Archive for Twitter
How to Create a Unique Twitter Background With Twilk
Posted by: | CommentsI was checking out people to follow on Twitter when I came across a profile in which the background featured thumbnail images of the person’s followers.
How’d they do that? I wondered.
Turns out they used Twilk.com, a free, Web-based application.
Twilk (which is a combination of Twitter and milk—because its creator likes milk), works like this:
1. Sign in with your Twitter account to give the Twilk application access to your account.
2. Configure your settings.
You can generate images of people you follow, people who follow you, both following and followers, or people you follow who follow you back. You can display the photos small, medium, or large; in black & white or color; and as 2 columns or as a full background.
Here’s a preview I generated of a full background with medium-sized images:
And here’s a preview of large images in the Confetti style:
3. Once you’ve decided which preview you like best, click “Use Background,” and Twilk will automatically install your chosen background to your Twitter account.
Just for fun, I installed a Twilk background on the Twitter account of the Florida Christian Writers Conference (one of our clients). I think it’s a neat way to display images of people who attend the conference.
Twilk’s FAQs say that the more you interact with someone, the more prominently they are positioned. People are sorted by how much you mention their user name (@ replies, retweets, etc. ) in your Twitter feed. It starts in the first two columns on the left, from top to bottom, left, right, left, right. If you mention people the same amount (or not at all), the order of those people will be random.
With the free version of Twilk, you need to manually update your background at Twilk.com. You can remove the background image at any time via the design tab in your Twitter account settings.
If you want your background updated automatically every day, you can sign up for a paid subscription to Twilk, which costs $5/month. Extra features with the paid version include:
- No Twilk Ad: the Twilk logo won’t show up on your background
- Daily Auto-Updates: save time by letting us update your background for you
- Upload Custom Logo: to have your background stand out and look more professional
- Exclude People: if you don’t want competitors showing up
- Feature People: to show how much they mean to you
If you decide to give Twilk a whirl, include your Twitter username in the Comments area of this post, and we’ll check you out!
Twitter Tool Review: Your Twitter Karma
Posted by: | CommentsIs it time to pare down the number of people you follow on Twitter?
Once a month, I use a free Web-based app called Your Twitter Karma to trim the number of people I follow.
To use the app, you must provide your Twitter username and password, but they don’t store your information.
The app takes forever to load – usually about five minutes – but once it loads, you’ll get a birds-eye view of all the people you follow, and the people who follow you (along with their avatars, if you choose to display them).
You can sort them by:
- Last Updated (the date they most recently tweeted)
- Ascending (A-Z)
- Descending (Z-A)
- Follower Count (how many followers they have)
You can show:
- All
- Only Following (those you follow, but who do not follow you in return)
- Only Followers (those who follow you, but you don’t follow them)
- All Friends (you follow them; they follow you)
- All Followers (Everybody who follows you)
- Mutual Friends (I’m not sure how this is different than All Friends)
So, let’s say I want to follow fewer people. I’ll filter my Karma results, showing Only Following, sorted by Last Updated.
My results show that I follow 64 people who don’t follow me back. Do I want to continue following all 64 of them? Probably not. After all, they don’t care enough to follow me back!
I scroll down the page and see that five of the people I follow haven’t tweeted in over a month. I’m going to unfollow one of them. But the other four are real-life friends, so I’ll continue following them, hoping against hope that maybe, someday, they’ll decide to tweet.
Next, I quickly scroll through the rest of the list, unfollowing any of the people whose updates I am no longer interested in.
If you have a large following, this task is going to take some time. But you’ll discover that regularly pruning your Twitter list results in more quality interactions with those you do follow.
Try it and let me know how it works for you. And while you’re at it, consider following @bloggingbistro on Twitter.
New to Twitter? Here’s a Good How-to Video
Posted by: | CommentsLast Saturday, Christopher Miller and I co-taught four social media workshops at a writers’ conference. The people who attended our workshops were all over the cybermap in terms of their knowledge of and use of social media. Some were avid tweeters, bloggers, and Facebookers, while others weren’t sure how to set up a Twitter account.
If you fall into the latter category, you’ll appreciate this Howcast video, “How to Use Twitter.” It gives a thorough, 4-minute overview of Twitter’s features.
How to Encourage People to Share Your Posts on Their Social Networks
Posted by: | CommentsEva Marie Everson, a writing colleague, e-mailed me a question about her Blogger blog:
How can I encourage readers of my blog to share my posts on other social networks?
