This guide is a snapshot of how to use Twitter for a beginner in the year 2020. It focuses on the platform's core features, terminology, and best practices as they existed at that time.

1. The Basics: Your Profile and The Feed
When you first sign up, you'll create a profile. This includes:

Profile Picture: A photo or avatar to represent you.

Bio: A short description of yourself (up to 160 characters).

Username (@handle): Your unique name on Twitter, like @elonmusk. This is how people will mention you.

Your main page is your Timeline or Feed. In 2020, this was primarily a stream of tweets from the people you followed, with an algorithm-driven "Top Tweets" feature to show you popular content first.

2. Core Actions: What You Do on Twitter
Tweet: This is the primary action. In 2020, a tweet had a strict limit of 280 characters. You could include text, links, photos (up to 4), a GIF, or a video (up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds).

Reply: To respond directly to someone else's tweet, you use the reply button. Your reply will be visible to everyone on your followers' timelines, and a conversation thread will be created.

Retweet: This is how you share someone else's tweet with your followers. A simple retweet shares the post exactly as it was.

Quote Tweet: This is a more advanced way to retweet. It allows you to add your own comment (up to 280 characters) to someone else's tweet before you share it. This was a popular feature for adding commentary or context.

Like: Similar to other social media platforms, you can "like" a tweet by tapping the heart icon. This is a simple way to show appreciation for a post.

3. Key Terminology
Hashtag (#): A word or phrase preceded by the # symbol (e.g., #breakingnews). Clicking on a hashtag shows you all the tweets using that same tag. This was the primary way to discover new content and follow trending topics.

Mention (@): To tag or address another user, you type the @ symbol followed by their username (e.g., @NASA). This will notify them and make their username a clickable link to their profile.

DM (Direct Message): A private, one-on-one conversation that is not visible to the public. You could only send a DM to someone who followed you, unless their settings were changed to allow DMs from anyone.

Twitter Fleets: A brand-new feature launched in late 2020. Fleets were a form of disappearing content, similar to Instagram or Snapchat Stories, that vanished after 24 hours. This was an experimental feature designed for sharing casual thoughts.

4. Navigating Twitter in 2020
Home: This was your main timeline where you saw tweets from people you followed.

Explore: This tab was your hub for discovering what was happening. It showed Trends (popular hashtags and topics), News, and content tailored to your interests.

Notifications: This section showed you all your interactions, including likes, retweets, replies, and new followers.

Messages: This was where you accessed all of your private conversations.

5. How to Get Started
Set up your profile: Choose a clear profile picture and write a compelling bio.

Find and follow accounts: Use the search bar to find people you know, brands you like, or topics you're interested in.

Start with the basics: Don't feel pressured to have a viral tweet. Start by replying to people, retweeting posts you find interesting, and using relevant hashtags to join conversations.