What is Twitter?
Twitter describes itself as, “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”
If you’re new Twitter, then that description might seem a bit vague and ambiguous. So, to help you wrap your mind around the short-form messaging tool, start thinking about Twitter as a new form of online communication. Twitter is just communication in a new shape, but it’s also a platform for listening to the communication of others in new ways.
Currently we have email, instant messenger, and VoIP tools like Skype as one-to-one or one-to-few online communication tools. For one-to-many online communication, online publishers can turn to blogs to create and distribute content rapidly and reach anyone on the web through RSS feeds.
Twitter is a combination of these various forms of communication, but its primary difference is that posts, or tweets, are restricted to 140 characters or less. As a Twitter user you can post updates, follow and view updates from other users (this is akin to subscribing to a blog’s RSS feed), and send a public reply or private direct message to connect with another Twitterer.
Though users can answer the prompt, “What are you doing?”, tweets have evolved to more than everyday experiences, and take the shape of shared links to interesting content on the web, conversations around hot topics (using hashtags), photos, videos, music, and, most importantly, real-time accounts from people who are in the midst of a newsworthy event, crisis, or natural disaster.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
What is a retweet?
HOW TO: Retweet on Twitter
Retweeting is an integral part of the Twitter experience. The retweet (or “RT”) allows Twitter users to share the best links, tweets, and gems they find from others using the service. But for beginners, it’s not immediately obvious what retweets are, or what tools to use to make retweeting easier.
This HOW TO article not only covers the basics of retweeting, but also highlights some of the best web and mobile-based tools for retweeting and tracking RTs in real-time. If you’re a Twitter beginner, we hope you find it useful; if you’re a more advanced user, we hope you’ll share it with friends who are just starting out.
1. What is Retweeting and How to Retweet
Retweeting is how Twitter users share interesting tweets from the people they are following. They copy and paste the original tweet and send it out. To give credit to the original person, users usually put “RT” plus the originator’s username at the beginning of the tweet. Here’s an example:
- The Twitter user @benparr tweets: I just heard that Apple is releasing new iPods in July!
- You retweet by posting RT @benparr I just heard that Apple is releasing new iPods in July!
2. How to Track Retweets
Once you’ve gotten used to retweeting and seen some excellent retweets in your Twitter stream, you may want to track retweets on a larger scale. The most popular retweets tend to reflect the favorite articles and most important stories of the entire Twitter community. This can be great if you want to find important articles, read useful blog posts, or are looking to track emerging trends.
Here are some of the best web-based tools for tracking retweets:
Retweetradar: Retweetradar [@retweetradar] is a web tool for tracking the most retweeted and trending content on Twitter. It provides a tag cloud to see the most popular content from today, yesterday, and even what’s popular right now.
Retweetist: Retweetist [@retweetist] is a tool that tracks the most popular links being retweeted on Twitter, just like Tweetmeme. Retweetist doesn’t stop there, however – it also lists the most retweeted accounts on Twitter.
Tweetmeme: Tweetmeme [@tweetmeme] is an authority when it comes to retweeted URLs and stories. Tweetmeme tracks the most popular links on Twitter. Once a link receives enough retweets, it appears on the front page of Tweetmeme. Tweetmeme can also be broken down by categories (i.e. sports, entertainment, technology).
3. Tracking Retweets with Mobile Phones
One of the coolest aspects of Twitter is that it’s easy to use on-the-go. Tweets can be sent from any mobile phone via text, the mobile web, or iPhone and smartphone applications.
If you need to track retweets while on the move, here are some of the best mobile tools for tracking retweets:
Retweet iPhone App [iTunes link]: The Retweet iPhone app, which we recently reviewed, is a great app for tracking the most popular retweeted URLs on Twitter. It costs $0.99.
Tweetmeme Mobile: If you’re not an iPhone owner, you’re in luck – Tweetmeme has a mobile version at m.tweetmeme.com. Bookmark it so you can see the most popular retweets from anywhere!
Tweetie() [iTunes Link]: The most popular Twitter iPhone App includes a section for viewing top Twitter trends and searching for retweets.
4. How to Retweet with just Two Clicks
Another cool aspect about Twitter are the great applications people build to make using Twitter easy. There are desktop and web applications that can show you all of your Twitter friends and tweets in one place.
The coolest part? Some of these applications make retweeting as simple as two clicks: one to create the retweet, and one to post it to Twitter. No copy and paste required! Here are some of the best applications for two-click retweeting:
Tweetdeck: Tweetdeck is a very popular application for running Twitter on your desktop. It has many features, but one of its best is its one-click retweeting feature – hovering over a profile picture provides the easy option for retweeting anyone’s tweets – just click the bottom left icon.
Seesmic Desktop: Seesmic Desktop is another great desktop application for Twitter. Formerly known as Twhirl, it also helps users read, reply, and send tweets from the desktop. Just hover over the profile picture and click the bottom-left bottom to retweet any post.
Tweetree: Tweetree is a web-based Twitter application that helps organize Twitter using conversation trees, so you can see an entire Twitter conversation on one page. Tweetree has an easy-to-use retweet feature at the right hand side of any tweet. TwitZap is another web-based Twitter application that has a similar one-click retweet feature.
5. Mashable’s Best Retweeting Resources
If you’re looking to continue your education in the art of retweeting, then we encourage you to read some of our most popular Twitter and retweeting posts:
cf http://mashable.com/2009/04/16/retweet-guide/
Retweeting is an integral part of the Twitter experience. The retweet (or “RT”) allows Twitter users to share the best links, tweets, and gems they find from others using the service. But for beginners, it’s not immediately obvious what retweets are, or what tools to use to make retweeting easier.
This HOW TO article not only covers the basics of retweeting, but also highlights some of the best web and mobile-based tools for retweeting and tracking RTs in real-time. If you’re a Twitter beginner, we hope you find it useful; if you’re a more advanced user, we hope you’ll share it with friends who are just starting out.
1. What is Retweeting and How to Retweet
Retweeting is how Twitter users share interesting tweets from the people they are following. They copy and paste the original tweet and send it out. To give credit to the original person, users usually put “RT” plus the originator’s username at the beginning of the tweet. Here’s an example:
- The Twitter user @benparr tweets: I just heard that Apple is releasing new iPods in July!
- You retweet by posting RT @benparr I just heard that Apple is releasing new iPods in July!
2. How to Track Retweets
Once you’ve gotten used to retweeting and seen some excellent retweets in your Twitter stream, you may want to track retweets on a larger scale. The most popular retweets tend to reflect the favorite articles and most important stories of the entire Twitter community. This can be great if you want to find important articles, read useful blog posts, or are looking to track emerging trends.
Here are some of the best web-based tools for tracking retweets:
Retweetradar: Retweetradar [@retweetradar] is a web tool for tracking the most retweeted and trending content on Twitter. It provides a tag cloud to see the most popular content from today, yesterday, and even what’s popular right now.
Retweetist: Retweetist [@retweetist] is a tool that tracks the most popular links being retweeted on Twitter, just like Tweetmeme. Retweetist doesn’t stop there, however – it also lists the most retweeted accounts on Twitter.
Tweetmeme: Tweetmeme [@tweetmeme] is an authority when it comes to retweeted URLs and stories. Tweetmeme tracks the most popular links on Twitter. Once a link receives enough retweets, it appears on the front page of Tweetmeme. Tweetmeme can also be broken down by categories (i.e. sports, entertainment, technology).
