I like the Twitter platform a lot. I have the very boring handle of @larryclarkin if you would like to add me to your follow list. My creativity was at an all time low when I picked the handle, but I just tell people that I wanted to be easy to find as opposed to admitting that I have yet to come up with a cool handle to use on the Internet.

If you are not familiar with Twitter, it is a social network built around micro-blogging that is a great example of software + services with multiple clients that implements RESTful services on an Internet scale. You can also describe it as an Instant Messaging system that all your friends (and even perfect strangers) can ease drop on the conversations.

It is not quite a verb yet…

I was recording a podcast today and the person I was interviewing dropped google (the verb) in the conversation. Of course he meant “search”, but the word google has become synonymous with the word search (note: Google does not want you to use their proper noun as a verb unless you are talking about their proper noun).

I started thinking that when we as a society create new words around a platform, then that is a sure sign that it has taken hold. Google (the verb) is probably the most widely accepted example of this, but Twitter has created a whole new set of words itself. So I figured I would put together a Twitter Dictionary (or Twictionary). This is just my quick stab at it, let me know if you have found any that I have missed:

Tweet– The < 140 character message that is sent out as part of your feed. Proper usage: “I sent that out in a Tweet today”.

Tweoples – A reference to the twitter users that are following you. This is the Twitter version of the term “peoples”.

Tweeps – A slang version of the term_ **Tweoples_ and it is the Twitter version of the term “peeps”. Proper usage: “Good night my Tweeps”.

DM – An acronym for “Direct Message” a Twitter feature that allows you to send a message to one Tweep that will not appear in the public timeline or the feed or either the sender or receiver (a private message). Usage: “DM me the root password to the server”.

Twittercon – The square picture (73 x 73 or smaller) picture that you associate with your account (or if you are lame the default picture that Twitter provides you). Proper Usage: “my smoking obama twittercon is finally going to pay off” – as seen in the feed of @KeVroN in reference to his Twittercon:

Obama Smoking Cigarette

Twitterdiction – a prediction that is made in the form of a Tweet.

dWittering – The act of sending a tweet out when you are intoxicated. This act is often filled with regret and or shame when the tweet or tweets are seen the next day. This can also be considered the SMS version of “Drunk Dialing”. Special credit goes to @joshholmes for first pointing out this term to me and for perfecting the art of dwittering.

Ninja Tweet – The act of sending a tweet about someone without their knowledge (or consent), usually why you are talking to them (coined by Denny Boynton in his post on Twitter and the new social).

Cross Slide Scripting (XSS) – the act of Twittering/Tweeting to the speaker so his computer displays insults about the talk, DURING the talk (coined by @PHPTek during the PHP Tek 2008 conference)

Update on 5/25/2008: Added a couple of new terms to the Twictinary and fixed a broken image (thanks KeVron).