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[edit] AFCEA on Twitter
Who knew there was so much you could say in just 140 characters? @SIGNALMAG, SIGNAL’s official microblogging channel, allows readers to get short excerpts from selected SIGNAL articles. Meaningful quotes, AFCEA updates, webinar announcements, interesting links and even tips for readers on how to manage their own 2.0 spaces can all come across SIGNAL’s Twitterfeed. And, at special events, SIGNAL editors and AFCEA staff can use Twitter to “broadcast” notable quotes and help attendees connect with one another.
[edit] To Use Twitter
First, you'll need to sign up for an account at www.twitter.com. While joining, Twitter may prompt you to connect with your friends by tapping into your email account. You may do this if you wish, but please remember to do so at your own risk: in some email services, this could invite everyone you've ever written to.
Once you have created your Twitter account, visit www.twitter.com/signalmag (@signalmag for short) and click the "Follow" button. You will have the option of turning notifications on or off. These notifications can be sent to your cellphone if you have that feature enabled.
On the right-hand side of the page, you'll see how many followers we have and how many people are following us. You may want to browse those users and follow some of them as well.
[edit] Participating in the Twitter Conversation
Twitter isn't just about following RSS feeds, either. Much of Twitter's activity is among users having conversations with one another. In much the same way that blogs can act as one public email to a larger audience, so Twitter is like a broadcasted instant message. You may, at times, wish to reply to someone else's comment (or, as it's called on Twitter, their "tweet").
To reply, simply use the "@" symbol and the username of the person you wish to reply to. For instance, to reply to a post by us, simply type "@signalmag thanks for the new post" into your update field.
People may reply to you as well. To find those replies easily, click on the replies tab in your righthand navigation.
Remember, Twitter isn't just about "What are you doing?" In fact, that might just be the wrong question to answer altogether. It's a great way to share the interesting things that surround you:
The things you're reading: Share links to websites you find interesting. Or, if there's a great book that you want to share, post a link to its page on a bookseller site such as Amazon.
The things you're participating in: If you're sitting in at a conference or event with a great speaker and hear the kind of quote you want to share, digest it into 140 characters and "tweet" it. If you're attending an AFCEA event and would like us to help you share what you're seeing, include #AFCEA in the tweet. That's called "hash-tagging"—more on that in a moment.
The things you're wondering about: Once you have a good handful of followers, tossing a question out into your tweetstream can yield a number of answers or insights.
The things you're thinking: Many twitterers post observations on the world around them, whether it be about a breaking news item or a favorite television program. Twitter can help you find communities of interest surrounding just about anything. And that brings us to....
[edit] Other Things to Know About Twitter
Search: A slightly different URL brings you to one of the best ways to track topics in Twitter. Use search.twitter.com to pull up any topic you're interested in. As an example, enter AFCEA in that search bar and you'll see a lot of folks talking about AFCEA news and events. Open that search in a new tab and leave it open, and whenever a new entry appears with "AFCEA" in it, the page will let you know there is a new tweet so you can refresh the page.
Hash-tagging: This expands the capability of search by making your content deliberately searchable. By placing the "#" symbol in front of a word, it becomes a "channel" that's easily searched. This is why we encourage people to use #AFCEA hashtags for AFCEA events, although some large events evolve hash-tags of their own. For more information on hash-tagging, visit twitter.pbwiki.com/Hashtags.
Direct messages: This technique is a way of sending a private message through email to another user. That user must be following you for you to be able to send him or her a direct message. It also has the 140-character limit, and should not be considered a secure method of contacting someone.
Third-party applications: You don't have to monitor Twitter through the website, nor do you have to have all the people you follow sending you incessant text messages via Twitter. There are dozens of other applications that allow you to participate in a more robust way. Some that we are familiar with (though this is not an endorsement) include:
- Twittelator Pro for iPhone
- Twitterfox, a plug-in for Firefox
- Tweetdeck, helpful for those with large groups of followers and who want to sort them into groups
It is very important to review the terms of service and privacy settings for third-party applications just as you would for Twitter or any other social media service. A disadvantage to some third-party applications is that many do not pick up the tweets of secure tweetstreams (see next item).
Protecting your tweets: Some people do not want their tweets to appear in a public timeline of any kind, including search results. If you are one of these folks, just visit your settings page (top-right navigation), and scroll to the bottom. Tick the box for "protect my updates" and voila, your tweets are secure. The disadvantage to doing this, however, is that your tweets will not appear in third-party Twitter applications, and not appearing in search results may impede your ability to participate in group discussions.
[edit] Getting Connected
If you are a Twitter user and would like to connect with other AFCEA members, please add your name here.
You can also add any tips that you find helpful in your own use of the page and read tips that others have shared. But if you have questions about using Twitter, toss them out on your tweetstream.
