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What is X?

X (previously Twitter) is an online social networking, microblogging and news platform.

It allows registered users to connect with each other and share posts of up to 280 characters, along with images and video clips. These short posts are generally called tweets or 'x's'.

X's global following enables its users to share their thoughts, news and have conversations with a mass, or restricted audience.

X's functions

Tweets, or x's
X users need to be succinct with their words and get their point across in a maximum of 280 characters including punctuation, spaces and emojis. Users can also post photos, images and videos. X generally requires videos to be less than 140 seconds long.
Followers
Registered users can follow accounts they’re interested in to keep up to date with their news and stories. If an account is protected, the account owner will be able to approve or deny requests to follow them.
Public or protected
Posts are publicly visible by default. However, account owners can choose to protect them so they can only be seen by their followers.
Like, retweet, quote
Users that can see your posts can choose to like, share or quote them. Sharing allows the user to re-post to their own followers. Quotes allow users to share other people's posts and add further comments to them. These can be useful for organisations looking to form relationships with partners and the community.
Personal and business accounts
X offers accounts for both personal and organisational (business) use. Personal accounts are designed for individuals to express their own views and business accounts are designed for organisations to share their activities, values and goals and build a following. Business accounts have more features, a resource hub, enable you to schedule your posts and give you the ability to track and drive performance.
Hashtags
Using relevant hashtags (eg #community, #sport) in your captions is an effective way of helping people find you.
Ads
You can build a tailored advertising campaigns by using Ads. There are different formats to suit different goals, audiences and budgets.

Get set up

  • Go to the X website or download the app.

  • Sign up using an Apple account, google account, mobile number or email.

  • Once you have created and verified your account, you can use the 'what’s happenin'’ text box to create your tweet. You can add photos and videos to these posts.

  • You can search for people you know and start following them. You can also follow topics.

  • To create a business account, follow links to X for Business, or go to your profile settings and select Professional Tools..

Things to consider

  • To create an account, users must be 13 or over.  

  • Be cautious of inappropriate content or language in comments or videos.  

  • You will need to pay to use Ads and set up an Ads account. You can set up multiple logins for the same account.

  • X posts appear in real-time so it’s important to keep your feed up to date.