3. Tracking Retweets with Mobile Phones
One of the coolest aspects of Twitter is that it’s easy to use on-the-go. Tweets can be sent from any mobile phone via text, the mobile web, or iPhone and smartphone applications.
If you need to track retweets while on the move, here are some of the best mobile tools for tracking retweets:
Retweet iPhone App [iTunes link]: The Retweet iPhone app, which we recently reviewed, is a great app for tracking the most popular retweeted URLs on Twitter. It costs $0.99.
Tweetmeme Mobile: If you’re not an iPhone owner, you’re in luck – Tweetmeme has a mobile version at m.tweetmeme.com. Bookmark it so you can see the most popular retweets from anywhere!
Tweetie() [iTunes Link]: The most popular Twitter iPhone App includes a section for viewing top Twitter trends and searching for retweets.
4. How to Retweet with just Two Clicks
Another cool aspect about Twitter are the great applications people build to make using Twitter easy. There are desktop and web applications that can show you all of your Twitter friends and tweets in one place.
The coolest part? Some of these applications make retweeting as simple as two clicks: one to create the retweet, and one to post it to Twitter. No copy and paste required! Here are some of the best applications for two-click retweeting:
Tweetdeck: Tweetdeck is a very popular application for running Twitter on your desktop. It has many features, but one of its best is its one-click retweeting feature – hovering over a profile picture provides the easy option for retweeting anyone’s tweets – just click the bottom left icon.
Seesmic Desktop: Seesmic Desktop is another great desktop application for Twitter. Formerly known as Twhirl, it also helps users read, reply, and send tweets from the desktop. Just hover over the profile picture and click the bottom-left bottom to retweet any post.
Tweetree: Tweetree is a web-based Twitter application that helps organize Twitter using conversation trees, so you can see an entire Twitter conversation on one page. Tweetree has an easy-to-use retweet feature at the right hand side of any tweet. TwitZap is another web-based Twitter application that has a similar one-click retweet feature.
5. Mashable’s Best Retweeting Resources
If you’re looking to continue your education in the art of retweeting, then we encourage you to read some of our most popular Twitter and retweeting posts:
cf http://mashable.com/2009/04/16/retweet-guide/
How can I customize my twitter background?
HOW TO: Create Custom Twitter Backgrounds
Since the early days of Twitter, users have had the ability to upload their own background images. From photos of cute kittens to jaw-dropping mosaics, the Twitter background has been a key medium for self-expression, personal branding, and personal fulfillment.
If you’re new to Twitter, or just never took the time to create your own Twitter background, this HOW TO guide is for you. This guide goes step-by-step into the rationale for creating a personalized Twitter background, takes a look at some amazing Twitter designers, and provides a list of useful Twitter design tools and resources. Your artistic juices shall soon be flowing.
Why create a custom Twitter background?
Some of you might ask: is creating a custom Twitter background worth the effort? While this is a valid question, and the final answer is up to you, there are a range of benefits to making your backdrop your own. Both the creative and the brand-conscious can (and have) benefited from unique background designs.
Here are a couple reasons for why you might want to build your own:
1. Personalization and expression: It’s a chance to express yourself and who you are. Are you an artist, a musician, a blogger, or a cook? Do you love Macs or the beach? A new backdrop can really help people understand who you are.
2. Contact info: It’s an easy way to add additional information you can plug into your 160 character bio.
3. Personal branding: Having your contact information, your face, or additional bio information within your background is a common practice. It helps potential followers understand what you do and why you are someone people should follow. Check out HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter for more.
4. Artistic creativity: Twitter is a great opportunity to push the limits of your talents.
Some great examples of custom Twitter background designs
If you’re looking for some inspiration for your Twitter background, look no further. These are some of the most unique, most inspiring, and best-branded Twitter backgrounds around. There’s not enough time or room to showcase the thousands of great backgrounds that exist on Twitter, so be sure to check out some comprehensive lists and discover some on your own.
And remember: you don’t have to spend an obscene amount of time to make a great background. It’s all about making a background that’s perfect for you, not for anyone else.
http://twitter.com/nullvariable: Doug, a web designer and consultant, brilliantly integrates his face with his brand and contact information in this spacey theme.
http://twitter.com/cooltweets: CoolTweets, which collects, well, the coolest tweets on the web, gets an A for its simple and clean layout. Perfect for many brands.
http://twitter.com/ijustine: The popular new media star has a balanced theme that perfectly reflects her brand.
http://twitter.com/KrisColvin: Kristi, a favorite tweeter of mine, opted to create a beautiful mosaic of color and life. I could stare at it all day.
http://twitter.com/loic: No, it’s not that Loic’s background is the most amazing, most complex, or most visually appealing image in the world. It’s that his background reflects who he is – a smiling, personal, fun-loving guy…who also happened to found Seesmic. You just have to love the picture of him kitesurfing, too.
There are literally hundreds of great Twitter backgrounds. Part of the fun is discovering on your own.
Creating your own background: the basic requirements
Now that you understand the reasons for creating a background and you’re feeling inspired, there are a couple of things you need to know about custom Twitter backgrounds.
First, you need to know how to actually change your background. This is a simple process: just go to settings, then design, and then click “change background image.” You can now browse your computer and add any image you’d like, so long as it’s under 800k in size.
Next, the actual dimensions. This is important because improperly-sized images can be covered up by your Twitter profile or can start to tile, which often leads to an undesired effect. In most circumstances, you want your background to be large enough not to tile. To achieve this, the total image size should be around 1600px wide by 1200px tall. This encompasses almost all screen resolutions.
If you build a left-hand column, popular on many Twitter backgrounds, make sure that it’s small enough not to be covered up by the central Twitter content – many designers suggest smaller than 200px or 235px. For more information on dimensions, check out Croncast and their numbers.
In the end, building your ideal background often requires trial-and-error. But if you’re not a designer, that’s not a problem – there are tools to help.
7 helpful Twitter background resources
What would a Twitter resource guide be without some useful Twitter apps? Not only do many of these tools provide pre-designed backgrounds, but many can also automatically update your background, provide detailed information and FAQs, and even fully-functional image editors. Here are a few of the best:
1. MyTweetSpace: MyTweetSpace is one of the simplest ways to create a Twitter background with minimal effort. It allows users to create badges, add graphics, play with text, and more to create elegant backgrounds and left-hand text columns. You can even log in with Twitter and MyTweetSpace will automatically update your background.
2. TwitterBacks: This website provides a set of templates perfect for creating your ideal Twitter background. The templates come in PSD (Photoshop) form. In fact, my Twitter account utilizes a TwitterBack template as the basis for my design. Can you guess which one?
3. TweetStyle: TweetStyle offers free background templates, custom Twitter backgrounds, and a few useful blog posts on the subject of the backdrop.
4. Free Twitter Designer: This handy little app provides an easy-to-use image editor to help you create a professional-looking theme.
5. TwitBacks: This is another tool for creating backgrounds. This one specializes in left-hand column-based backgrounds.
6. TwitterGallery: TwitterGallery is a directory of themes based on color and category. You can even click the “install” button under any theme, log into Twitter, and poof!…your background is ready.
7. Peekr: If you stumble across a great Twitter background and want to take a quick look at it in its pure form, the Peekr bookmarklet is the way to go. Click on the bookmarklet once to show only the background, and press it again to bring everything back to normal.
Start customizing and share your background
With this knowledge and these tools at your disposal, there is no reason you can’t build a killer backdrop for your Twitter account within minutes. So what are you waiting for? Try out some different designs, and be sure to share your artistic flair with the rest of us by linking to your newly-designed Twitter account in the comments.
cf mashable website
Since the early days of Twitter, users have had the ability to upload their own background images. From photos of cute kittens to jaw-dropping mosaics, the Twitter background has been a key medium for self-expression, personal branding, and personal fulfillment.
If you’re new to Twitter, or just never took the time to create your own Twitter background, this HOW TO guide is for you. This guide goes step-by-step into the rationale for creating a personalized Twitter background, takes a look at some amazing Twitter designers, and provides a list of useful Twitter design tools and resources. Your artistic juices shall soon be flowing.
Why create a custom Twitter background?
Some of you might ask: is creating a custom Twitter background worth the effort? While this is a valid question, and the final answer is up to you, there are a range of benefits to making your backdrop your own. Both the creative and the brand-conscious can (and have) benefited from unique background designs.
Here are a couple reasons for why you might want to build your own:
1. Personalization and expression: It’s a chance to express yourself and who you are. Are you an artist, a musician, a blogger, or a cook? Do you love Macs or the beach? A new backdrop can really help people understand who you are.
2. Contact info: It’s an easy way to add additional information you can plug into your 160 character bio.
3. Personal branding: Having your contact information, your face, or additional bio information within your background is a common practice. It helps potential followers understand what you do and why you are someone people should follow. Check out HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter for more.
4. Artistic creativity: Twitter is a great opportunity to push the limits of your talents.
Some great examples of custom Twitter background designs
If you’re looking for some inspiration for your Twitter background, look no further. These are some of the most unique, most inspiring, and best-branded Twitter backgrounds around. There’s not enough time or room to showcase the thousands of great backgrounds that exist on Twitter, so be sure to check out some comprehensive lists and discover some on your own.
And remember: you don’t have to spend an obscene amount of time to make a great background. It’s all about making a background that’s perfect for you, not for anyone else.
http://twitter.com/nullvariable: Doug, a web designer and consultant, brilliantly integrates his face with his brand and contact information in this spacey theme.
http://twitter.com/cooltweets: CoolTweets, which collects, well, the coolest tweets on the web, gets an A for its simple and clean layout. Perfect for many brands.
http://twitter.com/ijustine: The popular new media star has a balanced theme that perfectly reflects her brand.
http://twitter.com/KrisColvin: Kristi, a favorite tweeter of mine, opted to create a beautiful mosaic of color and life. I could stare at it all day.
http://twitter.com/loic: No, it’s not that Loic’s background is the most amazing, most complex, or most visually appealing image in the world. It’s that his background reflects who he is – a smiling, personal, fun-loving guy…who also happened to found Seesmic. You just have to love the picture of him kitesurfing, too.
There are literally hundreds of great Twitter backgrounds. Part of the fun is discovering on your own.
Creating your own background: the basic requirements
Now that you understand the reasons for creating a background and you’re feeling inspired, there are a couple of things you need to know about custom Twitter backgrounds.
First, you need to know how to actually change your background. This is a simple process: just go to settings, then design, and then click “change background image.” You can now browse your computer and add any image you’d like, so long as it’s under 800k in size.
Next, the actual dimensions. This is important because improperly-sized images can be covered up by your Twitter profile or can start to tile, which often leads to an undesired effect. In most circumstances, you want your background to be large enough not to tile. To achieve this, the total image size should be around 1600px wide by 1200px tall. This encompasses almost all screen resolutions.
If you build a left-hand column, popular on many Twitter backgrounds, make sure that it’s small enough not to be covered up by the central Twitter content – many designers suggest smaller than 200px or 235px. For more information on dimensions, check out Croncast and their numbers.
In the end, building your ideal background often requires trial-and-error. But if you’re not a designer, that’s not a problem – there are tools to help.
7 helpful Twitter background resources
What would a Twitter resource guide be without some useful Twitter apps? Not only do many of these tools provide pre-designed backgrounds, but many can also automatically update your background, provide detailed information and FAQs, and even fully-functional image editors. Here are a few of the best:
1. MyTweetSpace: MyTweetSpace is one of the simplest ways to create a Twitter background with minimal effort. It allows users to create badges, add graphics, play with text, and more to create elegant backgrounds and left-hand text columns. You can even log in with Twitter and MyTweetSpace will automatically update your background.
2. TwitterBacks: This website provides a set of templates perfect for creating your ideal Twitter background. The templates come in PSD (Photoshop) form. In fact, my Twitter account utilizes a TwitterBack template as the basis for my design. Can you guess which one?
3. TweetStyle: TweetStyle offers free background templates, custom Twitter backgrounds, and a few useful blog posts on the subject of the backdrop.
4. Free Twitter Designer: This handy little app provides an easy-to-use image editor to help you create a professional-looking theme.
5. TwitBacks: This is another tool for creating backgrounds. This one specializes in left-hand column-based backgrounds.
6. TwitterGallery: TwitterGallery is a directory of themes based on color and category. You can even click the “install” button under any theme, log into Twitter, and poof!…your background is ready.
7. Peekr: If you stumble across a great Twitter background and want to take a quick look at it in its pure form, the Peekr bookmarklet is the way to go. Click on the bookmarklet once to show only the background, and press it again to bring everything back to normal.
Start customizing and share your background
With this knowledge and these tools at your disposal, there is no reason you can’t build a killer backdrop for your Twitter account within minutes. So what are you waiting for? Try out some different designs, and be sure to share your artistic flair with the rest of us by linking to your newly-designed Twitter account in the comments.
cf mashable website
Whai is a #Hashtags?
HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Twitter #Hashtags
One of the most complex features of Twitter for new users to understand is the hashtag, a topic with a hash symbol (“#”) at the start to identify it. Twitter hashtags like #followfriday help spread information on Twitter while also helping to organize it.
The hashtag is a favorite tool of conferences and event organizers, but it’s also a way for Twitter users to organize themselves: if everyone agrees to append a certain hashtag to tweets about a topic, it becomes easier to find that topic in search, and more likely the topic will appear in Twitter’s Trending Topics.
So how do you disseminate and make sense of all this hashtag madness? By going through the art of the hashtag step-by-step, of course. This short guide details how to identify, track, use, and organize hashtags in an efficient and useful way. Just be sure not to flaunt your new hashtag wisdom.
Have a tip to share on hashtags or a unique way you utilize them? Be sure to share with everyone in the comments.
1. Identifying hashtags
For new Twitter users, and even we veterans, figuring out what a specific hashtag is being used for can be a major chore. When a hashtag starts to trend, it gets even more difficult to parse the information stream.
So what’s the most efficient way to figure out those nasty hashtags? Luckily, there a few great tools that can assist in hashtag enlightenment:
What the Trend?: This useful little service makes it really easy to learn about trending hashtags. When something starts trending, What the Trend? will provide a quick blurb on what’s going on.
Twubs: Twubs, which we recently reviewed, uses a wiki system to help disseminate information on a hashtag. It aggregates tweets and imports pictures to help illuminate the topics being discussed.
Hashtags.org: While not the best at helping you understand the meaning behind a tag, Hashtags.org is good at showing you its use over time and recent tweets, which oftentimes is enough to figure out the meaning behind the tag.
