We've compiled an unofficial user guide for Twitter beginners and advanced users. More tips will be added in the coming weeks. Additional questions may be answered on Twitter's official support page.

Ducks Unlimited is active on Twitter every day, and we're posting hunting tips, waterfowl facts, news and insider info all the time! So get signed up with Twitter, follow @DucksUnlimited and stay tuned!

Sign up for Twitter/follow DU

Signing up for Twitter is fast and easy. Follow these steps and you'll be following DU's tweets in no time!

• Go to www.twitter.com/ducksunlimited (this link will open a new window, so you won't lose this guide while you're signing up)
• Click the bright green "Join today!" button near the top of the page
• Fill in the signup form and click "Create my account" at the bottom
• You can search for friends on Twitter or just click "Skip this step" on the bottom of the next two pages to get right to DU's tweets
• You will end up on your Twitter homepage, where you will see DU's Twitter updates—you're now following DU!

Joining the conversation (replies and retweets)

Here are a few helpful hints about the lingo used on Twitter. If you want to reply to other Twitter users or forward useful, interesting or funny tweets to everyone following you, this section will help you get started!

• @ at the beginning of a tweet is used to respond to something said by another Twitter user. If you hover over a tweet on your Twitter homepage, you will see a star symbol and an arrow appear on the right side of the tweet box. Clicking the arrow will automatically insert "@ducksunlimited" in your own tweet box at the top of the page. You can write a response to something said by Ducks Unlimited after that.
  
  Remember: This is a public response. Please refer to our discussion on direct messages for private responses.
• RT is short for retweet. If you're familiar with forwarding an e-mail, then you know what RT is: forwarding a tweet to your followers. If you want to share one of DU's tips, a link to an article, an inspirational quote—anything at all— just copy the tweet in its entirety, from "DucksUnlimited" to the end; go to your tweet box at the top and type RT @ then paste DU's tweet after it.
  
  UPDATE: Twitter's new retweet feature - Now it's even easier to retweet a message to your followers. Simply look for the word "retweet" when you hover over a message with your mouse in Twitter (on the web). The message will appear to your followers with the author's username in front of it, indicating in small letters that it was retweeted by you. This means not worrying about truncating the original tweet to fit with the RT and username.
• # denotes a Twitter hash tag. These tags are used during special events or when a certain topic is being discussed on multiple days. Hash tags link together multiple tweets and make them easily searchable using the search box on the right side of your Twitter page. So, in the case of DU's Prairie Experience event, we're using the hash tag: #duprairie. You'll be able to search for "duprairie" or "#duprairie" to find our tweets from the Prairie Experience event later.
• Shortened URLs/links are popular on Twitter because of the 140-character limit per tweet. DU shortens links to articles, pictures and videos using several services, but rest assured that you will end up on a ducks.org Web page or another trusted site if you click a link in any of our tweets. So click away! And if you want to shorten links yourself, consider using one of the following sites: bit.ly, tinyurl or is.gd.
• Typing d DucksUnlimited in the tweet box at the top of your Twitter homepage will allow you to write a direct message to DU. This message is private and will be seen only by DU staff who administrate the DU Twitter account. This is Twitter's equivalent of a 140-character e-mail.
  
  Remember: You cannot send a direct message to someone who is not following you. If we haven't added you as a friend yet, try an @ reply instead—we check those frequently and will get back to you as soon as we can.

Get tweets on your mobile phone

Twitter offers the option of synching with your mobile phone so you can get tweets from the people you follow while away from your computer. Once you've synched your phone with Twitter, you can turn mobile alerts off and on for any Twitter user. Here's a how-to guide for going mobile with Twitter and DU! (Standard text message rates apply. Refer to Twitter Support for more details.)

• Go to your Twitter homepage at www.twitter.com and log in if you aren't already
• Click "Settings" in the top menu, then the "Devices" tab
• Enter your mobile phone number beginning with a +1 (1 is the U.S. country code; for other countries click here). Use no dashes, spaces or other characters. Example: +19017583000.
• Check the box that says "It's okay for Twitter to send txt messages" and click "Save."
• Follow the verification instructions. Send the code provided on the next page to the phone number 40404. Twitter may send you other setup messages to your phone now and after it's synched with Twitter.
• To submit your own Twitter updates on the go, you can send text messages to 40404. They will show up in your personal Twitter feed, which is linked with your mobile number.