response to poor service. If you Tweet #Barclays for example, if you re dived poor service from them, they respond much quicker than they would otherwise because it's in the public domain.

It's all the retweets that can be a pain. You can choose who you follow, but you can't choose how many retweets they put out. There can be an awful lot to wade through.

The # simply directs a Tweet to a certain subject or issue that is of interest at the moment. So, for example if you Tweet #grammar or #floods that tweet will go to that account and be read by those who are interested as well as your own followers.

Followers grow slowly, usually when someone picks up one of your tweets and decides to follow you.

You can retweet by pressing the retweet icon, you can reply to a tweet by clicking on the reply icon and you can send a direct message to someone you follow.

There is an icon like a quill pen which you click on if you want to compose a tweet. You are limited to a certain number of characters but you can link to very long texts. If you read a newspaper on line for example, there will be the Twitter symbol at the end and you just press on that to Tweet the link.

Or you can compose a deep and meaningful thought of your own and add a picture if you wish.

I think that, when we were searching for Carol, the whole of social media came onto its own!

You just adapt each medium to your own needs, that's all. And for someone who is over verbose, Twitter is a good discipline.

Perhaps I should have another look then. But how do you actually Tweet? What's all the # business?

I joined Twitter when we were all desperately worried about Greatnan. Since that sad time I've followed various Tweeters, among them a lot of very local bloggers who write entertainingly about the immediate area, (most Tweets are very short and simply link to longer articles) a few quirky posters - a chap who posts pictures of gates for example, a few friends, some political sites and some religious and theological ones too. I also follow TfL for information and one or two journalists who write about matters of concern to me. It's amazing what interesting texts one discovers, but all too easy to spend too much time on there

Believe it or not, I follow a lot of political websites. They often have twitter feeds down the right hand side. I looked at one just now, and there was only one original tweet. All the rest were retweeting the original one. As tiggy said, I can waste time much more easily than having to sort out tweets.