How to read a tweet
Tweet translation for non-Twitter users
It has occurred to me that if you don’t actually use Twitter, then this stuff just looks like gibberish. Well, the first thing you need to know is that most of it is gibberish. But don’t let that stop you from reading it.
So here’s a quick guide to reading tweets:
- You only get 140 characters, including spaces. So if you’re the kind of person who goes ballistic over poor grammar and bad spelling, slang and general sloppiness, go read a book; Twitter isn’t for you.
- Everyone has a Twitter name. Mine is IBecameMyDad (ITweet4Cash was taken)
- Twitter’s cool because people who sign on to read your tweets are called followers. So I have followers. I’ve not yet tested to see exactly how far they’ll follow me. But it’s not like a Jonestown kind of thing, so probably not far.
- Everyone could, in theory, see whatever you tweet, but they don’t because there are pretty much only 3 ways to see a particular person’s tweet: you are following them; you do a search for their name or a word they happen to have used in a tweet; or you are following a hashtag.
- Right, now you want to know what a hashtag is. See all the words below that start with the # symbol? Those are hashtags. If you want to label your tweet with a subject, say, #thingsthatsmellworsethanateenager, you stick the # in front of it. Then anybody else that that wants to talk about that can follow it and they’ll see your tweets even if they aren’t following you. They show up a different color because you can click on a hashtag and all the tweets that include it will show up.
- You’re going to see the @ symbol a lot. The way to get a specific person’s attention is to use their Twitter name with the @ symbol in front of it. Maybe you’re replying to something they said or just want to tell them you think their profile picture is hot. So when a person starts a tweet with @ and a name, it means that it was directed to that person. You can read the tweet without feeling like a total creep for eavesdropping, though, because it’s Twitter. That doesn’t mean you aren’t a creep, just that it’s OK to be a creep on Twitter.
- You’ll also see RT or MT a lot. If you like something someone else said you can re-tweet it to all of your followers. RT means someone else wrote it and you are passing it along (the name of the person usually follows the RT). MT means modified tweet and if you need to shorten the original or make other changes, you can use that to come clean about it.
So here’s a typical tweet:
I’m content here in my prison of denial and ignorance, thank you. RT @sassypiehole @IbecameMyDad the truth shall set you free. ;-) #truth
Now let’s decipher it:
Someone named Sassypiehole sent a tweet directed to me saying “the truth shall set you free (that was this part: @IbecameMyDad the truth shall set you free). Then I re-tweeted her tweet (RT @sassypiehole followed by her original tweet) and added the statement, “I’m content here in my prison of denial and ignorance, thank you.” The hashtag was added so that anyone following “truth” would see this tweet. Get it?
There’s a bunch more to using Twitter, but those are the basics for how to decipher a tweet. Now go read some gibberish.
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Locke
June 29, 2011
Always fun to learn about twitter even though I knew what it was already…. Im going to follow you today
I've Become My Parents
July 3, 2011
Cool, thanks for the follow. I do appreciate it!
JSD
September 24, 2011
Way too complicated! At my age, my brain is already in overload, and I’m going to be selective about what else I try to jam into it. But thanks for the clarification. Keep the posts coming on your blog…they brighten up our days!
I've Become My Parents
November 3, 2011
I just saw your comment for some reason so I’m a bit late on the response, but thanks for such a nice comment! Twitter quickly uses up the 90% of the brain we weren’t using, then eats away at the rest.
worrywarts-guide-to-weight-sex-and-marriage
November 3, 2011
Wow, that is the closest I have come to sort of getting tweeting and twitter (they are related, right). I don’t think I’m going to go there just yet (unless you decide to do a more in depth blog on the topic – I need an idiot’s guide), but thanks so much.
I've Become My Parents
November 3, 2011
Trust me, it’s best not to. It’s crack for social media nerds…and yes, it takes one to know one…
Ian
November 5, 2011
Who invented this stuff? How did the second person know they were being RT’d or MT’d and it wasnt just a hash up? And you reckon your son lives in an alternative reality??
I think the tweets around my bird feeder are easier to decipher. But thanks for the heads up, you do it brilliantly.
I've Become My Parents
November 5, 2011
Thanks Ian! Honestly, I have no idea who comes up with this stuff but I’m pretty sure they have far more free time than us and wanted to make sure we have even less.
ncdads
November 6, 2011
This was a great read. There’s something to writing in 140 characters or less, even though most of my posts are about 500 words. Unintentional hint taken, thanks!
F.Ricardo Wenger (@fr_wenger)
November 7, 2011
Que va, es la difícil tarea de informar sobre los acontecimientos diarios en 140 caracteres.¿Que dolor de cabeza? se nos en crispa hasta los chicharrones.
joy
December 14, 2011
i dropped into your bit bc i googled “tweets look like gibberish,” which was actually my backdoor way of inquiring what the hell does the stuff mean, but i knew i wouldn’t find any answers googling that. a straightforward question only gets answers to the extent of stuff I’ve already figured out, never any answers to questions i can’t already answer for myself. so when i saw that indeed, you have become your dad, as i have become my mom, i knew immediately you could define the symbols and abbreviations for me. they don’t really seem to have any concrete context, so i haven’t been able to just figgie out. i really wanna resist the whole twitter thing bc it does appear to be a bad spelling and attention deficit disorder fest, but hey, so half-thoughts and pared down grammar are the new literacy. i don’t make the rules, i just try to keep up.
Norman Tauber
February 9, 2012
Thanks for ‘splainin it so briefly an to the point. Was wondering what that # followed by a word, now I know it’s a hashtag. Fantastic. And I love the line “That doesn’t mean you aren’t a creep, just that it’s OK to be a creep on Twitter.” LOL
Barmy Rootstock (IBMP)
February 9, 2012
Glad it worked for you. Good luck with the Tweet deciphering project!