Entering into the world of Twitter can be a daunting experience. Navigating hashtags and which celebrity accounts to follow doesn’t come naturally to all of us, but with 310 million active Twitter users in the world the time has come to join in the online conversation.

Luckily we prepared this handy guide to help you send your first tweet out into the world!

• Do not tweet your own name

This might sound obvious but Labour MP Ed Balls famously tweeted his own name back in 2011, much to the amusement of the internet. April 28th is now known as ‘Ed Balls Day’ on the social media site with many people sharing his name annually on the date. Us included.

• Avoid sales pitches

Twitter is almost certainly the place to network and shout about your achievements, but it is also a great platform for engaging with your community directly. Treat people like people, not prospects.

• Keep it short and sweet

Most people choose to go with a simple ‘Hello world!’ or ‘I’m new to this, bear with me!’ style announcement – a good way to start things off and encourage other users to respond. Remember that depending on your account settings, your tweets can be seen by everyone and their grandmother – keep it savoury and make the best use of your 140 character limit!

• Know your #

Hashtags help categorise your tweets and allow other users to find people who are talking about the same subject. When a hashtag gets used enough it starts to ‘trend’. Twitter provides a handy list on the homepage to show you the current trends, allowing you to get your tweets noticed by incorporating a trending hashtag in your message.

• No spoilers!

Perhaps you have just finished the latest episode of Game of Thrones and want your first tweet to be an exclamation of your excitement. That’s great, just keep it spoiler free for those who haven’t watched it yet!

Below are some first tweets from celebrities across the world to inspire you!

Big Bird:

The Queen:

President Obama:

Katy Perry:

David Cameron:

J.K. Rowling: