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Welcome back. Let's start with Twitter.
Ah, Twitter, you are so misunderstood. Folks either hate you or love you.
Twitter is for short bits of information sharing. To match that, this will be a short lesson. In the last few lessons, we've learned about creating blog posts and gathering the blog posts of others. A lesson on Twitter follows nicely because Twitter is also a form of blogging ... a really condensed form of blogging: microblogging.
"Brevity is the soul of wit."
--Some guy named Bill
Before reading further, watch this video:
Getting Started with Twitter
Let's set up a Twitter account. Go to (http://twitter.com/). Look for the big green button that says 'Sign Up Now' and click on it. Follow the instructions to create an account.
When you have successfully, let's find people to follow. To start, let's follow me and another Palomar librarian. Following, in this context, means that you will monitor all of the posts (tweets) made by someone. To find someone to follow, click on the link for 'Find People' link in the upper right hand corner. Once you are on the follow page (It should say "Find accounts and follow them." at the top of that page. To find my Twitter stream, type 'nsdlibrarian' in the search box of that page. That's me. Click on the follow button. Easy peasey. You are now following my tweets. Before moving on, let's follow another Palomar librarian. Their account name is 'commlearn' but I'm not telling who this is. You'll find out after you subscribe.
There are some frequently asked (& answered) questions (FAQ) from the Twitter site that are helpful. The complete Twitter FAQ is at (http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/13920). The Twitter FAQ is useful reading as it details how to set privacy and the like.
What does it mean to follow someone on Twitter?
Following someone simply means receiving their Twitter updates. When you follow someone, every time they post a new message, it will appear on your Twitter home page. New messages are added to your home page as people post them, so you always get the updates in real time. When you log in, you can see what the latest updates are. Twitter offers other ways to follow people too: you can get updates from certain people on your phone!
How do I know who I'm following?
After you click the follow button on someone's profile, you're following them. The follow button will change to a green check mark next to the word "Following" with an actions button on the right to remove a person if you want to. If you've registered your phone with Twitter, you can set up text preferences for a person as well. See a list of people you're following by clicking on the following link on your profile or your home page's sidebar.
How do I know who is following me?
Twitter sends you an email when someone new follows you. Set up your email preferences to notify you when you have a new follower. The followers link on your profile page or home page's sidebar will also tell you how many followers you have.
Who reads my updates?
It's up to you. Your followers read your updates, and anyone else who comes across them in a search. Your Twitter profile is public by default; if you're hesitant to have strangers read your updates, protect your profile to approve followers and keep your updates out of search.
Can I block people from following me?
Yes, you can. If you block someone, they wont be able to follow you or send you any messages. If your account is public, they'll still be able to view it, but they wont show up on your followers list, and you wont be on their following list. If it's a spammer you're blocking, thanks! Twitter Support keeps an eye on block reports to see who's getting in trouble on Twitter.
How can I send updates to Twitter?
Twitter offers many ways to post updates: from the web in the update box, from your phone, from your mobile web browser using m.twitter.com, or from any third party application made by the talented folks who've utilized our API.
Who is using Twitter?
It seems useful to mention who is using Twitter and how they are using it. Some examples:
(click the links to read these short articles)
- Twitter was an important tool to mobilize protest after recent elections in Moldova and Iran.
- Mobile folks? Teens? Pew Research has an article. Bloomberg also has a short article.
- Libraries? Read this blog post: How Your Library May Not Be Using Twitter But Should
Complete the Following
To complete this assignment, do these things:
- Send me your Twitter account name in an email.
- Find two more people in this project to follow them on Twitter. (You'll have to ask them.)
- Make a post in your new Twitter account.
- Post the following on your blog:
Make a list of three things that Twitter could be useful for. No negativity, please. Place only possible positive things in your list. If you need help with ideas, try searching Google or the library databases.
You don't have to email me (jbaker4 at palomar.edu) your blog post because I'm now following each of you via RSS. I'd really like it if you did the same for all the other participants in this learning project. In this way, you can see your colleagues comments and opinions about the technologies we're learning in this project.
Advanced stuff (not required)
- You can embed your Twitter posts in your blog or on your website. You can see two different methods of this on the right hand side of this blog and at faculty.palomar.edu/jbaker.
- You can turn whomever you follow on Twitter into an RSS feed that you can then read in Google Reader or Outlook using this great little tool called ReadTwit.
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