Twitter - The Basics

Navigation

Twitter has a fairly straightforward navigation. On the left hand side you have the links to the main sections. The main areas being:

• Home - where you see the posts of the accounts you follow.
  Follow some XR accounts by searching for them in the top right!
• Explore - where you can search for hashtags, trends or accounts.
  Find some tweets to quote by searching for #ExtinctionRebellion
• Notifications - where you get a ping if someone tags you in a tweet!
  The rest is less key, feel free to click around as you can’t really break anything! And you will always have that Home button to get you back!

How Do I Tweet?

When you log into Twitter you will be on your Homepage (you should see the little house highlighted to show this!) To write a tweet you’ll see at the top of the page a box that asks “What’s Happening?” This is where you can write your tweet.

Tweets are typically very short, only a couple of sentences followed by tags. There is a limit on the length of a tweet at 280 characters, so this is not the platform for rambling!

To build a tweet you will want to write your couple of sentences or your question and then follow it with the tags you want.

Using Hashtags and Tagging Accounts

As we mentioned in the first section you will want to use tags to make sure that your post can be seen by people beyond your own following - especially if you are new to twitter!

We recommend always using #ExtinctionRebellion, to add 2-3 tags for the campaign or location you are talking about and “@” 2-3 accounts to aim your post - especially if you are asking a direct question!

Why Retweet?

Retweeting is one of the easiest ways to use twitter! As you don’t have to make up 100% of your content. You simply click the retweet button! (It looks like two arrows in a circular motion)

The best way to do this is to click on the retweet button and select Quote Tweet as this links the tweet you want and allows you to add your own text! Meaning you can refocus the tweet and use it to boost our trends.

Eg. if you see a powerful image of mother earth in handcuffs then you can “Quote Tweet” this, tag the @metpoliceuk and ask them if this indicated their view of the #ClimateEmergency. This will then alert them to your interaction as you have now publicly asked them a question!

Boosting Posts

The best way to boost posts on Twitter is to Quote Tweet them as above.

You can also “like” the post with the heart icon, reply directly (add to the tread) with the speech bubble or retweet the post without your own words. Conversations on twitter happen in the replies!