By now, Twitter has officially become part of everyday society. Sure, there are a few holdouts — but Twitter, whether we like it or not, is here to stay.
That being said, there are a ton of things people need to understand about Twitter to keep it from becoming absolutely terrible; it’s already dangerously close. First — and most importantly — always, always, always use correct grammar. No one thinks you’re intelligent when you type a sentence like, “I LuV My GuY 4EVA!!1!” Seriously, please use proper sentence structure. It makes you seem much smarter than you probably are.
Now that the English lesson is over, let’s talk about hash tags. They’re one of the easiest ways to tag your tweets to make a statement; you simply add a pound sign before the word, and twitter instantly lumps your thoughts in with everyone else’s hash tag.
Most tags are used for a specific reason; you can tag something #mylifeisaverage or #mlia to let people know you have a normal, everyday existence. For instance, @jakeninja tweeted, “I saw a squirrel bust from a trash can and scare a student. What did you do today? #mlia.” Any random but normal occurrence can work.
Tagging something with #threewordsaftersex is a bit more risqué, but can make for some hilarious tweets. It’s not the most politically correct thing you can do, but trying to come up with the most awkward words is a fun game to play when you’re trying desperately to zone out in class.
If you’re into tweeting pictures, tagging a hilarious cat photo with #caturday is always good. There’s always a reason to show off cats striking odd poses; it’s the twitter equivalent of McDonald’s — a cheap laugh with no substance, but still delicious.
Tagging big events is a good way to let everyone else know how great of a time you’re having. Tagging things with #SXSW or #ACL is a great way to let people know you’re at an awesome concert in Austin; the same applies if you’re at a Cougar football game (#uhfootball).
Sometimes you need to let your followers know you’ve had a bad day. Tag a breakup tweet or a test day with #badday to let everyone know you’re in a terrible mood.
Let people know your life is like a Bon Jovi concert by tagging #rockreactions in your tweet. A good example comes from @alyankovic: “On second thought, it actually might behoove you to fear the Reaper a little bit. #rockreactions.”
These are only a tiny fraction of what you can do with twitter. I missed some good hash tags, and this is only one way to make your tweets better — so tag @thedailycougar to let me know what I’ve missed.
