Wiley Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets, 2nd Edition
Contents
1. 129565789 Are you ready to share with the world select bits and pieces of your life 140 characters or less at a time suspected as much This means that you re ready to get started with Twitter the microblogging service that has taken the online world by storm In this chapter you begin appropriately enough at the beginning by learning how to set up and sign in to a Twitter account Even if you ve already got a Twitter account up and running this chapter also takes you through a few other crucial Twitter techniques including changing and resetting your Twitter password Setting Up Your Very Own Twitter Account cccccceceees 4 Signing In to Your Twitter Account sesssssssssoosossssssesooo 6 Viewing Twitter s Current Status ccccccccec ccc cccccccees 7 Changing Your Twitter Password cccccececcccccsccececs 10 Resetting Your Twitter Password cccccecccccscccssscceees 11 Deleting Your Twitter Account ccc cece cece eee cccccccseeees Setting Up Your Very Own Twitter Account If all you want out of Twitter is to read a particular Twitterer s updates then you don t need to bother creating your own account Instead point your favorite Web browser to http twitter com user where user is the person s user name on Twitter and then peruse the updates that appear on the page This of course is no fun whatsoever Twitter is all about sharing and participating in2. gt F Q V Q Quantal a a If Twitter gets overwhelmed by updates the impossible not to love fail whale shows up to let you know The good news is that the fail whale s moment on the stage is almost always mercifully brief so you should be able to continue what you were doing in a few seconds or at most a few minutes You ll also be happy to know that our friend the fail whale shows up far less often than he she used to Over the past year or so Twitter has made impressive strides in not only plugging the leaks but also shoring up the foundations so the service is now more reliable than ever Unfortunately that doesn t mean it s 100 reliable online nothing is The fail whale still drops by unannounced on occasion but Twitter also suffers from other gremlins from time to time For example you might see the whimsically mysterious Something is technically wrong page as shown in Figure 1 3 if Twitter blows the online equivalent of a gasket So it pays to keep on top of Twitter s current status There are a couple of ways you can do this twitter Home Public Timeline Help Something is technically wrong Thanks for noticing we re going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon 1 3 Ifa wrench gets thrown into the Twitter works you might see this page fa es Chapter I How Do I Get Started with Twitter First send your Web browser to http status twitter com
3. above and the Privacy Policy Create my account Twitter s Create an Account page with all fields neatly filled in Already on Twitter Sign in version These Terms of Service Terms govern your access to and use of the services and Twitter s websites the Services and By clicking on Create my account below you are agreeing to the Terms of Service 6 Click Create my account Twitter does just that and it then offers to look for your friends on services such as AOL and Hotmail 7 You learn how to do this in Chapter 4 so click Skip this step Twitter displays a list of famous semifamous or just plain infamous people who are on Twitter and asks if you want to follow them 8 Again you learn how to follow the famous in Chapter 4 so click Skip this step Do not click Finish here or else you ll end up following all 20 people Twitter finalizes your account and drops you off on your Twitter home page Signing In to Your Twitter Account With your shiny new Twitter account fully formed and primed for action you re ready to venture into the Twitterverse Twitter is kind enough to deliver you to your home page right after it creates your account so if that s where you are now you can skip ahead However after you end your browser session and start a new one you ll need to sign in to your Twitter account once again Follow these steps to not only sign in but also to tell Twitter to remember your
4. credentials so you don t have to bother with this again at least when using the same browser on the same computer l Send your trusty Web browser to https twitter com login You can also click the Login link that appears on just about every Twitter page 2 Type your Twitter username in the Username text box 3 Type your Twitter password in the Password text box A Select the Remember me check box This tells Twitter to add a cookie to your computer that saves your username and password which enables you to log in automatically in the future 5 Click Sign in 6 If you started off in some other Twitter page Twitter redisplays that page so click Home to get to your account s home page Viewing Twitter s Current Status Twitter puts the fun in funky and the hip in friendship but it can also sometimes put the ugh in ugly l m talking here about Twitter s occasional reliability problems Twitter s original infrastructure wasn t built to handle the massive amount of traffic it now bears so every so often there will be a hiccup a glitch or even an outright failure These failures arise when Twitter s server simply gets overloaded so it can t process any new data until some processing power is freed up You know this is the case when you try to do something on Twitter and you see instead the infamous fail whale as shown in Figure 1 2 Twitter is over capacity Too many tweets Please wait a moment and try again
5. even a Very Strong password Conversely you might be wondering what s the big whoop about a Twitter password After all it s just your Twitter account It s not like you re exposing your finances or national security secrets to the world I m assuming here you re not the Secretary of State True enough but it s also true that Twitter accounts have been hacked in the past with the accounts of Britney Spears and a Twitter staffer who was using the password happiness which is about as weak as they come being the most notorious If you re using your real name with your Twitter account then you definitely don t want some malicious hacker having his way with this part of your online identity Chapter I How Do I Get Started with Twitter Fortunately changing the password for your Twitter account isn t much harder than what you had to go through in the first place l 2 3 4 5 6 Sign in to your Twitter account Click Settings The Settings page appears Click the Password tab Use the Current Password text box to type your existing Twitter password Type your new password in the New Password and Verify New Password text boxes Click Change Twitter updates your account with the new password Resetting Your Twitter Password Okay so you ve been on vacation for a couple of weeks or your nose has been grindstone bound while you finish off a few projects and you ve been away from the Twitterverse for
