Tricks Of The Twitter Trade

Twitter is a great medium for promoting political messages online—if you can get people's attention. That's no small feat, according to the research firm Sysomos. It found that nearly three-fourths of tweets are ignored, and the window of opportunity typically closes in less than an hour.

That reality gives politicians all the more reason to do Twitter right, and the new (and free) "Essential Guide to Twitter" can help. The guide, edited by the Capitol Hill Tweet Watch Report staff and published by the David All Group, is an update to the 2009 "Twitter 101 Guide," which was downloaded more than 10,000 times.

Tweet Watch is a central part of the new version. It is chock-full of "Twitter in Action" profiles of tweeters on Capitol Hill, elsewhere in the government and in the media. You'll learn why Twitter matters, what makes a good tweeter, how to write a good tweet (and a bad one), and much more.

The guide also explains the upgraded features on Twitter and includes summaries of leading Twitter applications. And for newcomers unfamiliar with the jargon of the Twitterverse, we've included a brief glossary of popular terms.