Tagalus: Tagalus is a simple dictionary for hashtags. It’s very easy to find information on thousands of hashtags as defined by other users. You can also define a hashtag by tweeting tagalus.
2. Tracking hashtags
What’s buzzing on Twitter right now? If you’re a tech journalist, marketing professional, or just a person interested in trends, there are many useful tools and techniques to keep up with the Twitter conversation via hashtags.
If you’re trying to track tweets from a hashtag in real-time, Monitter and Twitterfall are good choices. Once again, Hashtags.org provides graphs and hour-by-hour information on top hashtags.
One last tip: if you need to track a less popular Twitter hashtag, try setting up a Twilert to get a daily email of the use of a specific hashtag.
For more, be sure to check out 15 Fascinating Ways to Track Twitter Trends.
3. Using hashtags
Although not terribly complicated, hashtags have some unwritten rules. The primary one to remember: don’t overuse them. If every one of your tweets IS a hashtag, you dilute the usefulness of them by fragmenting the conversation. In addition, many people will shy away from you because it seems spammy.
Another simple tip: give your hashtag context. Most people won’t actually know what your hashtag means, so give a quick explanation in one of your tweets or, if you’re making a hashtag, make it very apparent what it’s talking about.
Finally, if you’re looking to create a hashtag, be sure that it adds value for yourself and your followers. The best way to utilize them is when you need to organize information. Conferences, major events, and even reminders (i.e. #todo) can help organize specific tweets and make life easier on you and your followers.
The Twitter Fan Wiki also has some interesting reading material on hashtags if you’re looking to further your hashtag education.
4. Organizing hashtags
When I speak of organizing hashtags, I’m talking about conferences and events, which rely on the hashtag system more than almost any other entity. It’s become standard to track the conversation regarding speakers and afterparties via a hashtag.
If you’re about to put on an event or are looking to take your event to a new level, here are some useful tips for hashtag organization:
- Choose a single hashtag early: This may seem simple, but it is vital to get right. Choose a simple hashtag that represents your event or brand. If your event is the Business of the Calling Ducks conference, don’t use #businessofthecallingducks as your tag. How about #bizducks instead?
- Remind attendees of the hashtag constantly: On your website, on your Twitter feed, at the opening remarks, and throughout the day, make a friendly reminder about your hashtag and that you can track the conversation through it.
- Provide a website widget: For anyone who isn’t using or knowledgeable with Twitter, provide an easy conversation tracker tool on your website. You can make one via Widgetbox or Tweetgrid.
cf http://mashable.com/2009/05/17/twitter-hashtags/
One of the most complex features of Twitter for new users to understand is the hashtag, a topic with a hash symbol (“#”) at the start to identify it. Twitter hashtags like #followfriday help spread information on Twitter while also helping to organize it.
The hashtag is a favorite tool of conferences and event organizers, but it’s also a way for Twitter users to organize themselves: if everyone agrees to append a certain hashtag to tweets about a topic, it becomes easier to find that topic in search, and more likely the topic will appear in Twitter’s Trending Topics.
So how do you disseminate and make sense of all this hashtag madness? By going through the art of the hashtag step-by-step, of course. This short guide details how to identify, track, use, and organize hashtags in an efficient and useful way. Just be sure not to flaunt your new hashtag wisdom.
Have a tip to share on hashtags or a unique way you utilize them? Be sure to share with everyone in the comments.
1. Identifying hashtags
For new Twitter users, and even we veterans, figuring out what a specific hashtag is being used for can be a major chore. When a hashtag starts to trend, it gets even more difficult to parse the information stream.
So what’s the most efficient way to figure out those nasty hashtags? Luckily, there a few great tools that can assist in hashtag enlightenment:
What the Trend?: This useful little service makes it really easy to learn about trending hashtags. When something starts trending, What the Trend? will provide a quick blurb on what’s going on.
Twubs: Twubs, which we recently reviewed, uses a wiki system to help disseminate information on a hashtag. It aggregates tweets and imports pictures to help illuminate the topics being discussed.
Hashtags.org: While not the best at helping you understand the meaning behind a tag, Hashtags.org is good at showing you its use over time and recent tweets, which oftentimes is enough to figure out the meaning behind the tag.
Tagalus: Tagalus is a simple dictionary for hashtags. It’s very easy to find information on thousands of hashtags as defined by other users. You can also define a hashtag by tweeting tagalus.
2. Tracking hashtags
What’s buzzing on Twitter right now? If you’re a tech journalist, marketing professional, or just a person interested in trends, there are many useful tools and techniques to keep up with the Twitter conversation via hashtags.
If you’re trying to track tweets from a hashtag in real-time, Monitter and Twitterfall are good choices. Once again, Hashtags.org provides graphs and hour-by-hour information on top hashtags.
One last tip: if you need to track a less popular Twitter hashtag, try setting up a Twilert to get a daily email of the use of a specific hashtag.
For more, be sure to check out 15 Fascinating Ways to Track Twitter Trends.
3. Using hashtags
Although not terribly complicated, hashtags have some unwritten rules. The primary one to remember: don’t overuse them. If every one of your tweets IS a hashtag, you dilute the usefulness of them by fragmenting the conversation. In addition, many people will shy away from you because it seems spammy.
Another simple tip: give your hashtag context. Most people won’t actually know what your hashtag means, so give a quick explanation in one of your tweets or, if you’re making a hashtag, make it very apparent what it’s talking about.
Finally, if you’re looking to create a hashtag, be sure that it adds value for yourself and your followers. The best way to utilize them is when you need to organize information. Conferences, major events, and even reminders (i.e. #todo) can help organize specific tweets and make life easier on you and your followers.
The Twitter Fan Wiki also has some interesting reading material on hashtags if you’re looking to further your hashtag education.
4. Organizing hashtags
When I speak of organizing hashtags, I’m talking about conferences and events, which rely on the hashtag system more than almost any other entity. It’s become standard to track the conversation regarding speakers and afterparties via a hashtag.
If you’re about to put on an event or are looking to take your event to a new level, here are some useful tips for hashtag organization:
- Choose a single hashtag early: This may seem simple, but it is vital to get right. Choose a simple hashtag that represents your event or brand. If your event is the Business of the Calling Ducks conference, don’t use #businessofthecallingducks as your tag. How about #bizducks instead?
- Remind attendees of the hashtag constantly: On your website, on your Twitter feed, at the opening remarks, and throughout the day, make a friendly reminder about your hashtag and that you can track the conversation through it.
- Provide a website widget: For anyone who isn’t using or knowledgeable with Twitter, provide an easy conversation tracker tool on your website. You can make one via Widgetbox or Tweetgrid.
cf http://mashable.com/2009/05/17/twitter-hashtags/
Twitters term to know
Twitterspeak: 66 Twitter Terms
Never read a twiller? Having twissues with your twerminology? Welcome, then, to the unforgivable abuse of the English language that some call Twitterspeak.
The trick, in most instances, is to take the first two letters of microblogging service Twitter() and meld them, often unwillingly, to the front of your chosen word. These ungainly neologisms are so numerous that they now require at least two sites to track them: Twictionary and Twittonary.
