I started using Twitter on the 25th of November, 2008. Before then, I thought Twitter was an immense waste of time. I finally saw the light, joined, and have become a huge fan.
Here are a few things I did to help me get hooked on Twitter.
1. Used the Gmail address book finder from the “Find People” link at the top. This helped me connect quickly with about 15 friends I didn’t even know used Twitter.
2. Found more friends to follow by exploring my friends’ “Following” lists.
3. Installed TweetDeck and Twitterberry. TweetDeck makes posting updates to your timeline really easy. It also has a handy URL shortener and gives you fast Desktop notification of your friends’ updates. Twitterberry allows you to easily give updates while you are on the go without needing to use SMS.
4. Began tracking my links with Tr.im. Tr.im is a link shortening service that will give you click stats on all of the links you post. These numbers will begin to show you the power of Twitter as a broadcast medium. Think nobody is listening because they don’t reply? Tr.im will show you that people actually do care about what you post.
5. Began posting regularly, although I still go through dry spells at time.
Hopefully this post will help other Twitter newbies more effectively use Twitter.
What have you done to get hooked on Twitter?
Any WordPress plug-ins I should be aware of? Other tools?
Although I consider myself a pretty tech savvy guy, I’m not as up to date on Internet social life. Today, I updated my status on my Facebook account for the first time ever, and then I thought, Oh, I bet that is what Twitter is really all about.
I visited Twitter and lo and behold, a new video there that explains Twitter in plain English. I never really grokked Twitter, even though I knew what the Fail Whale was. I guess I’m starting to get it now.
Now I just need to actually use it.
(video provided by a cool company named Common Craft)
You may have noticed that I haven’t updated my blog for a while. I’ve decided that I’m going to try to write more during my lunch breaks. So, what have I been up to?
I’m still working for FamilySearch as the Developer Support guy for all public APIs. This has been a fun and rewarding experience. I get to write documentation and code samples, present at conferences and webinars, and meet with a lot of companies in the genealogy space. I’m really excited about what is coming in the genealogy industry. Lots of advancements are being made. I’ll update more of what I see coming in a later post.
I’m still doing Ruby programming on the side for USFamilyTree.com. I get to do most of this work during my commute to and from Salt Lake City. UTA has free WiFi on their express buses, which makes it possible for me to still stay productive.
Family life has been really good. Our little boy is almost 2 years old now, and he keeps us laughing and having lots of fun. We’re excited to announce that we are in the application process again to adopt another baby. The second time has been a lot faster for us and we’re getting really close to being approved and on the waiting list.
This blog has typically been about web technology and such, and I plan to keep it on that subject. Some projects that I’ve been watching closely include: Merb, CouchDB, and Rubinius. These will likely be the topics of my next posts.
I’d like to continue with my Wordpress/Hostmonster screencasts, but I haven’t been able to find the time or place to make and record new episodes. Hopefully I can find a Saturday to crank out another one soon.
