Thing 4: Twitter

Twitter is a miniature blog. A personal blog for those that want to keep others informed about what they are doing, but don't want to spend hours crafting a post. Users send and receive short messages (less than 140 characters) - known as tweets via computers or mobile devices. You just say what's up and leave it at that!

The popularity and growth of Twitter since its launch in August 2006 has been astonishing and has now moved into the domain of uber coolness. Movie and rock stars are tweating, companies are into it - everyone seems to be tweeting! Perhaps this is due to its simplicity as a way to keep in touch with others using the computer or a mobile device. Twitter is New Zealand's 39th most popular website.

You may be reading this and wonder why anyone would be interested in what tv programme you are watching, what you ate for lunch or which shop you bought a new shirt (you'd be surprised). People use Twitter to find out what others are doing, get quick feedback on ideas, store thoughts, advertise jobs, keep up with news, get updates on events, blogs, websites etc and of course for fun.

Twitter lingo

• Tweet - a twitter message up to 140 characters long. Messages are public unless a profile is protected (or have a private setting)
• RT or retweet - when you forward someone else's tweet because you think it particularly good. Twitter etiquette is to quote the source eg "Cool stuff RT@username check out this cool site http://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/"
• Timeline - this is your homepage on Twitter. It shows all the messages you send and messages that people you are following send. If you aren't signed in you will only see the tweets sent by the tweeter. It also applies to any collection of tweets
• Following/Lurking - you don't have to say anything if you don't want to, you can lurk and follow tweets. If you find a fellow tweeter interesting, simply click on the big 'Follow' button beneath their username and every message they send will be funnelled directly to your Twitter stream - a list of tweets you see when you go to your twitter account
• Hash tags - are a great way to tag your tweets. You usually use hashtags when tracking a particular topic eg #akldlibraries2010"
• @replies - you can send a public message to any tweeter by putting their username with an @ symbol in front of it. An @reply works kind of like email in that the recipient will be able to see they have a message directed to them.
• and there are lots more

Twitter tip
It is quite common to see shortened URL addresses from tinyURL or bity.ly in twitter updates. These websites allow you to enter a long URL and turn it into a short one. Twitter is limited to 140 characters so this can be quite useful.

Discovery exercises

1. Watch Twitter and Twitter search in plain english video.
   
   
2. Join Twitter, search for words, people, places or hash tags and follow at least two tweeters. If you are having trouble finding anyone, here are some examples of those on Twitter:
   Ashton Kutcher; Britney Spears; Ellen deGeneres;
   Greenpeace; Jamie Oliver; John Cleese;
   John Key; Manukau City Library;
   National Library; Stephen Fry
   
   
3. Send someone a tweet and post a comment below about who you found....was it easy...was it hard...did you like it.....couldn't see the point....how could council use twitter etc
   

Optional extra

• If you are looking to grow your follower base you can look at Just Tweet It or Twellow to find users with similar interests
• If you follow more than two people it starts to get hard to follow. A third party twitter client such as TweetDeck provides dynamic searches and allows you to create groups that automatically separates messages into specific categories.
• Read this article on how to use twitter lists