While I think of using Twitter as second nature, there are many “ins and outs,” and it really is not all that obvious to everyone. So, I was excited to receive The Twitter Book, by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein. As the authors note in Chapter 1, “Twitter lives a dual life. On one hand, it’s a simple service. Besides letting you share and read very short messages, it has few bells and whistles. On the other hand, it can be surprisingly hard to figure out. The screens aren’t particularly intuitive and the jargon and symbols are obscure.”

So, I read the book both as an expert user and as a coach looking for resources to help my clients become more frequent and successful Tweeps. I was not disappointed on either count!

For new users, the book offers a tutorial on how to get signed up and started and how to create a profile. I was surprised and delighted to find that Sarah and Tim actually quoted my Twitter profile as an example of a bio that tells a story (see page 23)!

The book covers all of the terminology that Twitter users need to know and provides pictures and examples throughout. Need to know how to find people? Done. How to tweeet from the road? Done. What’s a RT (retweet) and can you edit it if it is too long to send? (Yes, but consider using “via” if you change it substantially,” p. 115).

Power users – did YOU know that there is an opp called 140it that “uses common cutting conventions to whittle down” your posts if they are too long? (It doesn’t work for every post, but I had never heard about it, and I’ve been tweeting up a storm for a while now.)

Suffice to say that any detail you need to know is available in this handy, easy to use reference.

But, using Twitter successfully requires more than just a list of “how to,” practical concerns. There are many nuanced aspects, and Sarah and Tim don’t forget about them in this book. Included in the book: discussions about how many people to follow, how to have great conversations, how to @ reply so the user will know what you mean, how often to tweet and how to go beyond “what are you doing?” to be a contributing member of your Twitter community and more.

I’d recommend this book to anyone hesitant to try Twitter because it seems overwhelming and current “tweeps” who would like to pick up some tips from the pros. You can follow the authors at @timoreilly and @SarahM and you can follow the book’s hashtag (“demystified” on page 41) -  #twitterbook.

Need help getting started using Twitter for your job hunt? Your resume isn’t doing the job it needs to do? Click here for informtion about how I can help with your search.

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In any case, she shared some data from a recent survey from Hubspot on the state of the Twittersphere.

Of Twitter users:

• 79.79% failed to provide a homepage URL (My tip: use your LinkedIn URL if you have nothing else.)
• 75.86% of users have not entered a bio in their profile
• 68.68% have not specified a location
• 55.50% are not following anyone
• 54.88% have never tweeted
• 52.71% have no followers

Honestly, I was not all that surprised to see this data. While Twitter has grown exponentially in terms of people who have profiles, I think many join because they can’t turn on the TV without hearing someone talk about Twitter,  but they don’t know what to do once they get there. I often talk to certain Tweeps about the fact that Twitter fanatics and uber-users (Twuber users?) forget that this social media “stuff” isn’t second nature for everyone!

So, what is a job seeking Twitter wanna be user to do?

First of all, take a look at my intro to Twitter for the job search HERE. Then, take a look at some suggestions of applications you might want to use HERE. Finally, some people to follow for your job search HERE. Stay tuned for my review of The Twitter Book, by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein, a resource to help “twanna be” users become Tweeps in their own right!

Need a little help ramping up your search? Read how I can help get you going!

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