Thursday, September 3, 2009

Tweeting 101: The Twitter Book by Tim O'Reilly and Sarah Milstein

Busy, busy, busy...TWEET....run, run, run....TWEET....blog, blog....oops!  That's what I'm doing now!  The day has flown right on by and I think I may have seen part of it in a fuzzy blur.  (I think it was wearing a purple dress with yellow shoes....) If you are like me, then you have to find a balance between the things you love to do and the things you have to do.  Blogging and reading....LOVE!  Work, work, work...not so much.  Cie la vie, we all end up sharing at least the dingy on this boat but one day we will all be able to combine those two pieces of the puzzle.  On to today's book choice....

by
In today's fast paced world, social media sites have not only staked their claim but removed many of the borders that formerly existed in the communication landscape.  (YAWN!  Sorry, that's my more formal version...but you guys get the fun and exciting stuff!)  Whether you're a Twitter newbie or a seasoned pro (I'll take salt and pepper, please!  Just kidding...), "The Twitter Book" has something for you.

Let's start off with a few of the basics.  Did you know....
  • that the hashtags are used to group common tweets or that #FollowFriday is for recommending your fellow Twitter users?  (Guilty!  When I first ran across these two things on the site, I was like, "Okay...what am I missing?")
  • to send a tweet via SMS, after your phone number is registered, send to 40404 (US only, although I believe there is one for international users too)?
  • to send a Direct Message from the main screen, simply type "d" then the user name without the @?
  • to see if someone is "following" you, DoesFollow offers a simple fill-in-the-blank page to check by user name?
  • to link directly to a tweet click on the time/date stamp?  (I so didn't know that...tucking it away in back memory files for future contests....)
Those are just a small sampling of a few of the sites and shortcut recommendations I found when reviewing this book.  There a lot more and most of them are not only functional, but really fun to work with!  I love the fact that although the book is about 240 pages long, it doesn't read like a boring instruction manual.  The chapters are arranged logically, explanations listed in KISS style (that's Keep It Short and Simple, in case you were wondering), and makes the perfect addition to any Twitter users library of how-to books.  (It's in my virtual one.)
Both authors have a Twitter page!  (Go figure, right?)  Check out @timoreilly and @sarahm, or the additional account listed as @TweetReport for additional tips and  insights. 

So....if you are looking for a brief fiction break, or need a new handbook for your maximizing your Twitter tweets, definitely check this book out!  (I know I will be ultilizing some of the secrets I uncovered...now let's see what TwitterSheep has to say about my followers listed interests...any guesses?)

COMMENT CREATOR
What Twitter applications or related sites do you use and would recommend to others?  Why?
 
Feel free to leave your comments and feedback!
Until next time...happy reading!
at

3 comments:

  1. Felicity Grace TerrySeptember 4, 2009 at 2:21 PM

    A purple dress and yellow shoes? Nothing wrong with that, at least the shoes matched (or did they?) I'm not on Twitter (FaceBook? Yes)but love the little blue bird icon - I wish FaceBook had something as cute as this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bri Meets BooksSeptember 4, 2009 at 5:23 PM

    I love Twitter, you know this. I've yet to read a book on it, I think it's so user friendly and fun, that I don't need to. Have you seen that book "The World According to Twitter"? That thing is hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GinaSeptember 8, 2009 at 11:29 AM

    Petty Witter: Yes, the day decided to make a fashion statement. =0) I myself have never tried Facebook or MySpace...Twitter was my first!

    Bri Meets Books: It is user friendly but its amazing how much more you can do with it. This book highlighted some of that.

    ReplyDelete