Twitter Glossary: Understanding Hashtags, Usernames, and Tabs

1. Twitter Glossary

2. #: People use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword. Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet at the beginning, middle, or end. Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics. @: The @ sign is used to call out usernames in Tweets, like this: Hello @Twitter! When a username is preceded by the @ sign, it becomes a link to a Twitter profile. Connect: The Connect tab lets you view interactions, mentions, recent follows and Retweets. Using the Connect tab you're able to view who has favourited or retweeted your Tweets, who has recently followed you, and all of your @replies and @mentions. Discover: The Discover tab is where you'd find top Tweets, Who to Follow, Activity, Find Friends, and Browse Categories. UK Cochrane Centre 2

3. Direct Message (DM): Also called a DM and most recently called simply a "message," these Tweets are private between the sender and recipient. Follow: To follow someone on Twitter is to subscribe to their Tweets or updates on the site. A Follower: A follower is another Twitter user who has followed you. Handle: A user's "Twitter handle" is the username they have selected and the accompanying URL. Mention: Mentioning another user in your Tweet by including the @ sign followed directly by their username is called a "mention". Also refers to Tweets in which your username was included. Reply: A Tweet posted in reply to another user's message, usually posted by clicking the "reply" button next to their Tweet in your timeline. Always begins with @username. UK Cochrane Centre 3

4. Retweet (RT): A Tweet by another user, forwarded to you by someone you follow. Often used to spread news or share valuable findings on Twitter. Or to retweet, retweeting, retweeted. The act of forwarding another user's Tweet to all of your followers. RLRT: "Real Life Retweet" is another way of saying OH ("overheard). Used to quote something a person said in "real life. Timeline (TL): A real-time list of Tweets on Twitter. Trends: A subject algorithmically determined to be one of the most popular on Twitter at the moment. Unfollow: To cease following another Twitter user. Their Tweets no longer show up in your home timeline. These glossary terms were taken from the Twitter Help Centre, for more information go to: https://support.twitter.com/ UK Cochrane Centre 4