The List
The latter, Twittonary, forces you to click through every letter of the alphabet methodically, despite the fact that most letters lack a single entry. Time saver: here’s the full list, with our suggestions below:
A-S
adventuritter: an adventurous twitterer
beetweet: a buzzing tweet; a “hot” tweet
co-twitterer: a partner that tweets on your Twitter account.
dweet: tweet sent while intoxicated
drive-by-tweet: a quick post inbetween tasks
friendapalooza: a quick burst of friend-adding
mistweet: a tweet in which one later regrets
neweeter: a new tweeter
occasionitter: an occasional tweeter
politweeter: a political tweeter
politweet: a political tweet
qwitter: a tool used to catch twitter quitters- UseQuitter.com
reportwitters: reporter style twitterers
sweeple: sweet twitter people
Twa-
twadd: to add/follow someone to your Twitter account as a friend.
twaffic: Twitter traffic.
twaiting: twittering while waiting.
twalking: walking while twittering via text.
twapplications: Twitter applications.
Twe-
twead: to read a tweet from a fellow twitterer.
tweepish: feeling sheepish or regretful about something you tweeted.
tweeple: Twitter people, Twitter members, Twitter users.
tweeps: Twitter people that follow each other from one social media/network to another.
tweetaholism: the continued use of Twitter as an addiction that is difficult to control.
tweetaholic: someone addicted to Twitter, so much so that it may be an actual problem.
tweet-back: bringing a previous tweet conversation or reference back into the current conversation.
tweet-dropping: eavesdropping on someone else’s home page in friends mode.
tweeter: a user of Twitter.
tweeterboxes: twitterers who tweet too much.
tweetheart: that special tweeter who makes your heart skip a beat.
tweetin: when a group of twitterers agree to get together at a set time to twitter.
tweet(ing): the act of posting to Twitter.
tweets: posts on Twitter by twitterers.
tweetsulted, tweetsult: what do you think it means, you dumb twitterer?
tweetup: when twitterers meet in person – a Twitter meet up.
Twi-
twideo-cronicity: when you’re watching someone’s videos and they are simultaneously leaving a comment or tweet for/at/about you.
twiking: biking while twittering via text.
twinkedIn: inviting friends made on Twitter to connect with you on LinkedIn().
twis: to dis a fellow twitterer. very bad form.
twitosphere: community of twitterers.
twittastic: fantastic, wonderful, superb.
twittcrastination: avoiding action while twittering, procrastination enabled by Twitter use.
twittduit: If you need to tweet a friend that does not follow you, post a twittduit asking your followers to pass a message.
twittectomy: an unfollowing of friends.
twitter-light zone: where you are when you return to Twitter after any time away and feel disoriented and lost.
twitter stream: a collection of tweets often times in alphabetical order
twitosphere: the community of twepple.
twitterati: The A-list twitterers.
twittercal mass: a community that has achieved a critical mass of twitterers.
twitterer: a user of Twitter (compare: tweeter).
twittering: to send a Twitter message.
twitterish: erractic behavior with short outbursts.
twitteritas: women who play with their twitters.
twitterness: a person’s contribution to the twitosphere.
twitterfly: being a social butterfly on Twitter evidenced by extreme usage of @ signs.
twitterject: interject your tweet into an existing tweet stream of conversation.
twitter-ku: those who either post on both Twitter and Jaiku() or load their Twitter feed into Jaiku.
twitterlinkr: a service collecting the best links posted through Twitter.
twitterlooing: twittering from a bathroom.
twitterloop: to be caught up with friend tweets and up on the conversation.
twittermob: an unruly and ragtag horde of people who descend on an ill-prepared location after a provocative Twitter message.
twittermaps: a mashup technology that lets Twitter users find each other using google maps.
twitterpated: to be overwhelmed with Twitter messages.
twitterphoria: the elation you feel when the person you’ve added as a friend adds you back.
twitterage: rage at a twitter post.
twitterrhea: the act of sending too many Twitter messages.
cf http://mashable.com/2008/11/15/twitterspeak/
Never read a twiller? Having twissues with your twerminology? Welcome, then, to the unforgivable abuse of the English language that some call Twitterspeak.
The trick, in most instances, is to take the first two letters of microblogging service Twitter() and meld them, often unwillingly, to the front of your chosen word. These ungainly neologisms are so numerous that they now require at least two sites to track them: Twictionary and Twittonary.
The List
The latter, Twittonary, forces you to click through every letter of the alphabet methodically, despite the fact that most letters lack a single entry. Time saver: here’s the full list, with our suggestions below:
A-S
adventuritter: an adventurous twitterer
beetweet: a buzzing tweet; a “hot” tweet
co-twitterer: a partner that tweets on your Twitter account.
dweet: tweet sent while intoxicated
drive-by-tweet: a quick post inbetween tasks
friendapalooza: a quick burst of friend-adding
mistweet: a tweet in which one later regrets
neweeter: a new tweeter
occasionitter: an occasional tweeter
politweeter: a political tweeter
politweet: a political tweet
qwitter: a tool used to catch twitter quitters- UseQuitter.com
reportwitters: reporter style twitterers
sweeple: sweet twitter people
Twa-
twadd: to add/follow someone to your Twitter account as a friend.
twaffic: Twitter traffic.
twaiting: twittering while waiting.
twalking: walking while twittering via text.
twapplications: Twitter applications.
Twe-
twead: to read a tweet from a fellow twitterer.
tweepish: feeling sheepish or regretful about something you tweeted.
tweeple: Twitter people, Twitter members, Twitter users.
tweeps: Twitter people that follow each other from one social media/network to another.
tweetaholism: the continued use of Twitter as an addiction that is difficult to control.
tweetaholic: someone addicted to Twitter, so much so that it may be an actual problem.
tweet-back: bringing a previous tweet conversation or reference back into the current conversation.
tweet-dropping: eavesdropping on someone else’s home page in friends mode.
tweeter: a user of Twitter.
tweeterboxes: twitterers who tweet too much.
tweetheart: that special tweeter who makes your heart skip a beat.
tweetin: when a group of twitterers agree to get together at a set time to twitter.
tweet(ing): the act of posting to Twitter.
tweets: posts on Twitter by twitterers.
tweetsulted, tweetsult: what do you think it means, you dumb twitterer?
tweetup: when twitterers meet in person – a Twitter meet up.
Twi-
twideo-cronicity: when you’re watching someone’s videos and they are simultaneously leaving a comment or tweet for/at/about you.
twiking: biking while twittering via text.
twinkedIn: inviting friends made on Twitter to connect with you on LinkedIn().
twis: to dis a fellow twitterer. very bad form.
twitosphere: community of twitterers.
twittastic: fantastic, wonderful, superb.
twittcrastination: avoiding action while twittering, procrastination enabled by Twitter use.
twittduit: If you need to tweet a friend that does not follow you, post a twittduit asking your followers to pass a message.
twittectomy: an unfollowing of friends.
twitter-light zone: where you are when you return to Twitter after any time away and feel disoriented and lost.
twitter stream: a collection of tweets often times in alphabetical order
twitosphere: the community of twepple.
twitterati: The A-list twitterers.
twittercal mass: a community that has achieved a critical mass of twitterers.
twitterer: a user of Twitter (compare: tweeter).
twittering: to send a Twitter message.
twitterish: erractic behavior with short outbursts.
twitteritas: women who play with their twitters.
twitterness: a person’s contribution to the twitosphere.
twitterfly: being a social butterfly on Twitter evidenced by extreme usage of @ signs.
twitterject: interject your tweet into an existing tweet stream of conversation.
twitter-ku: those who either post on both Twitter and Jaiku() or load their Twitter feed into Jaiku.
twitterlinkr: a service collecting the best links posted through Twitter.
twitterlooing: twittering from a bathroom.
twitterloop: to be caught up with friend tweets and up on the conversation.
twittermob: an unruly and ragtag horde of people who descend on an ill-prepared location after a provocative Twitter message.
twittermaps: a mashup technology that lets Twitter users find each other using google maps.
twitterpated: to be overwhelmed with Twitter messages.
twitterphoria: the elation you feel when the person you’ve added as a friend adds you back.
twitterage: rage at a twitter post.
twitterrhea: the act of sending too many Twitter messages.
cf http://mashable.com/2008/11/15/twitterspeak/
Tips for building your twitter community
HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter
Sarah Evans is the director of communications at Elgin Community College (ECC) in Elgin, Illinois. She also authors a PR and social media blog.
