What You’re Doing, What You’re Thinking, What You Ate for Breakfast

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages.  People write short updates, often called "tweets" of 140 characters or fewer.  These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search. http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/13920 What is Twitter? According to Twitter.com:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/krstlchik/3741016275/ Portable What is Twitter? Anywhere you are Real time

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clashed/2248767297/in/set-72157603297093591/ Global What is Twitter? 57.4% of users are from outside the US (August, 2009) http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/twitter.com

http://api.ning.com/files/LcZ9Ip5k6fytct-J4udkU*rIslan4xiwgdfVGEEPJxz2OOHL*07zWljJnijnoSSKurpMJIaINHqqJRKVQ*ILtoPUBj2e9WEO/conversation.jpg Conversational What is Twitter? Speaking Listening Responding Interacting

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11326300@N00/3316440313/ Concise What is Twitter? Short posts Bite-sized bits of info Little detail Every character counts!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazysusan/330367400/ Customizable What is Twitter? No two people use Twitter in the same way. Choose the parts available and put them together to suit your needs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11050044@N04/2475572569/ What is Twitter? A Tool Used to achieve a goal. What is your goal?

http://seldo.com/weblog/2009/05/05/ten_things_twitter_is_not Twitter is NOT: The new email / the new telegram A tool for self-absorbed hipsters (well, maybe it is) Private or even secure The new Google, Facebook, or blogs A competition A service that only answers the question "what are you doing?"

Twitter is not what you're doing, Twitter is what you're thinking…Twitter is like friend ESP, a portable zeitgeist. It lets you know "what's going on" by telling you not what people are physically doing, but what they're thinking about, planning, reading, watching, paying attention to. http://seldo.com/weblog/2009/05/05/ten_things_twitter_is_not Twitter is NOT:

Getting Started 1. Get an Account 2. Choose People to Follow 3. Start Tweeting

1. Get an Account: Twitter.com For more information and help signing up, visit: http://help.twitter.com/portal

TIP: Be sure to completely set up your account including a short bio and profile picture. 1. Get an Account: Twitter.com

2. Choose People to Follow Find People Tab By searching From other networks Invite by Email Suggested Users

2. Choose People to Follow Twitter Search Search for friends, topics, hashtags (#)

2. Choose People to Follow Twitter Directories & Services http://wefollow.com/ http://www.tweettop.com/ http://www.twellow.com/ http://www.crazybob.org/twubble/ http://twitterel.com/

“Dont care what ppl had 4 brkfst? Dont follow ppl who tweet abt brkfst.” @mchris4duke Follow people who Tweet content that is valuable to you. 2. Choose People to Follow

@eclasper’s Twitter network 8/11/2009 courtesy http://sxoop.com/twitter/mosaic.pl 2. Choose People to Follow

2. Choose People to Follow

Celebrity Real Celebrities PR Celebrities Fake Celebrities Types of Twitterers

Types of Twitterers Journalists Individual Journalists News Sources

Corporate Employees Corporate Persona Libraries Types of Twitterers

Spammers Bots (autofollow) “Marketers” Only for promotion Types of Twitterers

Types of Twitterers Tools

Types of Twitterers Oddball Squirrels Poetry Recipes Fictional Characters

Purists Link Tweeters Conversational Lurkers Real People Types of Twitterers

3. Start Tweeting The Lingo @username – Beginning a message with this will create a public message to or about an individual hashtag – the # symbol followed by a term as a way to categorize tweets on a particular topic RT – Retweet. Re-posting a valuable piece of information already tweeted by someone else and giving them credit D – Direct Message (Private) Shortened URLs – used to fit links to outside content within 140 characters See more “Twitterspeak” at - http://mashable.com/2008/11/15/twitterspeak/

Beginner Tips for Tweets 3. Start Tweeting Tweet value for your followers. Tweet ideas, not just actions. Shorten URLs if you are linking to something. Learn the Lingo. Learn to RT, DM, and @. Join the conversation. Think before you tweet. Remember your Twitter goals.

http://cogdogblog.com/2008/03/20/twitter-life-cycle/ Learning the Ropes

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ocw.usu.edu/University_Extension/conversation-on-instructional-design/conversation.jpg What goal do you want to achieve by using Twitter? How can you use Twitter as a tool to reach that goal? Consider: Who you will follow What you will tweet What complimentary tools might you use? What’s the Point??