Social media users feel the first waves of Facebook fatigue. Sure, they still dutifully check their page, afraid to miss out on an event invitation or a photo they are tagged in–however the love has gone out of the relationship. Twitter Tips

Enter Twitter, with it’s 140-characters or less mandate, Twitter offers respite from the overload of images, petitions, and sponsored ads on Facebook. All those items exist on Twitter of course, but they look like everything else on the service and allow users to click through to the images or links they wish to follow and ignore the rest.

Whether utilizing Twitter for personal or marketing purposes, active participation creates a more robust Twitter experience. While Twitter may function well as an RSS feed replacement, ultimately the user experience expands once you opt to participate by tweeting, re-tweeting, and hashtagging.

Here are three tips to making your experience navigating Twitter better:

Follow Twitter Lists

Twitter members curate lists of users who post about specific topics. Follow Twitter Lists relevant to the discussions you want to be part of. Whether you are interested in marketing, Star Wars, social media, or roller derby, a wide variety of lists have already been created by Twitter users. Utilizing a list allows you to follow dozens of like-minded users with one click. Interact with people on the list and soon you are added to other’s lists and find greater exposure.

Feel free to curate your own lists as well. List members’s tweets will appear in your feed, but you can also opt to view lists individually by topic to keep your Twittering focused.

Expand Beyond the 140

140 characters or less limits tweeting immensely. However, the tight typing restriction keeps tweets succinct. The spare nature of the writing on Twitter is exactly what keeps the Twitterverse engaged and unencumbered. While it might be tempting to use multiple tweets to expand upon and idea, the chronology of the feed makes multi-tweet diatribes an exercise in sentence forensics. Don’t force your followers to read you upside down!

Certainly you have more to say or show than 140 characters. Instead of trying to cram everything into a single tweet, use your post as a lure to catch readers or viewer. Pull them in with a sly sentence and link them to the relevant blog post, photo, or video. Social media relies on images and videos to sell ideas, keep your tweets visually divers by incorporating quick Instagram photos or Vine videos or link to infographics to illustrate a point.

Security & Privacy

If you are looking for a low-key Twitter experience, a private account setting is offered. Tweets remain under lock and key, only visible to users you have approved to follow you. Unlike the thin privacy settings of Facebook which allow a lot of backdoor viewing of private accounts, Twitter keeps private tweets from being retweeted to the public or otherwise broadcast publicly.

However to reach a broader audience, open your feed to the public. Public feeds gain amplification more quickly by allowing other Twitter users to retweet your content to their followers.

In the wake of a recent hacking scandal, Twitter has increased its online security options. Twitter users may opt in to a two-factor verification system. This form of login requires users to login and then login in via text from an approved phone number.

Taking the time to familiarize yourself with Twitter will help you develop the Twitter experience that best suits your needs. Just remember to engage with the Twitter feed to get the most out of your tweets!