It’s one of those love it or hate it things. Twitter has a special place in many people’s lives and yet it remains a completely meaningless waste of time to many others. This globally recognised social media channel has been around since 2006 and now claims to have as many as 500 million registered users. Described as a ‘microblogging’ service, users post ‘tweets’ of 140 characters or less from their desktop computers and now, increasingly, from mobile devices.

Even for those who already know the basics, there are always useful things to learn about Twitter. For example, while 140 characters is your limit, a more restrained 125 characters (including spaces) is always better because this leaves room for a ‘ReTweet’, which takes up 15 characters. As other users ‘follow’ you and like what you Tweet, the kudos of the ReTweet is a much sought after affirmation among Twitter aficionados.

Used properly Twitter can be an invaluable personal and business profiling tool. Initially confined to text-only Tweets, users now have options to upload images, videos and other forms of ‘rich’ media.

To add to the colour, many people make extensive use of hashtags, a simple way of tagging one or more words in a Tweet with a # mark to connect all users who are talking about the same subject.

As a Tweeter you can follow ‘lists’ of grouped users with particular interests and use other third party tools to classify your own personal interests and areas of speciality. It is worth remembering that a percentage of Twitter content will always be ‘pointless babble’, but with that knowledge you can start to use the service more productively, as you classify Tweets as informative or worthless, news-related or having pass-along value. Knowing how to read the landscape in this manner is key to enjoying time on Twitter.

Everyone should be aware that Twitter allows users to literally ‘etch’ comments onto a permanent Internet-based public notice board. As such, normal rules relating to personal defamation, respect and freedom of speech come into play. No matter where your reside, Tweet responsibly at all times.

For a good while the best way to use Twitter was via Tweetdeck. This third party application was once the most user-friendly means of Twitter access, far beating access via Twitter’s basic webpage interface which you can still access via any browser. But Twitter bought Tweetdeck and started to dilute its functionality almost immediately, so today there are better ways to Tweet. 

Jannetter

The rather strangely named Jannetter describes itself as the best Twitter app for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and Mac. This may well be true as this app just about represents the best way to Tweet these days.

It is very easy to customise via its preferences function and you can leave it as a black format plain business style app, or dress it up like a Japanese schoolgirl’s hairdo in pink and lilac with pretty logos. Users can set up multiple accounts easily if you happen to Tweet for work and also on a personal basis. Dragging an image into a Tweet is easy. Direct messages can be viewed as conversation streams. The app is mostly free but it’s worth paying for the iPad version with no ads if you are a serious Tweeter.

Dubai Tweets

UAE residents may like to fill some of their Twitter stream with some of the more valuable public interest Tweets such as the @DubaiPoliceHQ, which Tweets in both English and Arabic with a stream composed of a mix of useful advice and public information. A simple web search for will point you to more if you Google terms such as “Dubai Twitter”. 

Twitter Directories

Whether you are a Twitter newbie or a Tweeting veteran, you are always going to want to connect with the right people in cyberspace. Thankfully a number of user directories exist to help you find likeminded people grouped by interest, industry or simply location.

While Twitter has its own people search function, it’s also worth looking up Tweepz, which lets you look up users by searching parts of their bio information or simply their name and location. Tweepz is website based as is easy to use, just go to Tweepz.com and type in “Emirates” and you’ll be off. Also worth visiting are TweepSearch, TwitDir and Twellow with its six million Twitter indexed user profiles. 

In general terms the Emirates and the wider Middle East is well served on Twitter. If anything, the region is served better than most with dual language streams in both Arabic and English, which if you use Google Chrome as your web browser of choice should give you automatic translation options to be able read all content regardless of your mother tongue. Twitter is here to stay, so if you think Tweeting isn’t for you, please think again.