Archive for the ‘Microblogging’ Category

The folks at the Common Craft Show have put together another of their amazing educational videos called Twitter Search in Plain English which uses a metaphor of the small town of “Twitterville to explain concepts such as hashtags and trending topics.

Mashable has created a one-stop hub for all things Twitter with its new Twitter Guide Book. This aggregated directory of news and resources will be continuously updated by the folks at Mashable.

Michael Brito, social media strategist and community builder at Intel, blogs for Mashable about 10 Twitter Best Practices for Brands. The article discusses the art of using Twitter effectively for your brand. Here are his top 5 recommendations, be sure and check out the full post for more:

1. Do your research before engaging customers
2. Determine organizational goals
3. Utilize either a branded or personal profile
4. Build your Twitter equity and credibility
5. Track metrics and conversation trends

Ryan Deschamps, e-Learning Services Manager at the Halifax Public Libraries, writes about Twitter as Platform – 5 Essential Peripherals for Librarians at The Other Librarian. The article discusses five useful tools to improve the way you use Twitter.

Onlinecolleges.net puts together a giant list of 50 Ways to Use Twitter in the College Classroom. This guide provides Twitter tips and third party applications for the following categories:

• Communication
• Class Projects and Discovering Content
• Twitter Tools
• Finding People in Academia to Follow
• Get Ready for Life After Graduation

Josh Catone at Mashable puts together a guide to 10 Twitter Tools to Organize Your Tweeps. This quick list includes annotated resources which will help you:

• Find Out Who You’re Following
• Find Your Friends
• Get Rid of Inactives
• Manage it All

Time Magazine has published a feature article on How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live written by Steven Johnson.

“The one thing you can say for certain about Twitter is that it makes a terrible first impression. You hear about this new service that lets you send 140-character updates to your “followers,” and you think, Why does the world need this, exactly? It’s not as if we were all sitting around four years ago scratching our heads and saying, “If only there were a technology that would allow me to send a message to my 50 friends, alerting them in real time about my choice of breakfast cereal.”

Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb writes about how University of Texas at Dallas History Professor, Monica Rankin is using Twitter in her classroom. This video discusses how Rankin is using hashtags to engage students in discussions. Be sure to check out the full post for links to other educational Twitter efforts, and please list any you’ve heard about in the comments!

Google Wave, a new type of communication tool, was unveiled at the Google IO conference yesterday. A combination of email, instant messaging, and many other collaborative features, this new application will be available to the public later this year. Additionally, Google plans to make the application Open Source. PCWorld asks Is Google Wave a Twitter Killer? and TechCrunch provides a detailed review of the new tool with plenty of screenshots. Below is the keynote from yesterday’s conference in which the application in fully demonstrated.

The Wired Campus points to a new study titled How People Are Using Twitter During Conferences presented at this year’s EduMedia Conference in Salzburg, Austria. The paper surveys academics at five recent conferences to determine the usefulness of Twitter as a communication “back channel” at these events.

“Microblogging at conferences seems to be an additional way of discussing presented topics and exchanging additional information. It is not limited to the face-to-face audience or the location of the conference. Microblogging rather allows virtually anyone to actively participate in the thematic debates. Our research shows that several conference speakers and attendees are using Twitter for various purposes. Communicating and sharing resources seem to be one of the most interesting and relevant ways in which one microblogs.”

Mashable presents a guide to How To Create Custom Twitter Backgrounds. This useful article includes excellent examples of Twitter background designs along with 7 helpful Twitter background resources.

Cameron Chapman at Mashable has put together a guide to 70+ Non-Fiction Authors to Follow on Twitter. Authors are divided into the following categories:

• Business, Career & Finance
• General Business & Marketing
• Personal Finance & Money
• Creative Nonfiction
• Culture
• Pop Culture & Current Events
• Hobby, Cooking, & Crafts
• Social Media, Science & Technology
• Science & Technology
• Self-Help, Personal Development & Inspiration
• Travel
• Writing & Publishing
• Additional Nonfiction

In a previous post, Literary Tweets: 100+ of the Best Authors on Twitter Chapman lists fiction writers who tweet.

Dan Schawbel, bestselling author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success, writes for Mashable about How To Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter. This helpful guide offers on-point tips in the form of six steps to developing an effective Twitter image. I found the idea of forming Twitter knowledge groups especially appealing and can’t wait to try out GroupTweet.

1. Claim your Twitter handle
2. Decide how you want to brand yourself
3. Become known as an expert or resource
4. Establish a Twitter marketing plan
5. Utilize third-party applications
6. Form a Twitter “Mastermind Group”

Ben Parr of Mashable posts a guide to hashtags - one of Twitters more advanced features. Hashtags, or topics with a hash (#) symbol in front of them are used by Twitterers to take part in conversations on a particular subject, or around a specific event and organize all of those associated tweets. To find out more, check out the post which covers the following:

• Identifying hashtags
• Tracking hashtags
• Using hashtags
• Organizing hashtags

Sarah Milstein, co-author of “Twitter and the Micromessaging Revolution,” a research report from O’Reilly Media, writes about Twitter for Libraries (and Librarians) for the May issue of Computers in Libraries.

“The essence of Twitter is conversation. Libraries, however, tend to use it as a broadcast mechanism. Libraries on Twitter should encourage followers to interact with the library—ask questions, share links, re-Tweet interesting posts from others, and reply when people message you (those are prefaced with @ your account name). For professional development, look for conference coverage on Twitter.”