Your Twitter community is your life line. The strength of your community determines overall what you will (or won’t) get out of the microblogging platform. What do you want to use Twitter() for? I wanted to build a community where I could engage in dialogue, stay ahead of the social media curve, and share some laughs.
I just shared my objective with you. What’s yours? Start with your community objective and then go for it. Use the 10 tips below as your guide to grow the community which benefits you (and your audience).
1. Do… Create a user-friendly Twitter ID (@yourname)
Your Twitter ID is part of your personal brand. Plain and simple. Your first choice for a Twitter ID should be your name. There is nothing stronger for creating your personal brand. If your name is taken (as mine was) find a way to keep it as close as possible. (I added “PR” in front of my name, which worked for me as it reinforced my name and my expertise.)
There are only 140 precious characters available in each Twitter post. The longer your Twitter ID, the more space it takes up, thus limiting your interactions. If at all possible, stay away from numbers or an underscore. As your community grows, you’ll have many names and IDs to remember. Throwing in numbers and underscores makes it more difficult. This could ultimately minimize your interactions.
Are you reading this and thinking you should get a new username or a stronger personal brand? It’s actually pretty easy .
2. Do… Search for people to follow
It’s completely normal in Twitter culture to “follow” people you’ve never met. In fact, it’s encouraged. Begin by looking for people with common interests, hobbies or professions. I also like to follow people who are experts in areas I know nothing about.
A few tools to get you started:
• Twitter search() – This is the only search function actually hosted by Twitter. It’s extremely easy to use and offers comprehensive results.• Twellow() – An application similar to Twitter search except that you can search by categories (which makes results more targeted).• TwitDir – I like TwitDir because it offers a search function and breaks Twitter users into categories like the top 100 people followed and top 100 updaters.•A more recent addition worth checking out is the Twitter people directory, WeFollow()
3. Do… Learn the lingo. You’ll want to join the crowd. Trust me.
As with any new network there is a learning curve. Twitter has a quirky lingo all its own. But don’t let that hold you back from interacting. If you don’t understand something, ask someone. That’s how I learned!
A few of the essentials:
• DM = Direct Message• @ = Use to reply and always include proceeding a Twitter ID in a reply• RT = Retweet• Tweet = Sending a message on Twitter• Tw + any other word. A fun practice on Twitter is to develop a new twist on old words. For example, Tworld = Twitter world, and Tweeples = Those who use Twitter. You get the picture.
It’s an evolving list. Who knows, you might even invent the next “tword.” You can also check out basic Twitter commands.
4. Do… Know who “@” replies to you
It may not seem overwhelming at first, but soon after you gain friends on Twitter, conversations tend to move quickly. How will you keep up with it? My personal favorite is TweetDeck() (however it can slow down the functionality of your PC). A great alternative to TweetDeck is Seesmic Desktop(). I recommend a combination of the following:
• Twitter search – If you use Twitter search, also subscribe to the RSS feed. I set up two searches, one with the “@” in front of my Twitter ID and one without. You will get different results for each query.• Tweetscan – I use Tweetscan as my quality check to see if I’ve missed any replies. You can also see a trends search cloud before you type in your search query.• Google Alerts – Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google() results (Web, news, blogs, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.
5. Do… Add your Twitter ID to all of your signatures
Pimp out your Twitter name (and not just on Twitter). As social networks like Twitter continue to go mainstream, you’ll want to be able to connect with new users.
A few opportunities to pimp out your Twitter ID:
• Add under your name when you comment on a blog• If you friend someone on another social network, add a personal message which includes your ID• Include a “follow me on Twitter” signature on all of your email accounts or for your social media email signature
6. Do… Reach out and say something
No one likes what I call a “virtual voyeur” (i.e. someone who watches social media interactions without responding). Everyone is putting him or herself out there and as far as my experience has shown, people are pretty darn accepting and helpful. Something as simple as a “good morning” often leads to a response. If that doesn’t work, try something a little more aggressive like, “someone say hello!”
7. Do… Read the bio of those who follow you
Know something about those who follow you. The information you get from a bio makes it easy to engage in dialogue. If someone lists knitting as a hobby, send them a link to a knitting blog you came across. It opens the door for dialogue and that is what your community is all about.
8. Do… Promote others and share your best information
Twitter is all about karma. The more good you put out there, the more you receive. When you find others with great information, don’t be shy in sharing with your community. It’s a great feeling when you promote one of your followers (instead of yourself) and it results in dialogue among your community. It ultimately reflects support for you and credibility for your follower. Win-win!
9. Do… Learn the etiquette.
Most important is to learn about when you should “@” versus DM (i.e. Direct Message):
• Sending personal information like a phone number or email address. (It may seem like common sense, but I encourage you to NEVER post personal information like your social security number over ANY public forum.)
• A conversation which will consist of multiple “tweets” or a lengthy discussion with more than three posts. (Many people on Twitter will “unfollow” someone who sends multiple “tweets” in a row. Trust me.)
• Asking multiple questions to the same person or the same question asked to multiple people. (Your content becomes less valuable when people see the same thing repeated too many times…especially right in a row.)
• Correcting a mistake you’ve identified in someone’s blog post or “tweet.” (This isn’t required, but it is considered a common courtesy. The person who made the mistake will thank you.)
• Thanking each of your new followers. (It’s a nice concept to thank each of your new social media connections, but keep in mind how many responses you’re sending out each day or within a 10 minute period.)
• Making a request to someone. (Want to ask someone to write a guest blog post or partner on a project? Don’t put them on the spot in a public forum. Once you agree on a partnership, then by all means, tweet away!)
• Constructive criticism…this is your call. (If you have some pretty serious feedback to give someone, consider the most appropriate venue.)
• Getting someone’s attention! (Want to make a connection with someone, send them a direct message to get things started. A lot of people on Twitter get direct messages sent to their email or mobile phone.)
10. Do… Find out who some of the big players are
Twitter is not a popularity contest and it’s your choice on whether or not to follow these “top tweeps,” but they do tend to share a lot of great information. Did you know Pete Cashmore and other Mashable() “tweeps” are on Twitter?
Stay tuned for a follow-up to this post on what NOT to do.
Sarah writes her own blog PRsarahevans.com and is the director of communications at Elgin Community College (ECC) in Elgin, Illinois. She also worked for Advocate Health Care, the largest health care system in Illinois, as the manager of communications and government relations at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. She brings a comprehensive background in the knowledge of non-for-profit and health care management. Her personal mission to engage and employ the use of emerging technologies in all communication makes her effective in reaching a dynamic audience.
cf http://mashable.com/2008/11/10/twitter-community/
Sarah Evans is the director of communications at Elgin Community College (ECC) in Elgin, Illinois. She also authors a PR and social media blog.
