Created by Lauren Shannon For Few Presentation/ Tokyo May 2009

twitter: littlestgator

Twitter 101Fun and Friendly Version

twitter, tweet, tweeting, twittering etc. so forth and so on.

What is it?Twitter is a free social

networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers).

Why tweet?I asked a bunch of Tokyo geeks I love… and

they said;

1. FILTER, FILTER, FILTER2. 140 characters is a good mental exercise and challenge3. Fun with no obligations or expectations4. On your own terms5. It’s where the cool kids are… I am only half-way kidding6. Share quickly and easily7. Increase your networking reach8. Marketing and PR in a real community way- GIVE AND TAKE9. Trust and Imagination10. <insert> ur own reason here. After a few weeks you’ll think of

many

Why Not? *the personal version (company version later) • If all you want to do is spam• If it feels like a chore• If you don’t like it…But…don’t give up too fast, it takes time

to “get it”

HOW TO…

1. Pick a User Name

2. Set up an account at twitter.com

3. Find people to follow• Follow your friends first (use the

search function)• Directories can help. Example

wefollow.com / twellow.com they also list people by interest area

• Click follow on someone’s profile *read their profile and check them out first

• Or you can type “follow (username)”

Example “follow littlestgator”

4. Tweet!• Messages are 140

characters or less including spaces

• Use tinyurl to make website addresses smaller

• Remember twitter is public- so be careful what you post it is very hard to delete.

5. Other Stuff Optional• Twitterific is an iphone app so you can

tweet from your phone

6. Tweet-speak

More Tweet-speak

More Tweet-speakRT stands for RE-Tweet, forwarding on or cross posting a tweet you think should get more attention or notice.

More Tweet-speak# before a topic is called a hashtag and this is one of the greatest functions added by users to twitter.

You can use searchtwitter.com to follow a topic and see what people are saying. Also to find people around that topic are you want to follow

Ex. #sxswi or last weekend #tbarcamp

More Tweet-speak

Twitter Bling- Accessorize• * Twhirl - (@twhirl) social software desktop client for Twitter delivery, based on Adobe

AIR platform• * Twitterific - (?) from Crunchbase:  a Mac-only application that lets you both read and

publish  “tweets” to the Twitter website.  The user interface is customizable to let you view as much or as little information as you desire.

• * LoudTwitter - (@LoudTweeter) posts your daily tweets to your blog• * Twellow - (? ) a useful way to search for interesting people to follow on Twitter,

using group categories (social media, marketing, business, etc)• * MyTweeple - (@mytweeple) shows, in alphabetical order, people you're following

who are not following back, and vice versa. • * Twitter Karma - (?) helps you easily see/keep track of followers, enables you to see

who's not following you that you're following, etc. • * TweetDeck - (@TweetDeck )  • * Twitterel - (@twitrel) a user search client;  you type in keywords, find Tweeps who

Tweeted those keywords, and then decide whether to follow them or not.• * Tweetake -  (@alfaguru & @NikkiPilkington) allows you to back up your followers,

follows & tweets into an Excel file • * Splitweet -  (@Splitweet )  Manage multiple Twitter accounts (compare to Brightkit)

and monitor brands• * Twitclicks - (@twitclicks) shorten URLs and track results

Twitter Bling- Accessorize• * Twuffer - (@twuffer)  lets you compose future Tweets and schedule their release• * Twittercounter - (@thecounter) like "Feedburner for your follower count"; shows the top 10,000

Twitter users in terms of number of followers (one way to discover people to follow); you can pay to be a 'featured user' on the site; you can add a Twitter Counter badge on your blog or Social Media site, showing your # of followers

• * Twittertise - (@ttise) partner with Twitadd ... aimed at advertisers/brands/individuals who want to schedule Tweets in advance and track clicks on links in those Tweets

• *Brightkit - (@brightkit)  manage multiple Twitter accounts, pre-schedule tweets, and measure your success with stats and analytics;  also has real-time search.  Free for now while in Beta, will be fee based at some point.  Seems to be a popular tool - Guy Kawasaki is a user.

• * Twitpic - (@twitpic)  Share photos on Twitter.  Post pictures to TwitPic via mobile phone, the API or through the site itself.   There are also Twitter clients w/ built-in support for TwitPic.

• * TwtPoll - (@twtapps) from Techrunch: "a simple polling app that lets you ask multiple choice questions and provides a shortened URL that you can Tweet"

• * Twtcard - (@twtapps) greeting card Twitter application• * Twtvite - (@twtapps) event manager Twitter application• * TwitterGrader - (@HubSpot)   gives you a grade up to 100, based on a variety of factors that

include follower to follow ratio, how many 'elite users' are connected to you, how many tweets you've tweeted, etc. 

• * TwitterGroups - (couldn't locate an acct) create a Twitter Group and invite followers to join.  Share links, use tags and allow others to follow you and join your group

• * Qwitter - ( ?) plug in your Twitter user name and password, and it's supposed to auto unfollow those who unfollow you.  I tried it ... but it stopped working after a couple of weeks. I have no idea if it's still viable. 

Why Not; the Company Version

• You think using Twitter is a social-media strategy. It's a tactic, a tool, not a strategy. It works if you already have an online following who'll view your Tweets as a way to interact with your company on a human level.

• Every tweet has to be approved by legal. Twitter is a social network where conversation is fast and interconnected. If you have to wait a day, or even a few hours for your 140 character Tweet to gain legal approval, Twitter will be the wrong platform for you.

• You plan to use Twitter for nothing but broadcasting headlines or deals. People follow people they find interesting. Followers are earned on Twitter. Be interesting, make only every 10th tweet about you, and you'll gain and keep a following. If all your tweets are a one-way street: Block!

• You think a ghost tweeter for the president of your company is OK. Authenticity and transparency are the keys. It's fine if someone besides the CEO tweets for your company, as long as they say that's what they're doing.

• You are not going to respond when people direct tweets at you. Twitter is like the new water cooler. If you walked out to the water fountain and talked nonstop to people gathered there, they'd certainly be happy when you left. Ditto for Twitter.

• You think Tweeting as XYZ Corp. and using the company logo as your avatar might be a good idea. Identify the person or people tweeting for your company or don't tweet. The days of hiding behind the faceless corporation are over.

• You think all that matters on Twitter is getting a lot of people to follow you. Quality trumps quantity.

• You want to protect your updates. If people have to ask permission to see what you're posting on Twitter, you're defeating the purpose, which is conversation.

• You plan to track Twitter with Google Analytics. Google Analytics won't give you true tracking. You can track the URLs you post with a service like BudURL or bit.ly, but you'll need to use one or more social-media tracking tools to monitor your corporate reputation and influence on Twitter.

• You think you can just jump in and start tweeting. Listen first. Monitor what's being said about your brand, your industry, your products. Then join the conversation and become part of the community. Then your occasional marketing messages will be accepted, or at least tolerated because you also add value to the community.

From Advertising Age;http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=135827

Part 2.

Thanks and Of Course I hope you will follow me

@littlestgator