How to Create a Twitter Account

by Drew Ambrogi (@DrewAmbrogi)

Communications Associate for Digital Media

Advancement Project (@Adv_Project)

Go to www.twitter.com. Click sign up. 

Input your name (or your organization's name) and a cell phone number or email address that will be used to confirm your identity. Choose a password. 

A confirmation code will be sent to your email or cell phone. You'll be asked to enter it on the next page. 

I recommend you uncheck this box.

After you confirm your phone or email, create a unique 15 character username.

This message means someone else has the username you want. Try something else.

If you already have other social media profiles, try to use the same username, if it is available.

Upload a profile photo by clicking on the plus sign or dragging it into the dotted box. 

If you're making an account for an organization, use a square version of your logo. 

Next you'll be taken to this page. Type in some of your interests, so Twitter can recommend accounts for your to follow. Ultimately, this isn't very important so you can just click continue if you'd like.

You'll be asked if you want to upload email contacts to find them on Twitter. You can do this later if you choose to skip it now. 

Based on the interests you provided, Twitter will suggest accounts for you to follow. You must choose to follow at least one and then click the blue continue button. You'll  be able to follow as many more people as you want later. 

You did it! You have a Twitter account. But you're not quite ready to start Tweeting. 

To continue, click on the egg in the upper right corner, then click view profile. 

Click "Edit Profile" to optimize your profile before you start tweeting. 

If you haven't already, click here to add a profile picture.

Click here to add a header photo. This should be an engaging image that represents who you are. It should be wide so it fills the space properly. 

This is where you'll put in information about yourself or your organization. More about optimizing your bio on the next page...

Click "Save changes" when you're done. 

Your bio should contain a brief description of who you are (or what your organization does). Include hashtags so that people with similar interests can find your profile. 

Make sure to include your website and location. 

Now you're ready to get started. 

Post your first tweet and start following other accounts. 

If you'd like, start by following Advancement Project (@adv_project) or me (@DrewAmbrogi). Happy Tweeting!