How will I know if I win a competition on Twitter?

If you are new to comping on Twitter, especially if you have already experienced the confusion of Facebook, you may be worried about how you will find out whether you have won a competition on Twitter.

One or two people have told me that they try to read every single tweet they have missed while they are away from Twitter, in case they've missed an announcement that they have won.

The good news is that this isn't necessary. When a promoter chooses their winner, they will contact them either by mentioning them in a tweet or sending them a direct message. It's always a good idea to follow somebody who is running a competition, even if they don't actually say that you have to, because they can't send you a direct message if you aren't following them.

So how do you know you have won?

Well, to check to see if you have been mentioned in a tweet, go to your twitter page  and look at the top of your column of tweets, to the second tab along, where it will show your user name. For instance my tab is labelled @janesgrapevine. If you click on that, you will see a list of all the tweets sent to you or mentioning your name. If you can see all sorts of other stuff jumbled in among them, click the "show mentions only" box on the top right and you will only see tweets with your name in - then you can scan down the list for anything saying you are a winner.

To see if you have been sent a Direct Message, click on "Messages" right at the very top of the screen.

It's a good idea to check both of these every time you visit Twitter, but if you are still worried you might miss something, you can set Twitter to send you an email every time somebody mentions you or sends you a Direct Message. To do this, click on the little arrowhead to the very right of your name at the top of your Twitter page and choose Settings. Then choose "Notifications" and tick the boxes  next to "Email me when I'm sent a direct message" and "I'm sent a reply or mentioned". Finally click on "Save" and you can relax, knowing that you'll never miss a winning notification.

What happens when I win?

When you win, the promoter will need to know where to send your prize. It isn't a good idea, from a personal security point of view, for you to send them your address  in a tweet, so they will either give you an email address to send your details to, or tweet you a link to a form to fill in on a website, or ask you to send your details in a Direct Message.

They don't always realise that they need to be following you in order for you to Direct Message them, but a polite tweet to them asking them to follow you so that you can send it almost always does the trick. If they are being a bit dozy and not checking their incoming tweets, click on their user name to take you to their own Twitter page where there should be a link to their website. Use the "Contact Us" page on the site to send them a message, remembering to include your Twitter name so they can confirm that it is you.

And just to brighten this  up, here is a photo of a beautiful bunch of orchids I won yesterday.