You have probably heard about Twitter and if you haven't gone to the site and looked it over, you might wonder what the big deal is and why people seem so excited about it. First, it is a social networking site and can be used for a social marketing campaign, but that should be done carefully. It is also a micro-blogging service.

So unlike a regular blog where you posts longer messages, perhaps of article length at Twitter the posts or tweets can only be one hundred and forty characters. These are shown on the writer's profile page and are sent to the writer's followers, which are other members of Twitter. They subscribe to follow your tweets.

You can opt to restrict who gets your tweets like family, friends, and business associates or you can allow the Twitter public to see your tweets. Alexia ranks it traffic wise at number 27. It gets some heavy traffic so it is a good site to join and do some social networking and social marketing.

It is important not to spam people with your tweets. You can get in there and follow other people and socialize some, which encourages people to desire to follow your updates. When you tweet about your site, business or blog be certain that your tweet contains useful, interesting information. Linking your Twitter account to your cell is a good method for getting and sending tweets. Look in the settings part of your account to link to your cell.

When you tweet be comfortable and act like yourself. Let your personality shine through. Make sure you don't update too often and find the people that are interested in what you have to say. You can locate any family members or friends on Twitter by utilizing the search tool. If you want to send a personal message use the direct message option so that message can be private. There are several tools for linking Twitter to your blog, website, and to some of the other social networking sites.

These are some tips for successful socializing at Twitter. Your name, will that is tricky, you may want to brand an online moniker, but many people like the real name. A pic helps to make you a real person to people online, if you use a company logo make certain it looks professional. If you are a marketer, your profile should be public.

Your follow count should be balanced. You have to judge this, but when you follow a huge number of people - the idea may get around that you are a spammer. If you don't follow enough people of similar interests; you can seem unfriendly or like you don't really care.

Your tweet count should be between six and twelve before you begin to follow others. It seems that tweeters like for you to have rolled up your tweeting sleeves some before you become a follower. People don't like too many tweets as it engulfs their time-line, but if you tweet infrequently people will stop following you. Basically, one or two tweets a day keeps you in there without getting dropped.

This basic information about Twitter will get you started. Otherwise, explore the options and tools at Twitter so you can master it.