I asked Eva Marie whether she wanted to add a “widget” so people who like a particular blog post can re-tweet it or post it to one of their social networks OR whether she wanted to add social media icons to her blog’s sidebar (when people click an icon, they’re linked to Eva Marie’s Twitter or Facebook account, so they can begin following her).
Many people don’t realize these are completely different functions, so I needed to make sure I was answering the right question.
Eva Marie did, indeed, want her fans to be able to re-tweet her blog posts on their own social media sites.
To do this on Blogger, you add a “gadget.”
- Click the “Layout” tab from within your Blogger admin area.
- Then click “Page Elements”
- Click “Add a Gadget”
- In the upper righthand corner of your screen, you’ll see a “search for gadgets” form. Enter the search term “share”
Here are several sharing gadgets you can experiment with:
TweetMeme Retweet – useful for people who want to re-tweet your post.
UpTweet - does the same as TweetMeme.
Share it – a helpful gadget that allows your fans to share the post on either Twitter or Facebook.
Sociable – allows users to share your blog and posts on social networks and social bookmarking sites like Google Bookm arks, Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Facebook, Twitter and others.
Facebook Share – allows your fans to share your post on Facebook.
- Once you’ve selected the gadget you want, click the big “plus” sign on the right side of your screen.
- A pop-up form will offer you some configuration options. Configure the gadget, click Save, and then drag and drop the gadget where you want it to appear in your blog’s sidebar.
Eva Marie went through the process, and e-mailed me:
I DID IT!!!!
You have no idea how BIG this moment is.
Do you have a question for the Blogging Barista? Ask away; I regularly feature reader questions on my blog.
The Best of Blogging Bistro 2009
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Yesterday I shared 16 of my best social media tutorials from the past year. Today, you get links to 14 more popular blog articles from 2009.
15 Secrets For the Perfect Business Portrait
The Three Best, All-Time Tips for Increasing Your Blog’s Readership
12 Reasons Why I Refuse to Follow You On Twitter
7 Marketing Lessons I Learned at a Rock Concert
The Cardinal Rule for Social Media Marketing
Setting Blogging Goals: How Often Will You Update?
How to Create a Blogging Editorial Calendar
Two Seconds to Impact! (Bright Ideas Blogzine, November 2009)
How to Connect with Your Readers – WII-FM
Why Every Writer Needs to be on Twitter
Body Language Lessons to Help You Become a More Effective Communicator (Bright Ideas Blogzine, May 2009)
The 3 Ps for Creating the Perfect Internet Profile (Bright Ideas Blogzine, June 2009)
10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing
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I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight.
Instead, I marked 10 words and phrases the author used repeatedly. Here they are, followed by my translation of each:
1. Leverage (used as a verb) – Make something work to your advantage so you can earn more money.
2. Incentivize – Entice people to buy something.
3. Merchandize (used as a verb) – Sell something.
4. Monetize – Make money.
5. Generate leads – Find people willing to give you their money.
6. Revenue streams – Make money multiple ways.
7. Repurpose – Recycle something you’ve already developed and sell it to a different audience (see revenue streams)
8. Exploit – Use to your fullest advantage.
9. Thought leader – Charismatic personality who isn’t afraid to talk about his/her creative ideas in public.
10. Entrepreneurial opportunity – Creative way to make money.
Thirty pages of drivel can be summed up in 91 words:
Come up with one great idea that people want. Sell it. (If people don’t know they want it, convince them they do.)
When you become successful (i.e., wealthy and famous), recycle a variation of your original idea and sell it to others who don’t realize they want it. When you become really successful, hire others to do the drudge work for you so you can continue inventing new stuff and convincing people they can’t live without it.
Want to learn how to do this? Sign up for my expensive online course.
Thirty pages of marketing industry jargon, from a writer who constantly preaches, “Write powerfully. Use strong verbs. Use strong nouns.”
It’s easy to fall into the jargon trap, isn’t it? Every profession has its own jargon – words, phrases, and acronyms that roll off the tongue and onto the page before we think twice – terminology that sounds like a foreign language to people outside our industry.
The phrases I highlighted in the report are also euphemisms – words that substitute for concrete, descriptive words. Monetize sounds flashier and more impressive than make money.
But make money is the author’s sole goal in writing and distributing this report. Why is he afraid to tell us that? Everyone who downloads a special report knows it’ll contain a sales pitch. But we also expect to get value from the report itself – an inspiring thought or a practical idea.
When we use jargon and euphemisms to disguise the true purpose of our communication, we dilute its effectiveness.
Let’s challenge each other to eliminate industry jargon from our writing and speech:
- Make a list of 10 words and phrases specific to your niche that could be construed as jargon or euphemisms.
- Share your favorites (or least favorites) with us.
- Vow to become aware of how those words slip effortlessly into your vocabulary.
- Every time you notice jargon, axe it from your blog post, e-zine, special report, book chapter, or speech.
Tell it like it is. Simple. Plain. Unadulterated.
…and yes, you have my permission to point out when I’m using jargon!
Note: I’m participating in the Group Writing Project: 2009 in Review on DailyBlogTips.
How to Avoid Twitter Phishing Scams
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I’m a sucker.
There. I admitted it.
Like thousands of Twitter users, I got “phished.” I’m a fairly savvy Internet user, and I’m really, really careful about the links I click.
But this scam reeled me in, hook, line, and sinker. I figure that if I got phished, you may have, too. So as a public service, I’m offering up tips about Twitter phishing scams and how you can avoid them.
What is phishing?
Phishing is the attempt to steal your personal data (such as passwords, account numbers, or financial information) by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in a seemingly official communication.
How do Twitter phishing scams work?
The current Twitter phishing attack sends a Direct Message to you – seemingly from one of the people you follow. The DM contains a friendly message such as “I found a funny picture of you – check it out” and a link to said picture.
Another popular phishing message I just received came from a best-selling author with whom I’m acquainted. It says:
“hey can you do me a favor? take this iq test. here;”
When you click the link, it takes you to a page that looks just like your Twitter login page. When you login to what you assume is your account, you give the phishers your password.
The phishers then send the same DM (from you) to everyone who follows you.
And then your followers un-follow you in droves.
If you get phished, how do you fix it?
I fell for this scam because I received a DM from a follower who I know personally. I clicked the link without giving it a second thought, not noticing (until it was too late) that the link didn’t follow the typical bitl.y, tinyurl.com, or ow.ly condensed link formats.
Fortunately, several of my followers notified me immediately that they were receiving strange DMs from me (the DMs did NOT show up in my Twitter account’s “Sent” tab).
I immediately changed my password and that stopped the DMs that appeared to be coming from me.
Only problem was that some of MY followers clicked the link that I supposedly sent them, and they got phished, too. I started receiving fake DMs from them.
…and the cycle continues.
How to protect yourself
- The best way to protect yourself from Twitter phishing is to avoid clicking links in DMs you receive. If you’re not sure whether the link is legit, e-mail or DM the person who sent it. That way, if they’re getting phished, you’ve just alerted them to the scam, as well.
- If you do get attacked, log out of your Twitter account, clear your browser cache, and shut it down. Then re-open your browser and change your password. Use a different password!
- Delete the spammy DM from your Direct Messages folder so you aren’t tempted to click it again.
- If you have time, notify the person you received the spam DM from that they’re under phishing attack. Advise them to change their password.
- A helpful tip I found on TwiTip suggests checking your application preferences to see who you’ve allowed to access your account. Click on Settings > Connections. If you’re not sure whether the application is legit, click “Revoke Access” and then re-install each application.
- I also posted a notice on my Twitter account and on my blog, letting folks know I’d gotten phished and advising them not to click any DM links from me. That was a smart move – several of my followers replied right away, thanking me for notifying them and assuring me they weren’t going to un-follow me.
Helpful articles from other bloggers:
How to Connect Your LinkedIn and Twitter Accounts
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I just received a notice from LinkedIn announcing their integration with Twitter. I immediately added both my Twitter accounts to my LinkedIn profile.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Sign in to your LinkedIn account.
2. Click “Account & Settings” (in the upper righthand area of your screen).
3. Under “Profile Settings” click “Twitter Settings.”
4. Click “Add a Twitter Account.” Make sure you are logged in to the Twitter account that you want to integrate with LinkedIn, and click the button to give LinkedIn access to your Twitter stream.
You can integrate multiple Twitter accounts with LinkedIn.
5. Decide whether you want to share all your Tweets on LinkedIn, or only those with the hashtag #in or #li (which indicates that those tweets are of particular interest to your LinkedIn followers).
