TwiTip » Darren Rowse

8 Twitter Apps That Make It Easy To Share Files

Darren Rowse — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:39:08 +0000

We’re sorry! This post was removed because the author published it elsewhere.

Twitter Tips for Beginners [VIDEO]

Darren Rowse — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:47:51 +0000

Over the past few months I’ve presented at a number of conferences and to companies on how to use Twitter. On each occasion I’ve been asked for the slides and by others not at the presentations if there were videos of the presentations. Today I sat down to record some audio over one of the slide sets that I use.

While the presentation is titled ‘Twitter Tips for Business’ much of it would be relevant for anyone using Twitter whether they be doing so as a business or as an individual. The video goes for 40 minutes – so grab a cup of your favorite beverage and enjoy.

How to Use Twitter in the Classroom [VIDEO]

Darren Rowse — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:28:26 +0000

Here’s how one teacher is using Twitter in class.

via ReadWriteWeb

10 Hot Twitter Tips

Darren Rowse — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:47:36 +0000

January was a great month here at TwiTip with some new highs in traffic and some fantastic reader discussion in many of our posts.

Here are the top ten posts from the month (ranked in order of traffic):

Some of these were written before January but still saw healthy traffic. Thanks for reading TwiTip and helping us grow!

Here Come the Twitter Books!

Darren Rowse — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:41:51 +0000

I was just surfing on Amazon and decided to see what books were surfacing on the topic of Twitter.

While Twitter is mentioned in many book about the broad category of social media – there are a few new books specifically written about Twitter – including a few that are available for Pre-Order.

Here are those books with Twitter in the title (not including books about birds…) arranged in order of how they’ve been selling (including pre-sales of books yet to come out – I’ve noted those that are yet to be released):

Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online (November 2008 – pictured right)
Twitter means business: how microblogging can help or hurt your company (November 2008)
Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time (Available for pre-order – Out in February 2009)
Twitter: Free Social Networking For Business – 100 Success Secrets To Increase Your Profits and Sales Using Twitter Business Strategies (November 2008)
Twitter API: Up and Running: Learn How to Build Applications with the Twitter API (Available for pre-order – Due in March 2009)
Twitter For Dummies (Available for pre-order – due for release in June 2009)
Twitter Top Success Secrets and Best Practices: Twitter Experts Share The World’s Greatest Tips (December 2008)

Also of note is Joel Comm’s Twitter Secrets Kindle Book – which ranks in the middle of this list.

33 High Profile Twitter Users Accounts Hacked

Darren Rowse — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:39:49 +0000

It’s been a bad week for Twitter – over the weekend the community was attacked by a Phishing Scam attack and in the last 24 hours 33 high profile Twitter users had their accounts hacked. These accounts included President Elect Barack Obama, Rick Sanchez, Britney Spears and other high profile/celebrity Twitter users.

Twitter explained what happened in a post on their blog:

“The issue with these 33 accounts is different from the Phishing scam aimed at Twitter users this weekend. These accounts were compromised by an individual who hacked into some of the tools our support team uses to help people do things like edit the email address associated with their Twitter account when they can’t remember or get stuck. We considered this a very serious breach of security and immediately took the support tools offline. We’ll put them back only when they’re safe and secure.”

To be fair to Twitter – both this situation and the Phishing one were responded to quickly by Twitter however it does show that Twitter is increasingly being targeted by malicious attacks and should serve as a warning to those using Twitter to expect the unexpected. While there wasn’t anything that those who had their accounts hacked could have done to prevent this – do keep your password secret and regularly updated.

Twitter does seem to be moving towards a more secure system with an beta test of OAuth scheduled for later this month – but until it goes live (and even after it) be a little more alert than normal.

Think like a Toddler and find your Voice on Twitter

Darren Rowse — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:01:17 +0000

As the parent of a toddler (that’s my boy @xrowse in the pic) and as a lover of Twitter I couldn’t resist this guest post by Nicole Nicolay “NikNik” from MyTechOpinion.com.

