Can someone help me with Twitter?

[Jane Austin]

I don't know where to post.

Thanks.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. What subject?

#subject followed by post will put you on the feed

[Jane Austin]

3. Thanks, Nadine

I want to tell Chris Matthews how he is misleading people buy claiming the IRS was auditing and looking at returns.

They weren't. The were reviewing applivations for tax-exempt status.

Do I just post to the ether or on Matthews's page?

How do I address Matthews?

Thanks.

[JaneyVee]

5. Just address him with his twitter handle beginning with @hardball_chris

[Earth_First]

6. Type your message to: @hardball_chris

followed by the 'hastag' #(your subject)

Try to make the hastag short and simple, you can post multiple hastags...

[madfloridian]

8. Start with his twitter page.

Then post your comment briefly. That will put it on his Connect page and his staff will see it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Try this, do a search for hardball

#hardball for the hash tag

[JaneyVee]

2. Where to post a Tweet?

[Jane Austin]

4. Yes, so the right person will see it.

Thanks.

[JaneyVee]

7. Tweet @hardball_chris + your message or you can click reply to one of his tweets.

@hardball_chris is his twitter address

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. That is even better.

[Jane Austin]

11. Thanks so much, everybody.

I appreciate your help.

[Ms. Toad]

12. A basic overview -

just in case anyone else is just getting started with Twitter. I don't find it as intuitive as other social media.

Twitter is basically a world-wide megaphone that you "shout" tweets into. Anyone within earshot who is listening can hear what you say (and all tweets are archived at the library of congress). I.e. very public - don't say anything you don't want your mother (or your children) to hear - or be able to find now or years from now.

If you want to address a specific person, you include their Twitter handle (@chris_hardball in this case) as part of your 140 characters. It is likely that they will receive an e-mail notice (or otherwise be gathering tweets that include their name in it). This is like shouting into the world-wide megaphone, "Hey Chris!"

If everyone is shouting at him - it still may get lost in the noise. That's when direct messages are helpful If you get him to follow you (subscribe to all of your messages), you can send him direct (and private) messages. Getting someone to follow you is sometimes as simple as following them (subscribing to all their messages) - some people routinely follow anyone who follows them..

If you want to emphasize a particular topic, and you want everyone who is interested in that topic to pay attention, you put a hashtag (#) in front of it. For example, if I wanted every dog in the world to pay attention, I might tweet #squirrel!

So - for this particular interest, I might tweet:

@hardball_chris at #hardball #IRS is not #auditing #teaparty returing, it is reviewing #taxexempt #applications http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/lawyers-demand-irs-approve-10-targeted-tea-party

Feel free to steal. If I get really ambitious, I would use the search box and look for #teaparty #taxreturns, and some other hashtags to see which ones got the most hits. But you can just make stuff up for the hashtags. (If you are attending a meeting, they will usually provide the hashtag for the meeting so anyone following the meeting looks for the designated hashtag). I also often include a link to accurate information.