Twitter 101: Where we’re @

Social media has provided us with platforms to have intimate one on one engagements on the one hand and has aided in the mass broadcast of messages to hundreds of thousands or even millions of fans and followers on the other.

When it comes to Twitter, in particular, you need to be aware of a few golden rules to make sure you are distributing your message effectively. High among these is a question you should be asking yourself on a regular basis: Are you crafting your tweets in the best possible way to ensure you are maximising their opportunity to be seen?

Once crucial user error still occurs often on Twitter — the misunderstanding of the humble “@” sign.

When Twitter first started, anything you posted as a general tweet would appear on your timeline and on the timelines of all of those who follow you. It made sense. You were following someone for a reason and why wouldn’t you want to see every. Single. Tweet?

But then South by South West (SXSW) 2007 happened, Twitter went mainstream and now there are more than 200-million users. Imagine following @LadyGaga or @JustinBieber today, and having your timeline subjected to every. Single. One. Of… You get the point.

Close to two years ago, Twitter took the decision to change how your timeline presents information to you. If you start a tweet with “@[username]” , only people that follow you and “@[username]” will be privy to that tweet on their timelines.

Many people are still, however, unaware of this rule. A perfect example of this is when users want to share specific information with their network. They may tweet — @memeburn is a site dedicated to tech savvy analysis and insight.

Only people who follow you and @memeburn will be subjected to this tweet on their timelines. If you would like everyone who follows you to have an opportunity to see this tweet, you should structure it as follows:

Place any character (“, ‘, ., etc) or word (“hey”, “hi”, “attention”) in front of the @. My personal favourite is the fullstop:

.@memeburn is a site dedicated to tech savvy analysis and insight.

I’ve placed two tweets, one on top of the other, below so you can see the incorrect and correct methods together: