Thing 5: Twitter

Of course no study of digital tools for writers would be complete without a brief look at Twitter.

Maybe you're already a Twitter fan and you tweet regularly. Or maybe you aren't part of the twitterverse.  Either way, Thing 5 will look more closely at Twitter as a tool for writers, and give you a chance to try it out if you haven't yet.
  
Thing 5: Twitter

Read the article "Twittering, Not Frittering, Professional Development in 140 Characters" from Edutopia.  Then create a Twitter account for yourself. If you're comfortable sharing with the world, set your account as "Public" (that way we can all find you on Twitter). If not, then you have to approve individual people to be your followers. Do a few Internet searches to find leaders in your area, and chances are that they will have a Twitter account. "Follow" at least three of them, post your Twitter name to your blog (mine is jcnesmith), and then let us know who you're following.

If you're interested in a particular topic, you can look for who's tweeting about it. Check out the "trends" box on the right side of twitter. If you tweet about a particular topic and want to make sure people interested in that topic find it, you can add a hash tag, like #writing or #oscars.

To post a link, use tinyurl to create a smaller version of the URL--so you won't use up those 140 characters.

I like to follow other writers . . . and some funny tweeters. Here is an example of some of the people I'm following:

• Wired magazine, which posts updates about tech (@wiredmag)
• Stephen Fry, the British actor and word nerd (@stephenfry)
• essayist Susan Orlean (@susanorlean)
• Local journalist Christophe Trappe (@CTrappe)
• children's book author Sarah Prineas (@SPrineas)
• and The Onion (nice to have 140 character laughs!) (@TheOnion)

I have to admit I don't tweet much. I used to use it for posting updates about my writing, but I'm not doing that now--I just enjoy reading others' posts, and I've learned about some cool stories that way. Plus I get a laugh from The Onion.

If you want, you can have your twitter posts automatically posted to facebook. Just include the hash tag #fb at the end of your post.  You probably already knew that . . .

Discovery Exercise

1. Create a Twitter account if you don't have one yet.
2. Find at least 3 people to follow--or 3 new people if you already have an account.
3. Post a tweet about some writing project you're working on
4. Retweet a post or two from someone you're following
5. Post a link with a brief comment (use tinyurl)
6. Add Twitter to your blog with a Twitter gadget. This allows blog readers to quickly catch up on your tweets.  Just go to "layout" from your dashboard and look for a twitter gadget.
7. In your blog: Tell us who you're following
8. Reflect on your experience using/reading about Twitter. How do you see professionals using it? How do you see writers or PR people using it? Will you keep tweeting this term?