When people first hear about microblogging, there are two common reactions: “Why would anyone want to know what I’m doing right now?” and “It’s fun on Facebook, but how could it possibly be part of my personal success story?”
Like many other new web tools, however, the more you microblog, the more uses you can find for it. It’s the little tool that could and part of the next wave of online products that could really change the way we do things.
What exactly is microblogging?
Here’s how microblogging works:
- Write a text messages (less than 140 characters)
- Post it online through a microblogging tool like Twitter or identi.ca.
The program makes your message available for viewing through subscription, RSS, cell phone texting (SMS), or instant messaging. Your followers sign up to receive your posts and keep up with your activities, thoughts, messages, whatever.
You can also sign up to see posts from others, your friends or complete strangers, like Barack Obama or Wil Wheaton. Following different people makes for a very different experience. If you’re interested in a certain subject you should find some experts in that subject and follow them. The way they pass on information will lead you further down the rabbit hole to all sorts of interesting information you might not have found on your own. Of course, you can just follow celebrities too, but you’ll get more out of Twitter if you’re a bit selective. (We’ll talk more about this in our upcoming Advanced Microblogging post here on NetworkEd UBC).
Twitterlets you search on key words in postings (known as “tweets”), in the public timeline.
If you have a Facebook account, you’ll probably already have used microblogging – the “What’s on your mind?” status update is a microblog. However, to get the most out of microblogging, you have to be creative.
Here are some ideas:
- Working on a group project? Update your team with tweets.
- Want to keep track of progress on your term paper? Tweet links, short notes, accomplishments and tasks completed. This is basically using Twitter as a linkblogging service. Make sure you tag your tweets accordingly (one of the things about Twitter is that if you want it to treat a word as a tag you have to put a # symbol in front of it without a space, like #termpaper).
- Thinking of trying to curb that smoking/drinking/overeating habit? Consider setting up a special “consumption” account (the Bridget Jones microblog?) and post every cigarette, every drink, every food item.
The power of a microblog is only limited by your imagination and your own abilities.
Now that you have all these microblogs on the go, you’ll need to get yourself an account manager. Twhirlis a free, downloadable desktop application that lets you register multiple accounts, cross-post between major microblogging tools, and host of other tasks.
NetworkEducation
- Go to the Twitterhome page.
- Look at the list of today’s popular (they like the term “trending”) Twitter subjects scrolling across the page. Click one that interests you and read some postings.
- Go back to the home page. Think about what kind of microblog would me most helpful to you right now. What do you need to keep track of? Or maybe you know people who microblog and just want to join the chorus?
- Set up an account. Choose a user name that reflects the purpose of the account. (e.g. Amy’s Snack Attack for your bad eating habits microblog or Shane88_English for your term paper account).THINK BEFORE YOU INK MOMENT Remember that everything you post is PUBLIC and available to be read by anybody and everybody.
- Make your first post. In 140 characters or less, introduce yourself and your purpose for microblogging.
Links
The Several Habits of Wildly Successful Twitter Users
The Microblogger – a blog about microblogs.
Business on Twitter – Because Twitter’s not just for twits 😉
How to Use Twitter Differently… – Everett Bogue has a different approach to Twitter and being a #psychictechnoninja if that’s your kind of thing.
This lesson was created for the Digital Media Project, a joint project of UBC School of Library, Archival and Information Studies and the Irving K Barber Learning Centre. It has been modified from its original form.