© stevegarfield

For the uninitiated, Twitter can be an intimidating jumble of # symbols, RTs, DMs, @'s and other incomprehensible shorthand. A short guide of Twitter tips is useful to help newbies get the hang of the lingo so they can get the most out of the social media site.

For example, RT stands for "retweet", in which a user shares another tweeter's post, verbatim, while crediting the original tweeter. DM is a direct message, up to 140 characters in length that is sent only to another specific user,not to all of user's Twitter followers. A hashtag is created by using the # symbol ahead of a word or term, and is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages, and they may also be used to add color or personality to a tweet or to tie it to a broader topic.

© Phillie Casablanca

Automating your Twitter feed can help you provide value to your followers 24/7, and still be able to get some sleep yourself. There are some free Twitter tools that allow you to stay engaged without all the bells and whistles of a full-blown social media package. One of these tools is called FutureTweets.

This simple application allows you set your time zone with a single click, and authorize the service simply by signing in with your Twitter credentials. FutureTweets shines when it comes to scheduling, as its minimalism makes it one of the easiest tools to use. You simply enter your tweet, select the publish time, date and schedule it. Twuffer is similar to FutureTweets in that it offers a simple yet effective scheduler. The great thing about Twuffer is that most of its features don't clutter the interface until needed. Signup and login is easy, and you also have the option to include your tweets in the Twuffer homepage stream.

Twitter recently launched a new application called the 'Tweedeck'. Twitter bought this application this week for around $ 50 million according to TechCrunch. The question is why has Twitter introduced a new application? Is it to secure its brand and revenue stream ?

If yes, then how can this new application do any good to Twitter?

According to reports, this new application has already become very popular among the social networking enthusiasts because it includes the features above and beyond those of the Twitter website.

This trendy application supports the Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare's 'Location Feature' from a single dashboard. One can easily post updates, links and photos on his Facebook profile, view and comment and also open links in the Android web browser.

With the buzz that it is creating, we can say that this new Twitter application is very swank and cool and is here to stay.

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