Twitter is fast becoming one of the biggest social networking phenomenons on the planet but a lot of people still don’t know what the hype is all about. I often get asked “but what is Twitter anyway?” I thought I’d put together a short beginners guide to Twitter, to show you how Twitter works and also the different applications it can be used for.

The first thing to try and do is not be overwhelmed by Twitter. The best part about Twitter is that its free, its fun and once you get the hang of it its pretty easy to. There are millions of people tweeting every minute of the day world wide. But what is a twittering or tweeting and how does it relate to Twitter and me you may ask?

Let’s get the definitions out the way before we actually begin. Twittering is a verb that describes the actual use of an application called Twitter. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging website or service that has really revolutionised the way people around the world communicate on a daily basis. What Twitter does is allow users to send a tweet or update (which in essence is a 140 character long post) to the Twitter website using one of a number of devices that support the Twitter service, from desktop pc’s and notebooks to mobile devices like cell phones.

There are countless uses for Twitter. Many people see it as a way to simply report on what they are doing, a way to inform friends as to what they are up to. Others use it to post interesting links to articles or websites they have found online. Some businesses also use it a nifty marketing tool to generate and create new business using the internet. The truth of the matter is this, there are still millions of uses for this real time messaging application that are yet to be discovered.

It is very easy to get started. The first thing you need to do is sign up for a Twitter account. The registration is free of charge. Secondly choose a user name. Your Twitter profile or web page will be http://www.twitter.com/ your user name. You are then able to add a bit of personality to you Twitter profile by uploading a picture or changing the colours of your profile (Cheap Site Design can assist you with creating a custom twitter background).

Now that you know the basic Twitter jargon and have registered, you may be asking “What now?” Once you’ve registered you can search for other users of Twitter or Twitterers by using the search box or you can simply browse the Twitter website to see who is using the application. You can then choose to follow a twitter user which is like subscribing to their status updates or tweets. That in a nutshell is what Twitter is all about. Following other users and getting other users to follow you.

You can make your Tweets public (so that everyone can see them) or private (so that only people you are following can see them) and you can also send direct messages to users that are following you if you would like to keep a tweet private.

That is about all there is to know about the basic of using Twitter. It is pretty simple I know, but really powerful when you start using it to promote yourself or your business. Cheap Site Design are specialist online business consultants and can help you develop a strategy to use Twitter in the most effective way to promote your business.