It is a quick message writing service where you can publish notes that anyone can view. Kind of like a blog page but more like a ’status update’. Those who have used Facebook status updates will know what I mean.
Since that entry I have shown some of you Twitter and we discussed how many prominent people such as celebrities and sports stars are revealing information via Twitter – sometimes when they shouldn’t. As Stan said – it can be a bit like a celebrity gossip channel at times too! After all Oprah did a show about Twitter as well
Since the last post I have found an excellent source of information on Twitter for beginners. It is called the 12 days of Twitter and was write by a well respected online journo called Cali Lewis. Click on the link below to learn more about Twitter and how to use it:
Oh and here is a link to Cali’s other work – a video podcast reviewing gadgets and technology called GeekBrief.tv
You can use Twitter straight from the web at www.Twitter.com but there are lots of free programs you can use on your desktop instead.
My personal recommendation for the best way to use Twitter is Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck can include Facebook status updates too so you can get more information in one place if you use both Twitter and Facebook like I do.Of course part of the popularity of Twitter stems from the fact you can ‘Tweet” (which means write an update to your Twitter page) from your internet enabled mobile phone. That is what makes it popular with the celebrities and the ‘cool kids’. So one of the reasons I like Tweetdeck is that they have an application I can load on my iPhone as well. If you have a capable phone there will be a program for you too – or you can just pull up the Twitter page on your internet browser.
If you do sign up to Twitter make sure to follow me – which is like ‘add me as a friend’. My user name is Noblejoker – find me here www.Twitter.com/Noblejoker And send me a message so I can follow you in return
So what is this new social media thing Twitter all about I hear you ask?
Well I have been on Twitter for about a year or so. It is a quick message writing service where you can publish notes that anyone can view. Kind of like a blog page but more like a ’status update’. Those who have used Facebook will know what I mean.
There has been a huge surge in popularity as more celebrity users come on board. Oprah did a special on it one day and the users doubled overnight or something.
Anyway – if you want a more comprehensive description of Twitter and how it works then it is off to YouTube which has loads of ‘How-To’ type videos about Twitter. The MakeUseOf blog has compiled a list of 7 good choices to start.
I like Twitter and I follow quite a few people on it. I was explaining quickly to Janelle how it works and here’s what I wrote
Twitter is like Facebook status messages and Instant Messaging rolled into one You can post what you are doing and see what others are doing
If you want to send a message particularly to someone’s attention you type their name in preceded by the @ So to send to me or notify me particularly you type @noblejoker in your message You can do that with anyone – you don’t have to be ‘following’ them to send the tweet message. I see though that you are following me and I am following you so whatever you write to anyone (@someone) or to no one I should see
You will also see people retweet That is usually done as rt @name where the rt stands for retweet. So lets say I write "something cool" and you want everyone following you to see it you then retweet my tweet like this: ”rt @noblejoker something cool”
Do you Twitter?if so send me a message and feel free to follow me
Oh and here is a link to Cali’s other work – a video podcast reviewing gadgets and technology called GeekBrief.tv
Of course part of the popularity of Twitter stems from the fact you can ‘Tweet” (which means write an update to your Twitter page) from your internet enabled mobile phone. That is what makes it popular with the celebrities and the ‘cool kids’. So one of the reasons I like Tweetdeck is that they have an application I can load on my iPhone as well. If you have a capable phone there will be a program for you too – or you can just pull up the Twitter page on your internet browser. 
