Twitter Basics

Tweet
This is what Twitter calls a post to their network (Similar to Facebook’s “status update”).  Tweets are limited to 140 characters and can include links.  Tweets are completely public – ANYONE can read them.  Keep that in mind.

Retweeting

When you share the content of someone else’s tweet to your followers (or vice versa).  Often designated as a retweet by adding an "RT").

@Mention

When you want to mention another Twitter user in your tweet, use the @ symbol, followed by their Twitter account name.  When you do this, that user will be notified that they have been mentioned.  You can also keep track of who mentions you.

# Hashtag

When you want to reference a particular topic and flag it for other users to view, use a hashtag.  A hashtag is the # symbol followed by your topic.  Some hashtags are meant to be useful (#unidigadv), others are playful (#worstepisodeever).  You can search Twitter by hashtag to find relevant content.

URL Shortening

Twitter will automatically shorten long URLs, or you can use a URL shortening service (like ow.ly or bit.ly).

Direct Message

You can DM another Twitter user, sending them a private message that is only viewable to them.  Useful for follow-up or personal interactions. Beware of any DM that says something to the effect of "Someone is posting terrible photos of you at (url link)" - Do not click on the link. This is a sign that user's Twitter account has been hacked.

Lists

You can organize the people you follow into lists to make it easier to view relevant content.  For example, if you are into sports marketing you may want to create a list for “NBA Teams” or “NFL Coaches” or “Denver Bronco Players”.  You can choose to have your lists be public or private.

Advanced Search

Use quotation marks for exact phrases like “UNI Marketing”.

Use the minus sign (-) for to exclude words –like –these –words.

Use the number sign (#likethis) to search for tweets containing particular hashtags.

Searching by location

Use the word “near” followed by a colon and placename in quotation marks, followed by the word “within”, a colon, and a distance in miles to specify a geographic location to search.

This searches tweets within 100 miles of Cedar Falls for the word UNI:

UNI near:”Cedar Falls, Iowa” within:100mi

Searching by sentiment

For tweets with a positive sentiment, use :)  For tweets with a negative sentiment, use :(

For tweets containing a question, use ?

Who to Follow

Here are a few interesting people to follow to get started:
@mashable @garyvee @armano @nateriggs @adage @adweek @adland @DesignObserver @wired @techcrunch @siliconprairie @unibusiness @FastCoDesign @JESS3 

Where to find Influencers
Use Tweepz to search Twitterverse for influencers in the topic you are interested in.