Listed in this article are some more important Twitter functions, jargon, and URL shortener tools for making the most of Twitter. Please be sure to view Getting a Grip on Twitter Basics Part 1 where we cover more Twitter functions such as Tweets, @replies, and Hashtags#.

Direct Messages: Direct messages are used to communicate directly and privately with other Twitter users. Direct messages are commonly referred to as DMs within the Twitter landscape. If you would like to send a direct message to another Twitter user, Type D and then follow this with the Twitter user name for the person or company that you would like to direct message.

Since we are limited to 140 characters within Twitter, it is a good idea to shorten the length of links or URLs that you post within Twitter. The best way to do this is with a URL shortener. URL shorteners will shorten the number of characters in the posted URL to about 16 to 20 characters. Some of the more popular free online URL shortener services include tinyurl.com and bit.ly for squeezing down the amount of characters used in your URL. If you would like to track the amount of clicks that your shortened URLs generate and generate shortened URLs at the same time, then be sure to use twitalyzer to track your traffic.