How to Set Up a Twitter Account – Walkthrough

I’m going to assume that you know what tweets are, what following someone means (no, it’s not like stalking), what Twitter is, and that you know whether or not you should be using it and for what reason. I know what can happen when you assume, but for time and web space I’m going to do it anyway.

This is a super basic “How To” guide, if you want to get more in depth, check out How to REALLY Set Up a Twitter Account (this is coming soon, but will be linked once it’s in existence).

Follow these steps in order:
1. Open your favorite web browser.
2. Type the following URL into the address bar https://twitter.com/signup.
3. In the “Full Name” field, enter your full name.
4. In the “Email” field, enter the email address you want to have associated with your Twitter account. This is the address that Twitter will send important messages (like password resets) and updates (new people who are following you on Twitter and alerts when other Twitter users send you a direct message), so choose wisely.

Twitter sign up password error - TwoNineWebDesign.com
Twitter sign up password error.

5. In the “Password” field, enter the password that you would like to use to access your Twitter account. *Make sure you keep a record of this somewhere, especially if you’re not using Twitter regularly. Twitter requires that your password be at least 6 characters. It will let you know if you choose a password that doesn’t meet the requirements. It will also show you a green bar that will give you an idea of how strong (not likely to be figured out by hackers) your password is. You can increase password strength by using a mix of capital letters, numbers, and special characters (-, _, =, +, etc).
6. In the “Username” field, enter the username that you would like to be associated with your account. This is the name that other Twitter users will see when they look at your profile or at your tweets. There is a 15 character limit for usernames, so you will have to choose one that fits in the box. Twitter will check the availability of the username you choose and give you an error message if someone else has already registered that username.
7. Click the “Create my account” button at the bottom of the screen.
8. You may or may not be asked to fill in a captcha field to make sure you are a real person.

Twitter sign up email connect - TwoNineWebDesign.com
Twitter sign up email connect. You can skip this step.

9. Then, navigate through Twitter’s setup. 1.) explaining what a tweet is, 2.) choosing at least 5 people to follow (don’t worry too much, you can always unfollow them later), 3.) adding at least 5 favorites (which are really just choosing 5 more accounts to follow), and then 4.) a request to access your email account to connect with people in your address book (you can choose “skip this step at the bottom of the sidebar on the right).
10. Twitter will send you an email to confirm your email address (which you must do before you will be allowed to use all of Twitter’s features), so check your email, and click the confirmation link. Clicking the link should take you right back into your new Twitter account with a drop down message that lets you know your account has been confirmed.
11. Start tweeting.

That’s all there is to it. Post any questions/issues as comments, and I’ll be happy to help out as much as I can.

Happy tweeting.