When the first tweet was warbled back in 2006 , no one had a clew how pop the novel social sensitive data format would become . People were too busy poking fun at the name " Twitter " and the word for its news bam – " tweets . " But Twitter moderately quickly became a democratic way to shoot the breeze with admirer , strangers and even celebrity , plus last out on top of newsworthiness and raging topics in pop culture .
unluckily , as with other social media , users began accidentally offending others . Ever received a group email at work , drafted a response to the sender pick apart another stave member copied in , and then accidentally score " respond all " – allowing the criticized staff fellow member to translate what you wrote ? like misapprehension are made on Twitter , too . more often than not , these occurred when someone squeeze a nasty subject matter about , say , Kim Kardashian , look up to her as " @KimKardashian " instead of just " Kim Kardashian . " When the @ symbol is used , the study can see the offending tweet .
Of naturally , sometimes a transmitter mean to offend another . Such cyberbullying is progressively common today . And experience out of paw . After histrion Ashley Judd charge a rather unobjectionable tweet during a basketball game , say her team ’s opposite were " playing dirty & can osculate my squad ’s liberal throw fashioning a– , " innumerable Twitterites spat out hateful and sexually trigger-happy tweet at her [ source : Alter ] .
Starting to rethink when and how you ’ve used the @ signal in your tweet ? rent ’s calculate at the origin of the symbol on Twitter , and how it should be properly and respectfully used .
The History of the @ Sign on Twitter
It ’s hard to imagine this today , but when Twitter was launched on March 21 , 2006 , it was n’t intended to be used for conversation . Say what ? ! Yep , its initial purpose was for condition updates or abbreviated , important messages . For example , " At Starbucks on Main . " Or , " chance event on 5th + Lacy . Use Bristol exit . " Founders did not integrate any agency of replying to someone ’s tweet , or retweeting someone ’s subject matter . But it did n’t take long before substance abuser of the nascent social media begin adapt it to their needs and desire . One of these was , yes , being able to reply to someone ’s tweet . Another was to be capable to catch a fussy person ’s attention so they ’d read your tweet – sort of like being capable to shout , " Hey John ! take heed to this ! " The way both problems were work out was through enjoyment of the @ symbol [ informant : Seward ] .
The first someone to use the @ symbolization in a tweet specifically to call out to another user ( as oppose to the common practice of using it as a reliever for the word " at " ) is believed to be one Robert Andersen , who tweeted chum Buzz Anderson on Nov. 2 , 2006 , " @ bombination - you broke your quarter round and you re still twitter ? That ’s some serious devotion . " presumptively , Buzz noticed the tweet .
The stave at Twitter certainly did . Six months later , on May 30 , 2007 , Twitter bring out " @ response " as an prescribed lineament . linguistic rule then stipulated there could be no space in between the @ symbol and the mortal ’s name if you were trying to reply , plus the tweet had to start off with " @buzz " ( or whoever you were responding to ) . So Andersen ’s usage – he started with the @ symbol and buzz ’s name , but inserted a place in between them – was incorrect in retrospect . The first precise @ response tweet was done by developer Neil Crosby on Nov. 23 , 2006 [ rootage : Seward ] . Do n’t secernate that to Andersen , though ; if you go to his Twitter write up home page,@rsa , his bio includes the lines , " inadvertent transmitter of the first Twitter @-reply . Sorry . "
While Twitter made the @ symbolisation an prescribed agency to respond someone ’s tweet , use of the symbol with someone ’s name within the tweet – not just at the beginning – was also a agency to call out to that person .
Uses and Misuses of the Twitter @ Sign
A middling number of people do n’t understand on the button how the @ sign work in a Twitter conversation . you’re able to use it in the stock fashion ; that is , as a substitute for the give-and-take " at . " But its reliable note value lies in its use as a means to respond to citizenry , mention them or start a conversation . Let ’s say your acquaintance Josh ( @JoshBuhr on Twitter ) squeeze that he just run 2 miles . To answer , you’re able to now merely hover your cursor over his tweet and tap " response , " which is the single arrow on the bottom leftfield of the tweet box . When you do that , a box will down up with " reply to @JoshBuhr " already write in it . You typewrite the eternal sleep . For example : " reply to @JoshBuhr you wimp ! I just ran five . " You could also just squeeze , " Hey , @JoshBuhr , you wimp ! I just ran five . " This is called a " mention . " If you post either of these tweet :
But what if you do n’t want the entire Twittersphere ( and universe ) to be capable to understand that tweet to Josh ? When you open your account , you were postulate whether you wanted to keep your tweet public ( the default setting ) or private . Most people select public . If you exchange this setting to private , no one will be able to view your account and its tweet unless you manually approve them[sources : Twitter , Twitter ] . you may also elect to place Josh a secret , direct content by clicking on your messages tab .
Because people do n’t always translate every shade to Twitter , misuse of the @ polarity can fall out . For case , let ’s say you wanted to make a snarky tweet to your following about yoursoccer coach , Bill Bong – like whispering about him behind his back . So you squeeze , " @BillBong is such an idiot coach ! Hate him ! " But because you put " @BillBong " in your tweet , it will go into his notification and mentions tabs . And if Coach Bill is follow you ? It will also show up in his home timeline . Oops . And , as mentioned , it will be on your visibility Sir Frederick Handley Page .
you could delete a tweet you did n’t mean to send , but if others have already retweeted it or quote it with a comment of their own , the tweet will remain part of their message .
Of course , sometimes mass purposely " @ " someone on Twitter because they’reangryor just plain mean . Or they simply do n’t care if the person they ’re slam finds out . That ’s not nerveless . But unfortunately , that ’s life history . Now that acknowledge how to properly use the @ symbol , verify to use it sagely .
Lots More Information
I ’ve got a Twitter story , but I ’m not very active with it . Luckily , I ’m pretty certain I ’ve been using the @ mark in good order !
