How do I get started?
Point your browser at www.twitter.com, pick a username and password, and you're off. Follow others by visiting www.twitter.com/theirusername and clicking Follow. Reply to their tweets from your update box by typing "@theirusername" followed by what you want to say: @replies appear in the public timeline. Direct messages (DMs) are private.
It depends on your interests. My travel favourites include @ben_coop (web editor at traveldk.com), the blogs @Gadling and @worldhum , and wine writer @thirstforwine. If you have a particular interest (in Portugal, say), head to http://search.twitter.com, plug in your place, and see who's talking about it. Mr & Mrs Smith (@Smithhotels) and Marriott (@Marriottintl ) are both active. Oh, and don't forget me, @hackneye .
How do I escape bores?
If anyone becomes boring, or your interests change, revisit their page and Unfollow them; hit Block if you don't want someone following you.
I'M UP AND RUNNING, AND READY FOR SOME TOP TIPS
Desktop application Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com) lets me sort my follows into groups (travel, friends, journalism, tech, and so on), and separates out @replies and DMs sent to me, so I never miss anyone. It's free to download. Track events or interests using a clunky system known as hashtags (www.hashtags.org) Append the relevant hashtag to your tweets once you get the hang of things. Last week's big hashtag was #uksnow.
How do I stay in touch when I'm on the move?
On my Nokia N95 I use Twibble (www.twibble.de), which works on any Java-enabled mobile device. It's free. iPhone users I polled (on Twitter, naturally) favour Tweetie (£1.79 from the iTunes store).
