Learn How to Use Twitter in 15 Minutes or Less

Sign up, choose a username, set up your profile, and start tweeting

By

Leslie Walker

Updated on October 21, 2021

Reviewed by

Lisa Mildon

Twitter

What to Know

Select Sign up, fill out the form, and pick prefs. Enter the code and create a password. Then, upload a profile pic and write a bio.
Change your username: Go to Home > More > Settings and privacy > Account information > Username.
Update your profile: Select Home > Profile > Edit Profile.

This article explains how to get up and running with Twitter in 15 minutes or less. You'll learn the basics of how to use Twitter by setting up your Twitter profile, sending your first tweet, and deciding how you want to use Twitter.

Fill Out the Sign Up Form on the Twitter Home Page

Here's how to create a new account on Twitter, add a profile picture, and write a bio that your followers will see:

Go to Twitter, and select Sign up. You can use an email address/phone number or a Google account to create your account. Mac and iOS users can also use their Apple ID.

Twitter
Twitter displays the initial sign-up form. Enter your name, your phone number or email for verification, and your date of birth. Select Next to continue.
Customize your experience by opting into tracking Twitter content across the web. Check or uncheck the box and select Next.
You are prompted to enter your bio information. You can select Skip for now.
Turn on notifications. Select Allow notifications or Skip for now.
Select what topics you want to see.
Enter desired username and select Done.
Twitter sends a verification code to the phone number or email address you provided. Retrieve the code and enter it in the space provided. Select Next.
Twitter prompts you to choose a password. Choose a strong password, and select Next.
Select the profile picture icon, and choose a profile picture to upload. Choose a clear picture of yourself without other people as a profile picture.
You can edit the profile picture that you uploaded. After you align it the way you want, select Apply.
Your profile picture displays in a preview. If you like the way it looks, select Next.
Enter a short bio, and then select Next.
Twitter asks if you want to import your contacts. That choice is entirely up to you. To skip it, select Not now.
Choose the interests that you want to see tweets about, or select Skip for now.
Twitter suggests people for you to follow. Select Follow by any you want to hear from.
When you're done, your home page appears with your feed displayed down the middle.

Choose Your Twitter Username

You may have noticed that Twitter never asked you about your username. That's because it automatically creates one based on your name. You can see your Twitter username preceded by the @ symbol beneath your name next to your profile picture in the lower-left corner of the screen.

If you like what Twitter gave you by default, great! There's nothing you need to do. Otherwise, changing your username isn't hard.

From your home screen, select More.
Choose Settings and privacy from the menu.
Select Account information. Twitter asks you to confirm your password to process. Enter it and select Confirm.
Select your Username.
Enter your new username without the @. If it's available, the box around it stays blue. Select Save to make the change official.

Fill Out Your Profile

Your profile gives your followers a bit of information about yourself. Here's how to fill it out:

Select Profile to the left of your feed on your home page.
On your profile page, select Edit Profile.
A window appears that contains your profile info. You already added some of the info, so there's not much to do. In the future, you can update your profile info here.
Select the camera icon and choose a picture as your banner image. This picture goes across the top of your profile. Use a picture of something you tweet about or follow rather than a picture of yourself. For example, if you tweet about travel, choose a picture of a place you visited.

Twitter recommends 1500 x 500 picture images for the banner.
Fill in your Location. You can be as specific or vague as you like. You can even use a fictional place. No one's checking for accuracy.
Add a Website, if you have one.
Select Save.

Send Your First Tweet

After you finish your profile, send your first tweet. It's a little like a Facebook status update, except that the Twitter messages you send are public by default and must be short.

To send a tweet, type a message of 280 characters or less into the text box that asks, "What's Happening?" The character count drops as you type. If a minus sign appears, you've written too much. Trim a few words, and then when you're satisfied with your message, click the Tweet button.

Your tweet isn't sent to anyone yet because no one follows you or subscribed to receive your tweets. Still, your tweet is visible to anyone who stops by your Twitter page, either now or in the future.

Resist the urge (for now) to use strange Twitter language. You'll learn the lingo as you go.

Decide How to Use Twitter, for Business or Personal Goals

After finishing this beginning Twitter tutorial, your next step is to decide who to follow and what kind of followers you hope to attract. Your experience of Twitter will vary depending on how you choose to use Twitter, including who you follow and what you tweet.

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for letting us know!

Tell us why!