I’ve been getting a lot of questions over the last weeks about Twitter. It seems that the interest around this social channel has been yet again awakened. I remain a avid fan of the channel and everyday encourage people to “give it a try”.  I thought I’d repost some Tweet Speak to help clear the fog.

After you have secured @yourname get started with some of these below.

• @reply: The @reply means a Twitter update (a tweet) that is directed to another user in reply to their update. An @reply will be saved in the user’s “Replies” tab. Replies are sent either by clicking the ‘reply’ icon next to an update or typing @ username message (e.g., @user I saw that movie too)
• direct message (DM): Short for direct message, it is the function of the Twitter service that enables you to send a private message (direct message) to a person you are following
• Follower / following: On Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites, a follower is someone who subscribes to receives your updates. On the Twitter Web site “following” someone means you will see their messages in your own personal timeline. Twitter lets you see all the people you follow and also who is following you
• FollowFriday (FF, or #followfriday): On Twitter, FollowFriday is a recommendation. It is used to call attention to a user’s favorite followers and favorite people on Twitter. When you tweet a FF message, you are recommending that your followers also check out the people you mention in your post. When you send a FollowFriday message, you include #followfriday in your update so it can can be searched for using that hash tag
• Hash tag: A hash tag or hashtag is a way of organizing your updates for Twitter search engines. Users prefix a message with a community-driven hash tag to enable others to discover relevant posts. One commonly used hash tag on Twitter is #followfriday where users network by providing the names of their favorite people to follow on Twitter
• Tweet: Describes a Twitter update. A tweet is basically whatever you type into the Web box to answer that question, using 140 characters or less. People tweet personal messages, random thoughts, post links, or anything else that fits in the character requirements.

Of course if you follow me you’ll learn a few best practices and more. Click to Follow @jefkalil

I have also included a link to a list of 108 other terms that may be interesting for those avid users. Enjoy: Twitter Dictionary: A Guide to Understanding Twitter Lingo – Webopedia.com.