6. Click “Save” and then zip back to your profile to see how it looks.
Your LinkedIn profile will display your Twitter stream in the righthand column of your profile (mine didn’t show up right away, but it appeared within a day or two). You can edit your feed to make it visible to:
- Nobody
- My Connections
- My Network
- Everyone
Whenever you share an update with your LinkedIn network, you can choose whether to tweet it.
Of course, you can follow LinkedIn on Twitter: @linkedin or read the LinkedIn blog.
While you’re at it, let’s connect on LinkedIn! You’ll find me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/laurachristianson. When you add me to your network, please let me know you found me via this blog post.
12 Reasons Why I Refuse to Follow You On Twitter
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Tweeters fall into two camps:
- Those who follow everyone who follows them.
- Those who don’t.
I am in Camp #2. Once a week, I manually vet each new follower. I visit their profile and scan the first page of updates before deciding whether to follow them.
This week I collected 41 new followers, but I followed only seven of them in return. Here’s why:
1. No profile
When I’m deciding whether to follow you, the first thing I check out is your profile. If you’re too lazy to write 160 characters about yourself, why should I waste my time following you?
2. No avatar
The little tweety bird is a poor excuse for an avatar. I don’t care whether you use your company logo or a fuzzy picture of yourself. It’s not that hard to upload an image. Just do it!
3. Racy avatars
What’s with all the lingerie-clad woman who claim to be business executives? Exactly what business are they in?
4. Paranoid tweeters
Why protect your tweets when you’re in the world’s largest chat room? I don’t get that. Occasionally, I’ll follow real-life friends who publish private tweets. But only if I really, really like them.
5. Zeroes
Lots of people “squat” on a Twitter name and never, ever post a single tweet.
6. Prom queens and kings
These folks follow 10,000 others, have 10,000 followers, and one tweet. Twitter is not a popularity contest.
7. Automatons
Before I click “follow,” I skim your Twitter stream. If I see the identical automated tweet 20 times in a row, I click away. I have no problem with automated tweets or with repeated tweets, because different followers read your tweets at different times of the day. But 20 repeats? That’s overkill.
8. Get-rich-quickers
There must be a ton of people in Twitterville who fall for money-making schemes, because the get-rich-quickers appear to be taking over Twitter. Especially the ones who plaster dollar bills all over their profile background.
9. I’m just not into you
Lots of people who follow me tweet on topics about which I have absolutely no interest. It’s not that I don’t like you; your topic just isn’t relevant to me.
10. Drinkers
Some people constantly tweet about drinking, meeting for drinks, or getting drunk. Your drunken revelry doesn’t impress grownups.
11. Repliers
Some people spend all their time replying to others. Their replies consist of inane statements such as, “Me, too!” It especially irks me when repliers don’t provide context for the tweets they’re replying to.
12. Re-tweeters
These people can’t think of anything original to say, so they re-tweet everybody else’s tweets. Re-tweeting is fine, but we want to hear from you, too (unless you fall into one of the above 11 categories).
Several of my Twitter followers chimed in with their own gripes:
Pics or posts sexual in nature, “ads”, same tweet many times like on auto send…I prefer more “personal” tweets where people are relating.
If u only follow people but don’t tweet, if u mostly tweet commercials, if you are too political or extreme in any way.
- Following way more people than have followers, i.e. 1,000+ people with only 100 followers… (My take, the person is just looking to build followers.. Not interact. I prefer quality over quantity)
- Just tweet about personal information… I don’t mind if they humanize themselves with an occasional tweet about their personal life, but I really don’t want to know when someone goes to the bathroom.
- All about ME… No RTs or dialogue with others
- Get rich quick schemes, i.e. “Find out how I make $1,000 a day on the internet”
- All quotes – quotes in moderation are nice, but all quotes just says you have nothing to say yourself
- Foul language in every tweet
- Any female with a tweet that says “Come check out the pictures of me” (Porn)
How ‘bout you? Do you put limits on the tweeps you’ll follow?
When you comment, please include your Twitter handle. Hope you’ll follow me @bloggingbistro.
*Feel free to reprint this post on your own blog. I’ll be happy to e-mail you the HTML, so all you have to do is copy & paste, and the formatting will remain intact. If you reprint it, please include the following byline:
Laura Christianson, aka The Blogging Barista, owns Blogging Bistro (www.BloggingBistro.com), a Seattle-based social media marketing company.