Your Twitter community is your life line. The strength of your community determines overall what you will (or won’t) get out of the microblogging platform. What do you want to use Twitter() for? I wanted to build a community where I could engage in dialogue, stay ahead of the social media curve, and share some laughs.
I just shared my objective with you. What’s yours? Start with your community objective and then go for it. Use the 10 tips below as your guide to grow the community which benefits you (and your audience).
1. Do… Create a user-friendly Twitter ID (@yourname)
Your Twitter ID is part of your personal brand. Plain and simple. Your first choice for a Twitter ID should be your name. There is nothing stronger for creating your personal brand. If your name is taken (as mine was) find a way to keep it as close as possible. (I added “PR” in front of my name, which worked for me as it reinforced my name and my expertise.)
There are only 140 precious characters available in each Twitter post. The longer your Twitter ID, the more space it takes up, thus limiting your interactions. If at all possible, stay away from numbers or an underscore. As your community grows, you’ll have many names and IDs to remember. Throwing in numbers and underscores makes it more difficult. This could ultimately minimize your interactions.
Are you reading this and thinking you should get a new username or a stronger personal brand? It’s actually pretty easy .
2. Do… Search for people to follow
It’s completely normal in Twitter culture to “follow” people you’ve never met. In fact, it’s encouraged. Begin by looking for people with common interests, hobbies or professions. I also like to follow people who are experts in areas I know nothing about.
A few tools to get you started:
• Twitter search() – This is the only search function actually hosted by Twitter. It’s extremely easy to use and offers comprehensive results.• Twellow() – An application similar to Twitter search except that you can search by categories (which makes results more targeted).• TwitDir – I like TwitDir because it offers a search function and breaks Twitter users into categories like the top 100 people followed and top 100 updaters.•A more recent addition worth checking out is the Twitter people directory, WeFollow()
3. Do… Learn the lingo. You’ll want to join the crowd. Trust me.
As with any new network there is a learning curve. Twitter has a quirky lingo all its own. But don’t let that hold you back from interacting. If you don’t understand something, ask someone. That’s how I learned!
A few of the essentials:
• DM = Direct Message• @ = Use to reply and always include proceeding a Twitter ID in a reply• RT = Retweet• Tweet = Sending a message on Twitter• Tw + any other word. A fun practice on Twitter is to develop a new twist on old words. For example, Tworld = Twitter world, and Tweeples = Those who use Twitter. You get the picture.
It’s an evolving list. Who knows, you might even invent the next “tword.” You can also check out basic Twitter commands.
4. Do… Know who “@” replies to you
It may not seem overwhelming at first, but soon after you gain friends on Twitter, conversations tend to move quickly. How will you keep up with it? My personal favorite is TweetDeck() (however it can slow down the functionality of your PC). A great alternative to TweetDeck is Seesmic Desktop(). I recommend a combination of the following:
• Twitter search – If you use Twitter search, also subscribe to the RSS feed. I set up two searches, one with the “@” in front of my Twitter ID and one without. You will get different results for each query.• Tweetscan – I use Tweetscan as my quality check to see if I’ve missed any replies. You can also see a trends search cloud before you type in your search query.• Google Alerts – Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google() results (Web, news, blogs, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.
5. Do… Add your Twitter ID to all of your signatures
Pimp out your Twitter name (and not just on Twitter). As social networks like Twitter continue to go mainstream, you’ll want to be able to connect with new users.
A few opportunities to pimp out your Twitter ID:
• Add under your name when you comment on a blog• If you friend someone on another social network, add a personal message which includes your ID• Include a “follow me on Twitter” signature on all of your email accounts or for your social media email signature
6. Do… Reach out and say something
No one likes what I call a “virtual voyeur” (i.e. someone who watches social media interactions without responding). Everyone is putting him or herself out there and as far as my experience has shown, people are pretty darn accepting and helpful. Something as simple as a “good morning” often leads to a response. If that doesn’t work, try something a little more aggressive like, “someone say hello!”
7. Do… Read the bio of those who follow you
Know something about those who follow you. The information you get from a bio makes it easy to engage in dialogue. If someone lists knitting as a hobby, send them a link to a knitting blog you came across. It opens the door for dialogue and that is what your community is all about.
8. Do… Promote others and share your best information
Twitter is all about karma. The more good you put out there, the more you receive. When you find others with great information, don’t be shy in sharing with your community. It’s a great feeling when you promote one of your followers (instead of yourself) and it results in dialogue among your community. It ultimately reflects support for you and credibility for your follower. Win-win!
9. Do… Learn the etiquette.
Most important is to learn about when you should “@” versus DM (i.e. Direct Message):
• Sending personal information like a phone number or email address. (It may seem like common sense, but I encourage you to NEVER post personal information like your social security number over ANY public forum.)
• A conversation which will consist of multiple “tweets” or a lengthy discussion with more than three posts. (Many people on Twitter will “unfollow” someone who sends multiple “tweets” in a row. Trust me.)
• Asking multiple questions to the same person or the same question asked to multiple people. (Your content becomes less valuable when people see the same thing repeated too many times…especially right in a row.)
• Correcting a mistake you’ve identified in someone’s blog post or “tweet.” (This isn’t required, but it is considered a common courtesy. The person who made the mistake will thank you.)
• Thanking each of your new followers. (It’s a nice concept to thank each of your new social media connections, but keep in mind how many responses you’re sending out each day or within a 10 minute period.)
• Making a request to someone. (Want to ask someone to write a guest blog post or partner on a project? Don’t put them on the spot in a public forum. Once you agree on a partnership, then by all means, tweet away!)
• Constructive criticism…this is your call. (If you have some pretty serious feedback to give someone, consider the most appropriate venue.)
• Getting someone’s attention! (Want to make a connection with someone, send them a direct message to get things started. A lot of people on Twitter get direct messages sent to their email or mobile phone.)
10. Do… Find out who some of the big players are
Twitter is not a popularity contest and it’s your choice on whether or not to follow these “top tweeps,” but they do tend to share a lot of great information. Did you know Pete Cashmore and other Mashable() “tweeps” are on Twitter?
Stay tuned for a follow-up to this post on what NOT to do.
Sarah writes her own blog PRsarahevans.com and is the director of communications at Elgin Community College (ECC) in Elgin, Illinois. She also worked for Advocate Health Care, the largest health care system in Illinois, as the manager of communications and government relations at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. She brings a comprehensive background in the knowledge of non-for-profit and health care management. Her personal mission to engage and employ the use of emerging technologies in all communication makes her effective in reaching a dynamic audience.
cf http://mashable.com/2008/11/10/twitter-community/
How to find people on twitter?
10 Ways to Find People on Twitter
Twitter is all about facilitating conversations, but until you’re following some people, it’s just a blank page. Once you find people to follow and talk to, however, Twitter becomes exceptionally useful. You can share thoughts, ask questions, get updates about news, music, brands, and businesses, and discover helpful links and information. Finding good people to follow, especially for new users staring at a blank page the first time they log in, can be a bit daunting, though.
Thankfully, there are a number of ways you can find people on Twitter(). Here are ten sites you can use to locate “tweeps” to follow. Let us know in the comments if you know of any others.
