Posted by Melissa Thompson

Twitter can be an overwhelming place for anyone, but more so for a senior. There’s a lot of noise from a lot of people talking all at once. Yet if you take the time to learn how to use it, Twitter can be a great social media platform to be a part of. Here’s how to get started with Twitter and make the most of its features.

Creating an Account

The first step is to create a Twitter account. You can do this by going to twitter.com and clicking on the “Sign Up” button.

Enter your full name, email address, and chosen password. Your password needs to be strong. This means that even if you choose to use the name of your assisted living facility because you’ll remember it, add some numbers and punctuation marks for good measure.

You’ll also need to choose a username, which is what people will use to mention or reply to you. Keep it simple and easy to remember.

Once you’ve entered all the necessary information, click “Sign up.” Twitter will send a confirmation email to the address you provided. Click on the link in that email to confirm your account and start using Twitter.

Navigating the Interface

The next step is to familiarize yourself with Twitter’s interface. The main way you’ll interact with Twitter is through your timeline, which is where you’ll see all the tweets from the people you follow. 

You can also compose new tweets by clicking on the “Tweet” button. This will open up a new box where you can enter your tweet. Once you’re happy with your tweet, click “Tweet.” Your tweet will now appear in your timeline and be visible to your followers.

If you want to see what other people are tweeting about, click on the “Explore” tab. Here, you’ll find trending topics and hashtags that you can follow. Hashtags are a way of categorizing tweets and make it easy to find tweets about specific topics. 

The “Notifications” tab is where you’ll see any mentions or replies to your tweets. Mentions are when someone includes your username in a tweet. Replies are when someone responds directly to one of your tweets. 

The “Messages” tab is where you can send direct messages to other Twitter users. Direct messages are private and can only be seen by the sender and recipient. To start a new direct message, click on the “New Message” button and enter the username of the person you want to message.

Finding People to Follow

One of the great things about Twitter is that you can follow anyone you want. To find people to follow, click on the “Search” button in the top navigation bar.

From here, you can search for specific people by their name or username. When you find someone you want to follow, click on the “Follow” button beneath their profile picture.

Now that you know the basics of how to use Twitter, you’re ready to start tweeting! Now you can connect with friends and family, stay up-to-date on current events, and even follow your favorite celebrities.