When Twitter was first introduced to the world, I thought to myself, “oh, look, someone is trying to top Facebook.” I didn’t really understand what it was and just assumed that it was another way for society to indulge in the ostentatious and all too often asinine celebrity commentary. My youngest sister, who likely represents the “normal” celebrity-obsessed teenager, had been my only exposure to Twitter and our dialogue on the topic would always surround her pop star idols (dare I say Britney Spears and Lady Gaga?). This negative view of Twitter was continually renewed with every fatuous tabloid headline quoting @[enter celebrity name here]. And, even though I found some of these headlines very funny (see @danieltosh or @michaelianblack), I was determined to avoid Twitter at all costs. That is, until a few months ago.

Cartoon by Rossana Henriques

During the spring 2010 semester, I sat in on a lecture given by Christie Nicholson, science writer and social media guru, who provided several examples of how social media can be used to advance science. Having just launched my own blog (and being naturally interested in gaining readership), I thought maybe it was time to stop being so narrow-minded. So, I signed up. Over the next few months, I occasionally looked at my Twitter feed. I still didn’t understand how to fully utilize Twitter and thought it was pretty useless; my obligations at home and at the bench were far too great to add another layer of distraction. This all changed a few weeks ago. I am not sure what prompted me to give Twitter another try, but I am glad it happened. My eyes were opened to a whole new use for Twitter—immediate scientific knowledge. As it turns out, subscribers to Twitter go beyond that of my little sister and her favorite pop icons. People like Craig Venter (synthetic life pioneer; @jcventer), Carl Zimmer (science journalist; @carlzimmer), and Richard P. Grant (biochemist turned science writer/editor; @rpgtwit) are all “tweeting” their latest discoveries or papers. Journals, societies, universities, and bloggers are also involved. You can get instantaneous updates on the latest publications and science news (for example, Nature has several Twitter accounts, such as @naturemedicine, @naturematerials, and @natureblogs). Our very own Rockefeller University is with it, providing updates through @rockefelleruniv.

Perhaps you are looking to give Twitter a try. If so, realize that there is a learning curve. Twitter has its own language and it takes some getting used to. Plus, there is a strategy to Twitter—for both maximizing your professional development and for efficiently taking in the information. Due to the massive number of subscribers, it is possible for you to become inundated with tweets at an overwhelmingly alarming rate. Here are a few tips that I learned from Alexandra Samuel in her blog post for the Harvard Business Review (http://bit.ly/bVwSsR):

• Keep track of tweets by making lists (a categorical organization of those you follow. For instance, I have lists entitled sciencebloggers, science research, and science news). Follow these lists instead of your home feed. You can also follow the lists of others.

• Time-release your tweets. You don’t want to be distracted by trying to keep up your tweeting throughout the day. You will never get your work done! Instead, schedule your tweets using tools such as HootSuite. You will still be able to tweet in real time but this is a way to help you remain focused.

• Use Twitter messaging instead of e-mails. Chances are, the person you want to talk to is on Twitter. Use the messaging service to contact them. With a 140-character limit, it keeps things short and sweet and to the point. Communication efficiency at its maximum.

• Be careful what you tweet. If you are using Twitter for professional purposes, you might want to avoid using slang or jargon. As Alexandra Samuel puts it, “you are what you tweet.”

In addition, here is a glossary of terms that will help you navigate through the Twitter geek-speak:
@: The ampersand sign is used to call out Twitter user names in your tweets. For instance, if I wanted to get the attention of RU, I would include @rockefelleruniv in my tweet.

Follow: This is the action you take to subscribe to someone’s tweets.

Follower: This refers to the person who subscribes to a particular Twitter user.

Hashtag (#): This is the sign you use if you would like to trend a specific topic (also called a trend) in your tweet. For example, a very popular trend for scientists is #energy. By clicking on a trend, you can see all tweets mentioning it.

Lists: Curated groups created by Twitter users.

Retweet (RT): (noun) Tweet that had been reused by someone else; (verb) The act of reusing someone else’s tweet.

Tweep: Those that are in your social Twitter network (those you follow and those that follow you).

Tweet: (noun) A post on Twitter; (verb) The act of making a post on Twitter.

Tweeter: An account holder on Twitter who posts and reads tweets; also known as twitterers or tweeple.

I hope to see you in cyber space! You can follow me @themothergeek.