People Search
1. Twitter People Search – Twitter’s built in people search isn’t the greatest way to find people on Twitter, but it’s probably where you should start. Twitter searches the “real names” people enter in their bio fields, but because there isn’t much accompanying bio information and because Twitter doesn’t have any sort of requirement to use your actual name, that can make it a bit difficult to find people, especially those with common names. It also makes it hard to verify that the people you find are actually who you’re looking for. Still, it’s a good place to begin your search.
2. Tweepz – Because the biographical information Twitter collects is minimal, no Twitter people search engine can improve on Twitter’s that much. Third-party site Tweepz does an admirable job, though. Tweepz lets you limit searches to specific parts of Twitter’s user information (like name, bio, and location), filter results by follower/following numbers, location, and other extracted terms, and greatly improves on the layout of the search results.
3. TweepSearch – TweepSearch lets you search by Twitter name or location, or search a specific username to get a list of all friends and followers. However, if the “indexing” number listed on their main page is accurate, they’re crawling about 600,000 less Twitter user profiles than Tweepz.
4. TwitDir – TwitDir is another search engine, but if the crawling stats are accurate, it’s well behind the curve, searching about 3 million fewer users than Tweepz. Still, it’s not a bad people search engine, and has some helpful “top” lists if you’re concerned with who the most popular or prolific people on Twitter are (then again, they’re also not that up-to-date — the site doesn’t seem to know who @aplusk is, for example).
Directories
5. Twellow() – Your best bet for finding like-minded Twitter users might be to use a directory, and Twellow is certainly one of the most complete. Nearly 6 million Twitter user profiles are indexed in Twellow and placed into a huge number of categories. You can search the entire lot of profiles, or confine searches to a single category. Twellow also operates a local directory called the “Twellowhood.”
6. WeFollow() – Created by Digg() founder Kevin Rose, WeFollow is a Twitter user directory that organizes people by hashtags. WeFollow is user-generated and anyone can add themselves by tweeting @wefollow with three #hashtags that describe them.
7. Just Tweet It – Just Tweet It is another user created Twitter directory. It’s not quite as well organized or easy-to-use as Twellow or WeFollow, but it is certainly large enough that you should give it a browse when trying to locate people in your interest areas to follow.
Recommendations
8. Twubble – Twubble recommends people to follow by spidering the people you’re already following and recommending users that they’re following. The idea is that the people you’re following are interesting to you, so if more than one of them are also following another person, that person might also be interesting. Of course, that means that Twubble can’t be your first stop when finding people to follow — you already need to be following some people for the service to work.
9. Twitterel – Twitterel attempts to find people you might be interested in following by doing keyword searches of tweets. The service can update you by email, direct message, or @reply when it finds new people it thinks you might be interested in following. It’s kind of like Google Alerts for Twitter follow recommendations.
10. Who Should i Follow? – Enter you Twitter username into Who Should i Follow? and the service finds users who are similar to those you’re already following. The site doesn’t disclose information about how it works, but in my experience it is pretty accurate at finding users whose tweets are similar in content to your followers. The results can be filtered by how popular the people are, and how close they are to a specific location.
BONUS: Mr. Tweet – Mr. Tweet is a very popular Twitter app that lets you give and receive recommendations about Twitter users. The app also provides more helpful statistics about users, such as tweets per day or the percentage of tweets containing links. To get the most out of Mr. Tweet, consider installing the Firefox plugin, which gives you access to statistics and user recommendations while you’re browsing Twitter.
Twitter is all about facilitating conversations, but until you’re following some people, it’s just a blank page. Once you find people to follow and talk to, however, Twitter becomes exceptionally useful. You can share thoughts, ask questions, get updates about news, music, brands, and businesses, and discover helpful links and information. Finding good people to follow, especially for new users staring at a blank page the first time they log in, can be a bit daunting, though.
Thankfully, there are a number of ways you can find people on Twitter(). Here are ten sites you can use to locate “tweeps” to follow. Let us know in the comments if you know of any others.
People Search
1. Twitter People Search – Twitter’s built in people search isn’t the greatest way to find people on Twitter, but it’s probably where you should start. Twitter searches the “real names” people enter in their bio fields, but because there isn’t much accompanying bio information and because Twitter doesn’t have any sort of requirement to use your actual name, that can make it a bit difficult to find people, especially those with common names. It also makes it hard to verify that the people you find are actually who you’re looking for. Still, it’s a good place to begin your search.
2. Tweepz – Because the biographical information Twitter collects is minimal, no Twitter people search engine can improve on Twitter’s that much. Third-party site Tweepz does an admirable job, though. Tweepz lets you limit searches to specific parts of Twitter’s user information (like name, bio, and location), filter results by follower/following numbers, location, and other extracted terms, and greatly improves on the layout of the search results.
3. TweepSearch – TweepSearch lets you search by Twitter name or location, or search a specific username to get a list of all friends and followers. However, if the “indexing” number listed on their main page is accurate, they’re crawling about 600,000 less Twitter user profiles than Tweepz.
4. TwitDir – TwitDir is another search engine, but if the crawling stats are accurate, it’s well behind the curve, searching about 3 million fewer users than Tweepz. Still, it’s not a bad people search engine, and has some helpful “top” lists if you’re concerned with who the most popular or prolific people on Twitter are (then again, they’re also not that up-to-date — the site doesn’t seem to know who @aplusk is, for example).
Directories
5. Twellow() – Your best bet for finding like-minded Twitter users might be to use a directory, and Twellow is certainly one of the most complete. Nearly 6 million Twitter user profiles are indexed in Twellow and placed into a huge number of categories. You can search the entire lot of profiles, or confine searches to a single category. Twellow also operates a local directory called the “Twellowhood.”
6. WeFollow() – Created by Digg() founder Kevin Rose, WeFollow is a Twitter user directory that organizes people by hashtags. WeFollow is user-generated and anyone can add themselves by tweeting @wefollow with three #hashtags that describe them.
7. Just Tweet It – Just Tweet It is another user created Twitter directory. It’s not quite as well organized or easy-to-use as Twellow or WeFollow, but it is certainly large enough that you should give it a browse when trying to locate people in your interest areas to follow.
Recommendations
8. Twubble – Twubble recommends people to follow by spidering the people you’re already following and recommending users that they’re following. The idea is that the people you’re following are interesting to you, so if more than one of them are also following another person, that person might also be interesting. Of course, that means that Twubble can’t be your first stop when finding people to follow — you already need to be following some people for the service to work.
9. Twitterel – Twitterel attempts to find people you might be interested in following by doing keyword searches of tweets. The service can update you by email, direct message, or @reply when it finds new people it thinks you might be interested in following. It’s kind of like Google Alerts for Twitter follow recommendations.
10. Who Should i Follow? – Enter you Twitter username into Who Should i Follow? and the service finds users who are similar to those you’re already following. The site doesn’t disclose information about how it works, but in my experience it is pretty accurate at finding users whose tweets are similar in content to your followers. The results can be filtered by how popular the people are, and how close they are to a specific location.
BONUS: Mr. Tweet – Mr. Tweet is a very popular Twitter app that lets you give and receive recommendations about Twitter users. The app also provides more helpful statistics about users, such as tweets per day or the percentage of tweets containing links. To get the most out of Mr. Tweet, consider installing the Firefox plugin, which gives you access to statistics and user recommendations while you’re browsing Twitter.
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