pbmax
09-19-2012, 11:10 PM
If Mad wants to sticky this in the Packer Board then put the thread in the Romper Room, thats fine by me.
Just going to start with the basics, then everyone can chime in. Current users can post tips they like, new users can ask away. I have found most of the answers I wanted about Twitter online, though the info is more scattered than you might expect, probably because a lot of people use the service for many different reasons.
I use Twitter for two reasons: 1) Most news breaks wide on Twitter first, even I think, compared to cable news or radio. I spend my day mostly in front of my computer and its far more entertaining reading Twitter than watching a news website. Also far fewer flash videos slowing everything down.
2) Just about everything I want to read about football is linked to (and marketed by) the Twitter accounts of writers. From SI to Pro Football Talk to JSOnline to PackersNews.com, Pro Football Focus, Football Outsiders, Advanced NFL Stats and Smart Football, everything they write gets a brief blurb in a Tweet always with a link. Its one stop shopping for news.
The same service Pro Football Talk provided by putting nearly all football rumors in one blog is mimicked by Twitter, only for every topic you can imagine.
The address, obviously: http://twitter.com/
You can create a user account with a minimum of personal info and an email address. Your first big choice is whether to make the account public or private. Most accounts you will read or see in a search are public. You may wish to be private to begin with until you are comfortable. However, with a private account, folks can see your account but not your Tweets unless they follow you. It also diminishes greatly the chances of someone you follow replying to a Tweet you send them. You can switch from Private to Public and back again.
The web interface provides all the basics after you sign up. You can search for a topic (any word, name or phrase), search for a hashtag (we'll get to it) or for a person. Searches are the broadest net, they will return users, hashtags and simply the search words themselves in every Tweet it can find. A search for a hashtagged topic will return only Tweets that have the hashtag. Search for a person by name and you might get their Twitter account and you will get every Tweet with their name in it.
Mainly Twitter is a way to collect other Tweets that might interest you. The easiest way to get material ready made is to search for an individual you might wish to follow. Following another Twitter account is just a way to link their account with yours, so all their public Tweets will appear in your Timeline. If you Follow someone, their Tweets always appear in your Timeline but the reverse is not true unless you include their Twitter handle (@BobMcGinn) inside the Tweet with the rest of your message. If someone Follows you, then they will see all your Tweets, regardless of subject or Twitter handles inside the message (there is one exception). You can block people from following you if they bother you.
Say you want to keep up with the Packers and Bob McGinn. If you search his name, you will get a list of Tweets with his name in them. But you will also get Twitter accounts listed at the top of the results page that use that name, and JSO's Bob McGinn will be the first listed. If you are already logged into your account, Bob's Twitter account will be listed with a "Follow" button. Click that and you link to his account. Click it again and you Unfollow him. If you are not logged into Twitter, the follow button, if it shows at all, will ask you to login or create and account.
People will know when they add followers and when they lose them. Its normally not personal, especially for public figures. Your family might think differently.
Just going to start with the basics, then everyone can chime in. Current users can post tips they like, new users can ask away. I have found most of the answers I wanted about Twitter online, though the info is more scattered than you might expect, probably because a lot of people use the service for many different reasons.
I use Twitter for two reasons: 1) Most news breaks wide on Twitter first, even I think, compared to cable news or radio. I spend my day mostly in front of my computer and its far more entertaining reading Twitter than watching a news website. Also far fewer flash videos slowing everything down.
2) Just about everything I want to read about football is linked to (and marketed by) the Twitter accounts of writers. From SI to Pro Football Talk to JSOnline to PackersNews.com, Pro Football Focus, Football Outsiders, Advanced NFL Stats and Smart Football, everything they write gets a brief blurb in a Tweet always with a link. Its one stop shopping for news.
The same service Pro Football Talk provided by putting nearly all football rumors in one blog is mimicked by Twitter, only for every topic you can imagine.
The address, obviously: http://twitter.com/
You can create a user account with a minimum of personal info and an email address. Your first big choice is whether to make the account public or private. Most accounts you will read or see in a search are public. You may wish to be private to begin with until you are comfortable. However, with a private account, folks can see your account but not your Tweets unless they follow you. It also diminishes greatly the chances of someone you follow replying to a Tweet you send them. You can switch from Private to Public and back again.
The web interface provides all the basics after you sign up. You can search for a topic (any word, name or phrase), search for a hashtag (we'll get to it) or for a person. Searches are the broadest net, they will return users, hashtags and simply the search words themselves in every Tweet it can find. A search for a hashtagged topic will return only Tweets that have the hashtag. Search for a person by name and you might get their Twitter account and you will get every Tweet with their name in it.
Mainly Twitter is a way to collect other Tweets that might interest you. The easiest way to get material ready made is to search for an individual you might wish to follow. Following another Twitter account is just a way to link their account with yours, so all their public Tweets will appear in your Timeline. If you Follow someone, their Tweets always appear in your Timeline but the reverse is not true unless you include their Twitter handle (@BobMcGinn) inside the Tweet with the rest of your message. If someone Follows you, then they will see all your Tweets, regardless of subject or Twitter handles inside the message (there is one exception). You can block people from following you if they bother you.
Say you want to keep up with the Packers and Bob McGinn. If you search his name, you will get a list of Tweets with his name in them. But you will also get Twitter accounts listed at the top of the results page that use that name, and JSO's Bob McGinn will be the first listed. If you are already logged into your account, Bob's Twitter account will be listed with a "Follow" button. Click that and you link to his account. Click it again and you Unfollow him. If you are not logged into Twitter, the follow button, if it shows at all, will ask you to login or create and account.
People will know when they add followers and when they lose them. Its normally not personal, especially for public figures. Your family might think differently.