#blog12 daysxmas 6 Managing Twitter

I blogged previously about the accounts that I have and about ways I manage information. My Twitter stream is something that I try to keep on top of – because it is in real time, I can’t simply ’catch up’ two days later. I’ve found using my iPad and my phone (HTC Trophy) help with that – checking Twitter is probably the only time I use data when out, I don’t feel the need to be connected 24/7. I find it isn't as easy catching up with tweets using the web version of Twitter because of the way the page refreshes and loads; it starts at the top of the twitter stream and I have to scroll down to get to where I left off. The same happens with my phone app. Using the iPad (or iPod) app is so much simpler. I was previously using Twittelator (when Twitterific wouldn’t work for some reason) and am now back to using Twitterific because the Twittelator app somehow got deleted. Using the app means that the twitter streams loads where I finished, so I don’t need to scroll down to pick up where I left off. I can look at pictures that my friends upload because it opens in a pop up in my twitter stream, rather than going to a new page every time. It shows my tweets in green, mentions or replies in brown and direct messages in blue, all on the same page. I tap on any tweet and it will show me the conversation it relates to. All so much more convenient.

All this being said, I think potentially the most valuable way that I manage my Twitter stream is to manage my followers. I’m conscious of the fact that the more I follow, the faster my page fills and a brief break means that I either miss out on some conversations or it takes me longer to catch up. I don’t always follow those that are following me, although I do try to maintain the status quo there. If I am following someone who is not following me and I find that after several attempts at interaction there are no replies and no requests to follow me, then I stop following them. If the purpose of Twitter is to network and engage with library peers then not being able to have a two way conversation defeats that purpose for me.

How do you manage your Twitter information?

Post 2 - Blog every day of June

Day 2 and lots and lots of thoughts going around in my head.

Something I do daily is check Facebook and my Twitterstream continuously - so much easier to do with my iTouch and Windows 7 phone (love that phone!) than it was when I had to keep checking a computer to keep up to date. I find my PLN (personal learning network) on Twitter invaluable. I have purposely kept my followers (and those I follow) to a small number (although I think I have gone over 100 now) so that I can easily keep track of tweets as they appear. Following too many people means I lose sight of many of the threads of conversation that are happening simultaneously.

I love the Twittelator app for my iTouch - I actually prefer to use it over twitter.com because it loads where I finished reading the last time I used it, as opposed to the Twitter site, which loads at the most recent tweet, meaning I may need to scroll down pages of tweets to pick up where I left off. Twittelator also colours my tweets green and any replies to my tweets are brown - love it! I wish Twitter would do that - I thought it may have been a feature in the 'new Twitter', however I haven't been able to find it if that is the case.

I do vet those that ask to follow me - they need to be directly associated, somehow, with others in my PLN or be involved in the library industry (apart from Master Chef :) ). If I approve someone following me, then I follow them. I see no point in having followers that can see my tweets and I can't see their's. Likewise, if I follow someone, then I like them to follow me. I regularly compare the two lists and think seriously about removing those I follow that don't follow me.

So what are the benefits, for me, of having a PLN?

collaborative sharing and learning. Ruth, from Creative Circ, blogged here about the way she used Twitter to crowdsource (love that term!) topics for a potential conference paper and how it helped engage her with a future audience. Brilliant.

It's somewhere I can discuss ideas and explore them with others.

I have access to a global learning community of very active library people who are more than happy to share their expertise.

It is another source of information for me. Recently it has been my first port of call.

It may be informal, but it is still a method of learning for me.

It puts some randomness back into my life :) Where else would I hear that someone burned their dinner for the third time in a row because they were busy catching up on tweets? Or about emphysemic pets and how germs cannot live in an alcoholic environment!

I love how, the more I use Twitter, the more creative ways I find that people are using it.

So, how does Twitter benefit you?

So tweet me

I finally couldn't stand it any more - I had to find out what 'Twitter' was. Sent a friend an email asking what the heck Twitter WAS and got a quick link back. By the time she replied with more information, I had checked out her link, made no sense of it so had to join to find out for myself.

So what is Twitter? It's another social networking service that lets users of the site to send text messages to their friends in several ways - via SMS, IM or the Twitter website. The best way I can think to explain it is that it is like web based sms...and can be quite addictive...

You don't 'text' from Twitter, as you do from a mobile, you 'tweet'...

Back after 25 minutes of 'friending' some people that I recognise in Blogland. KathrynG wrote an interesting post on it on her blog - good read.

So have I sparked some more interest in Twitter for you? Hope so - friend me and tweet away!