Twitter Start Up Guide

25th Aug

Unless you've been hiding away in the mountains, it is pretty likely you have heard about Twitter! Whilst you may not know what all the fuss about, or what good it can do for you; this guide will quickly take you through the basics and show you how Twitter can help you make the most out of OnePoll; and make spending time on the internet more fun and informative!

Basically, Twitter is a way for people to share information and communicate with one another. The possibilities of Twitter are beyond the scope of this article to discuss - but they are enormous. But specifically, twitter is a way for US to communicate with YOU on things that MATTER TO YOU as a OnePoll user! By following us on twitter we can send you links of our national coverage, let you know the moment surveys are available, send you money saving offers and many other fun and interesting things that our OnePoll tweeters find.

The first thing to do is to get a Twitter account. To do this, go to www.Twitter.com and sign up! It is really straightforward, just enter your details. After you have had a look through and added the people twitter recommends you follow, you are set to go. When you follow people you will be able to read their updates and follow the links to other websites they post, whether its what Jordan's saying about Peter, or headlines from the BBC - it's all on Twitter!

Next, I really recommend you download Tweetdeck from http://tweetdeck.com/beta/ - this is a way of using twitter which is smarter, quicker and more fun than the normal way. It allows a constant stream of updates to be fed directly to you - and this is where the benefits of following OnePoll really become clear. Go to http://twitter.com/onepoll and click on the 'follow' button underneath the Onepoll logo. Now, whenever we have a survey available, or if we have achieved some coverage using your answers, it will show up under 'All Friends' on Tweetdeck and you'll be the first to know. You'll never miss out on a survey again!

Now, for fun try using the search button in Tweetdeck - it looks like a magnifying glass - and type in something that interests you - the ashes, a celebrity, anything - and see all the messages appear with links to relevant websites. Follow the people with similar interests by clicking their name in Tweetdeck and before you know it you'll have a network of likeminded people and people that follow you!

Once you've taken the plunge and gotten started - I guarantee you'll be addicted!

Check out these sites for further more exploration of the phenomenon

http://news.cnet.com/newbies-guide-to-twitter/

http://tweetdeck.com/beta/help/beginners-guide-to-tweetdeck/