Twitter is a social media and Micro-blogging website that allows users to send/post information to other users in 140 characters or less (yes that's characters and not words!) Tweets (as they are commonly called) can be about what's happening, philosophical musings, the weather--anything you like.
Twitter has been around since 2006 and usage has increased exponentially. Comments posted on Twitter range from the mundane ("I'm leaving for work", "I just got up") to socially relevent commentary and breaking first person accounts of real time events. Examples can be found at 9 Ways to Use Twitter.
Twitter is also being used at professional conferences--sometimes as Twitter heckles (tweckles). Here's an article from the "Journal of Higher Education" on this phenomenon.
How are libraries/librarians using twitter?
Bill Drew has created a great starter site for librarians considering Twitter. In addition to providing basic information about Twitter and its usage in the library, he provides examples of some libraries/librarians in using Twitter at http://sites.google.com/site/whytwitterstls/home.
What policies should you have in place in your organization to start using Twitter?
Well, it seems that more libraries and organizations are creating social media policies. Since marketing of library services permeates all library positions (even if you have a marketing department), it's a good idea to have a policy. Social media policies are a good choice since they address multiple media outlets--facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. We've bookmarked several helpful sites at http://delicious.com/thelibrarian/social+policies
You can follow American Librariesnews stories, videos, and blog posts at: amlibraries
Hashtags, abbreviations, and shortcuts
Hashtags allow Twitter users to search keywords. Users discovered that including a # plus a keyword allows other Twitter users to find articles on that topic. For example, if you search #libraries in Twitter, you will see all the tweets that include that hashtag in the message.
Retweets allow you to forward tweets you are viewing to the people following you in Twitter. Retweeting is easy! Just mouse over the tweet you want to send and click the "retweet" icon in the bottom right of the entry. Click on retweet and YES and you're done!
More information and a graphic is available through Twitter's Helpdesk article on What is retweet? (RT)
Posting pictures on twitter
There are a couple of ways that pictures can be easily posted on Twitter. You can use Twitpic. Photos can be downloaded from your phone or computer. For instructions see Twitpic's FAQs.
Jing also allows you to post pictures or screen shots. Instructions and a short video (2:28) are available on adding a Twitter button. For more information about Jing and other podcasting tools see TTW: Module Podcasting (Tools)
Short audios can also be posted on twitter
Chir.ps allows user to record and post short audios on tweets. It's easy--just got to http://chir.ps then record your audio, type in your tweet and it will attach your audio as a tiny URL. Here's one I did:
Consolidating twitter posts with other social networking sites
There are many aggregators that allow users to get content from multiple social networking sites or post to multiple sites at once.
I like ping.fm for posting to multiple sites at once. Not only can I post to Twitter, but it also allows me to post concurrently to LinkedIn, Facebook, and more. Bwana.tv has posted a ping.fm video (4:27) on YouTube
If you already use Twitter, you may have noticed the messages about a new feature in Twitter--lists. Twitter lists allow tweeters to organize users they follow into lists. You can view Twitter's Helpdesk article on Introducing: Twitter Lists! or view 10 Ways to Use Twitter Lists on the Mashable blog.
Archiving tweets
Because of the vast number of tweets that are posted, searching tweets more than 2 weeks old is not possible without using a service that archives them in some manner. There are many ways to archive. Several are covered in ReadWriteWeb's 10 Ways to Archive Your Tweets.
How do I find icons, buttons, and logos to add to my website, wiki or blog?
Abby Stokes, author of "Is This Thing On: A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes and the Kicking & Screaming, has some helpful Twitter advice.
If you don't find the answer to your question, want more or advanced information on a topic, need further clarification of a concept, would like to see another topic covered, or have any other comments or concerns, please feel free to contact me at:
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