by Dana Lynn Smith
Replies and Mentions are both public messages on Twitter, but many users are not aware of the differences between them.
A tweet that begins with someone's user name is called a Reply and it appears in the @UserName mailbox of the recipient. For example, this Reply would show up in my mailbox:
Originally, only tweets beginning with @UserName appeared in the recipient's @UserName mailbox, so it was hard for users to spot tweets that contained their user name somewhere within the message. Many people used Google Alerts or other third-party tools to keep track of who was mentioning them on Twitter.
Now tweets appear in the recipient's mailbox if their user name appears anywhere within the tweet. Tweets that contain a user name within the text (but not at the beginning) are called Mentions. For example, this Mention would show up in my mailbox:
Why does this matter? Since March, Replies are only visible to people who are following both you and the person you’re addressing. So, if you send a Reply to someone, using their user name at the beginning of the message, only people who are following both of you will see the message. The intent of this is to cut down on message clutter from people who are chatting back and forth.
But if you want all of your followers to see the message (which is best if you are thanking someone or wish to give them exposure to your followers), send a Mention, using their Twitter user name within the message. For example, type this:
rather than this:
One of the most powerful features of Twitter is the ability to connect with others when you see them mentioned in someone's tweet, so in many cases Mentions are the best choice. Replies are useful if you're making a comment directly to someone else, or responding to something they said, but there's no value in the exchange for your other followers.
Remember, Replies and Mentions are both public messages, visible to other users. If you want to talk to someone privately, send a Direct Message. But, because you can only send Direct Messages to people who are following you, a Reply is a good way to contact someone who isn’t following you.
Twitter can be baffling at first, and many Twitter users don’t understand how to use this powerful tool to its full potential. To learn more, check out the new Twitter Guide for Authors and
follow @BookMarketer on Twitter.
