What is X?
What is X?
What's coming up?
This activity will provide you with an outline of the X (formerly known as Twitter) social media platform. You will learn what the platform is used for and how people using the platform interact with each other.
Start activitySo, what is X?
X (formerly known as Twitter) is one of the world’s largest and most widely used social media apps. The premise of X is simple: users share their thoughts with their followers via small snippets of text called posts.
Posts can have a maximum of 280 characters and can consist of text, photos, or short videos.
Accessing the X platform
X can be used on a desktop or laptop computer and can be accessed by typing https//twitter.com into the address bar of your web browser.
X used to be called Twitter, but the web address has not changed.
You can also use your mobile device to access X via the official app.
eSafety Tip
Only download apps to your mobile device from either the official App Store for Apple devices, or the Google Play Store for Android devices. Before you download an app, check its authenticity by looking at the:
- App’s publisher
- Star rating given to the app by others
- Reviews written by those who have downloaded the app.
How X works
An X user's post can be seen by other users who follow that person. The post will appear on each follower’s X Home page, also known as their feed.
Users can simply view a post in their feed, or they can interact with it, including:
- Replying: commenting on someone’s post
- Liking: showing appreciation by clicking a heart icon under the post
- Reposting: posting your own or someone else's post again
- Sharing: sharing a post via a link, text message, email, or other social media.
The X Home page
Your X Home page will display content related to the interests you nominated when you signed up to X, in the For you tab. This Home page the default view when you visit X.
Posts from accounts and X users you follow appear on your Home screen in the Following tab. Click Following at the top of the page to see these post.
X and advertising
Like all other social media platforms, X makes money from advertising revenue. Many of the adverts X inserts into your Home page feed should be relevant to your interests, but some may not. You can learn how to personalise the ads you see in the upcoming Controlling your privacy settings on X activity.
Following and Followers
Content on X is shared and viewed by a follow system. When you sign up to X, you are prompted to specify some areas of interest, and you are then shown some user accounts that you may wish to Follow based on your nominated interests.
Likewise, other X users can follow your account so that your posts and content appear on their Home page. These users are known as your Followers.
eSafety Tip
It’s a good idea to be careful about what you post on X. Your posts can be reposted, quoted and shared, so they can potentially be viewed by anyone, not just the people who follow you on X.
The Home screen icons
The X Home screen has four icons that allow you to access:
- The Home screen, where you’ll find your feed. Your feed displays posts and content
- The Search function, where you can find new content and users by using specific keywords or by trending topics
- Notifications that let you see messages from X about users who have interacted with your posts and content
- Messages that let you communicate with other users via private messages.
The Profile view
When you use your computer or laptop to access X, you’ll be able to see the menu on the left of the screen. Click on Profile to see information about yourself.
If you use X on your mobile device via the official app, you can find this menu by tapping the small circle in the top left of the screen.
The Profile view (cont'd)
From the Profile view on your device, you can see:
- how many users are following you
- how many users you are following
- all the posts you have made on X, in a feed similar to the Home page feed
- a link to edit your profile and personal information.
More settings on X
On the X website, find More in the left menu and click it, then click Settings and Support to see links to:
- Settings and privacy for changing things like your email address and password
- the Help Center – X is a US company, so it uses the US spelling for centre.
To find these on the official X app for mobile devices, tap the circle in the top left of the screen, and then tap Settings and support.
Well done!
This is the end of the What is X? activity. You should now have a broad understanding of the X platform, what it is used for and how you can navigate around on X.
Next up, you’ll learn how to sign up to X in the How to create an X account activity.