For some, it’s hard enough finding your voice in a 500 word blog post. So when it comes to expressing your thoughts and opinions on Twitter in 140 characters or less, you’d think it would be even harder. Right?!

Well actually, finding your voice on Twitter can be a pretty painless process if you employ the right strategies. For those of us with kids, we “get it” right away. Twitter can be a lot like your 2 year old. It screams and whines and will bark orders at you all day (ex: give me….get me….follow me, etc). Parents know that getting your child to communicate with them is truly an art that requires patience and creativity. And Twitter is no different. So when it comes to finding your voice on Twitter, I suggest you start thinking like a toddler or how you would communicate with one!

The following list includes my top 10 tips for developing better communication with toddlers on Twitter:

1. Toddlers have a limited vocabulary. So make your tweets simple and not too complicated. Do your best to tweet how you speak. Don’t overuse acronyms.

2. Toddlers have the attention span of flies. So you need you to get to the point. Think in titles and summarize. You wouldn’t read a chapter book without pictures word for word to 2 year old.

3. Toddlers like toys. So share helpful resources like links to smart blogs, industry reports, funny YouTube videos, free ebooks, etc.

4. Toddlers have favorite characters… The Wiggles, Backyardigans, Elmo, etc. So find a niche you know and are passionate about. Infuse your tweets with information about it, share your expertise, and foster relationships with others in your niche. Start a fan club or TwitterGroups for your niche interest.

5. Toddlers naturally embody a transparency radar. They can see right through you. So don’t be something you’re not. And especially don’t spam or sell to twits. If you’re a genuine twit you will get the respect you deserve.

6. Toddlers learn best from hands-on experiences. So be sure to share your most interesting daily happenings, life ponderings, and hair raising questions.

7. Toddlers can benefit from the right equipment. For example, a high chair, bib, and sippy cup can make for a cleaner and more efficient lunch. So take advantage of Twitter support tools. Utilize mobile and desktop apps to streamline the tweet process and be a more efficient conversationalist (Tweetdeck, Twittelator, Twitterific, Twitterberry, SnapTweet, Twitpic, etc.).

8. Toddlers like Kung Fu Panda and Tom & Jerry! So share a variety of media and expand your voice to include updates or links from: Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, Blip.fm, your blog posts, etc.

9. Toddlers can learn a lot from their peers. So read other twitter streams to get new ideas, style, etc. Remember to learn new ideas, but update them with your own twist upon implementation.

10. Toddlers rely on consistency. So be the same person online you are offline.

Once you understand that Twitter is not just a broadcasting tool used for barking orders…but a Web of communities with interest-based conversations, you’ll find your voice and a new respect for it in the process. Good luck and be nice…or I’ll put you on a time-out!

Happy Twitmas

Darren Rowse — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:04:58 +0000

Just a short note to wish all TwiTip readers a very happy Christmas. I’m taking the day off today (although am sure I’ll update my followers on Twitter during the day ahead) but I did want to say thanks for your support this year and have a happy holiday period!

Normal posting will return tomorrow!

PS: I’ve written a few more Christmas reflections over at ProBlogger today.

Make Money With Twitter Services – What do You Think of Them?

Darren Rowse — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:01:07 +0000

If there’s one question I’ve been asked more than any other since starting TwiTip it has been

‘what do you think of ((insert one of numerous Twitter Money Making Programs here))?’

We’ve seen a number of services launched in the last few months that attempt to help Twitter users to make money from their Tweets. Two of the most popular (or at least most talked about) models are:

Magpie – which inserts automatic tweets from advertisers into your Twittering
Twittad – which inserts sponsors messages into your Twitter background

Of course others are working on other ways to monetize Twitter (affiliate marketing, promoting their own services and products etc) – but today I’m interested to hear what people think about services like Magpie and Twittad?

Would you use them? Do they impact whether you’ll follow (or how you interact with) other Twitter users? I’m looking forward to hearing your comments below.