I haven't delved too much into Twitter before, but I think I'm starting to get hooked. For anyone who's having trouble "getting it," it's basically a more elegant version of Facebook's status updates feed. But you won't get much out of it until you're following enough people to see new content every time you visit the site.
By default the "search" field will show you recent tweets containing the keyword you entered, but if you're looking for users to follow you should click over from "Tweets" to "People." (Of course, if you see a tweet that interests you, you can always click on the name of the person who posted it and see their other recent tweets -- you'll probably find yourself following complete strangers, but there's nothing wrong with that as long as they're providing interesting content).
If you're having trouble figuring out who you might be interested in following, I'd suggest the following:
1) Try searching for Authors, Directors, Musicians, Publishers, etc. that interest you.
2) Look at the profiles of coworkers/friends/etc. and see who they're following. Looking at Donna's list, I was able to add a half-dozen right away.
3) Search for generic terms that fit your professional development goals. Things like "books," "libraries," "technology," etc. Then look through both the "Tweets" and "People" results, and see what might be worthwhile.
Most major content providers (newspapers, blogs, websites, etc.) will use a Twitter account to announce updates, so Twitter is a wonderful way to supplement/replace an RSS feed.
Hope this helps! Follow me @mark_mullis.
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This is a great, easy to understand breakdown and usefulness of "how to" twitter!
ReplyDeleteI have been hooked on Twitter for a couple years now! What I love about it: I am hooked into a network of children's librarians and staff across the country--way more than any one district could hire. I hear lots of cool ideas and can get super-quick feedback on questions I have. It took time to build up my network, by doing what Mark recommends: finding interesting people and then snooping through their follow lists! The other main way I use Twitter is as an RSS feed. I have Google Reader, I have feeds directed into my Outlook folders, but I never seem to get to them as often as I want, so Twitter helps keep me informed. Follow me @MelissaZD and follow Alyson Corcoran and me @ALDstorytime!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark and Melissa for these tips. I noticed that when we click on "who to follow", it brings up broad categories and your tips are more specific.
ReplyDeleteTwitter is quite powerful as one of my friend's son was laid off by a NASCAR journal group and within less than 24 hrs he had an offer from another race car journal as his "followers", on Twitter expressed their shock and dismay at such a good reporter being laid off. The power of instant communication and the power of networking through Twitter couldn't be more evident than that.