Are you on Twitter, but you don't understand what it means? Here are the main terms you will need to know to start using Twitter today!

DM/Direct Message: A private message sent from one Twitter user to another. The person receiving the message must already follow the person sending the DM and the message must be 140 characters or less.

Follow: The act of becoming a 'fan' of someone on Twitter. Just as a fan connects with you on Facebook and 'likes' your page, a Twitter follower will 'follow' you on Twitter so they can stay updated on your tweets. You are not obligated to follow people back.

Following: This is when you follow other Tweeters. When you follow them, you will be able to see their tweets in your own timeline.

Handle: Your Twitter username is referred to as your 'handle.' It is identified with the @ symbol. For example, @ABCTravel.

Hashtag: Words preceded by a # sign, for example #travel can be used to tie various tweets together from tweeters from anywhere in the world and relate them to a topic, whether it is a conference, event, TV show or trend. Twitter will automatically link all hashtags so users can search for other tweets using the same hashtag.

Lists: A list can be made up of friends, competitors, people in the same state, or industry. It is used to combine select people you follow on Twitter into a smaller feed. Lists let you view a slice of your followers at a time and is a great way to focus on specific people when you're following a large number of people.

RT/Retweet: A retweet is the equivalent of a forward to a friend. When someone posts something interesting, you can retweet it and share with your followers.

Search: As the majority of tweets are public, you can use Twitter's search function to search for tweets containing a specific keyword, name or phrase. The results are in real time.

Timeline: This is a chronological listing of all tweets in a given feed.

Trending topics: Along the right hand side of your Twitter interface, Twitter lists the top 10 topics that are hot right now. For example what people are talking about the most at the moment.

Tweet: This is the equivalent of a post on Facebook - a tweet is what you post on Twitter.

Tweetup: A term for in person events, such as a meet up. Tweetups occur from Twitter connections and are typically informal gatherings that let Twitter followers meet in real life.