Twitter 101: Welcome to the Firehose

Usually, when I ask if a person tweets, which is the act of posting on Twitter, I get a response of "Oh, I don't do Twitter," rather as if I have some sort of deviant social behavior best not mentioned in polite society. But don't you use Facebook? I might ask. "All my friends are on Facebook," is a common reply.

Why tweet?

Well, due to the growing popularity of Twitter, and the fact that Apple just gave its new iOS native tweeting capabilities–infamously snubbing Facebook–all of your friends may soon be on Twitter as well. Perhaps it's time to give this little service, which has been around for a rather significant five years, another thought.

What's the big deal?

Here's how Twitter bills itself: 

"Twitter is the best way to discover what’s new in your world.

An information network

Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations."

Because of this simple idea, instant syndication is in the hands of anyone. Short and sweet, Twitter holds a mirror to a world of short attention spans. Distributing content is as easy as posting a link and a clever quip. A perfect medium for the tiny screens of smartphones that are now everywhere, and one that is quickly becoming a dominant force on these devices.

And news services haven't missed out on this fact. If you follow the right steams, you will hear the breaking news faster than any other service out there, because the news services are breaking that news on Twitter. Google places a high value on Twitter, and due to its mostly public nature, tweets will often appear highly ranked in searches. Even the Library of Congress has taken note and every tweet is being stored: worldwide micro-literature parsed out in 140 character posts.

The Firehose

Because of all this activity, Twitter is often referred to as "The Firehose." As Mark Evans of Twitterati explains:

"For those of you not familiar with the firehose, its the data that flows through Twitter from its 175 million users and the 155 million daily tweets."

That's a lot of information. There's truly something happening with the service, as relatively recent protests in Egypt–and on Twitter–imply.

How do I get in on this?

If you have content to distribute, a product or service to market, or just want to find out what the fun is all about, it's very easy. 

1. Click this link to go to the Twitter homepage.
2. Submit your name (not verified, for those of you who wish to remain semi-anonymous)
3. Type out an email address. It's not going to work unless it's your own email address (trust me on this, when something goes wrong, you want to have your password reset in your own account).
4. Come up with a clever password. The strength of it is indicated next to the field.
5. Come up with a very clever handle of up to 15 characters. Don't bother with the "@", it will appear in front of your name. Unless a name is available, you can't get it.
6. Find some interesting follows. Twitter even suggests some popular follows for you.

And welcome to the Firehose. If you wish, you can follow my irreverent adventures on Twitter by following @napadude. Of course, I follow some other great Napkins too!  @NapaValleyChick,  @WineBottleLady,  @theREALnapa, and so many more. You might want to check out my napastuff list, which has many more, and which you can also follow yourself. (And follow Napa Patch @NapaCAPatch, natch! - ed.)

In coming articles I'll give you more pointers on how to thrive in this chaotic stream of information. And thanks to all my Napa tweeps!

Let's talk about it

Do you tweet?

What's your handle?

Having problems with Twitter? Post below and we'll try to get your questions answered!