6. a bit It happens even to the most dedicated Twitterers You return to the login screen and doh you ve forgotten your password You try all your old favorites but no joy You re locked out of your Twitter account Fortunately all is not lost You can ask the kind folks at Twitter to reset your password which will get you back up and tweeting in just a few minutes Here s what you do 4 5 6 Send your Web browser to https twitter com account resend_password The Forgot your password page appears Type your Twitter username in the text box You can also type the e mail address that you associated with your Twitter account Click Send instructions Twitter ships you an e mail message Subject line Reset your Twitter password that includes a link to a password reset page When you get the message click the link Your default Web browser pops up and takes you to the password reset page Type your new password in the New Password and Verify New Password text boxes Click Change Twitter resets your account with the new password Deleting Your Twitter Account have the feeling that you re going to love Twitter but it s also true that microblogging isn t for everyone The constant pressure to answer the canonical Twitter question What s happening may simply become too much after a while If taking a short break doesn t help I m talking about a few days or even a few weeks not a few minute
7. a community of fellow Twitterheads and you can t do either of those things if you re sitting on the sidelines Even better joining Twitter literally takes only seconds of your time So without further ado not that there s been much ado so far here s how to join Twitter l Display Twitter s Create an Account page by navigating your Web browser to http twitter com signup If you re already on http twitter com click Join today if you re already viewing a Twitterer s updates click the Join today button 2 Use the Full name text box to type the name that you want other people to see when they look at your Twitter profile Two things to consider here If you want people to find you on Twitter be sure to type both your first and last names You can t include the text twitter anywhere in the name The maximum number of characters you can type is 20 5 In the Username text box type the username you want to use on Twitter Here are some notes to bear in mind The username defines your Twitter address it s http twitter com username it appears before each of your updates and it appears in various other places in the Twitter landscape so pick something you like and that has meaning The maximum number of characters is 15 You can include any combination of letters numbers and underscores _ All other characters are illegal you can t even type them in the text box You can t include the text twitter anywhe
8. nt to go through with this 5 Click Okay fine deactivate my account Twitter deletes your account Did you click the Okay fine deactivate my account button and then immediately regret your rash decision Not to worry because Twitter actually keeps your account in limbo for six months If you change your mind within that time you can get your deleted account restored with almost no fuss 12 Chapter I How Do I Get Started with Twitter l Direct your nearest Web browser to http twitter com account deleted 2 Use the text box to type the username or e mail address associated with the account 3 Click Restore my account You ll receive an e mail message that offers a link and you click that link to restore your account Yes it is really that easy providing you restore it when your account is still in that limbo period
9. re in the username As you type Twitter checks to see if your username is available If you see username has already been taken then you re out of luck and need to try again If you see ok then you re good to go A Use the Password text box to type a password for your Twitter account More informational notes The password must be at least six characters long As you type the password Twitter rates the password strength Too obvious if it s the same as your username which is not a good idea Weak Good Strong or Very Strong To get your password up to the Very Strong rating make the password at least eight characters long and include at least one number and one nonalphanumeric symbol 5 In the Email text box type the e mail address you want to use to receive Twitter notifications and other messages You learn in Chapter 2 how to customize these notifications If you want to receive the Twitter newsletter be sure to select the want the inside scoop check box Figure 1 1 shows a Create an Account page ready for action Join the Conversation Already use Twitter on your phone Finish signup now Fullname Aardvaark Sorenstam v ok Username aardvaarksorens v ok Your URL http twitter com aardvaarksorens Password eeeeceeeeee W Very Strong Email asorenstam tuborg com v ok Let others find me by my email address Note Email will not be publicly displayed Terms of Service Terms of Service Printable
10. s then you can walk away and move on with your life You could opt to let your account lie dormant it is after all free but if there are updates you want to get rid of or if you don t want new people to follow you then you should delete your Twitter account Of course it could be that you love the whole Twitter thing perhaps even to the extent that you ve created multiple Twitter accounts Lots of people juggle multiple Twitter identities I have two myself but it requires lots of logging in and out and lots of extra work updating and maintaining each account If it all just gets to be too much you might want to delete one or more of your accounts so you can finally get some sleep at night If you need to go the multiple account route then strongly suggest using a third party tool that supports multiple Twitter accounts such as TweetDeck See Chapter 8 for a look at some of these powerful tweeting tools Fortunately unlike a lot of online services that bury their account removal features in some obscure nook or cranny of their site or worse require you to call the company to have your account terminated Twitter makes it nearly painless to delete an account Here s what you do l Sign in to your Twitter account 2 Click Settings The Settings page appears 3 Click the Account tab A Near the bottom of the page click the Deactivate my account link The Is this goodbye page appears which asks if you really wa
11. t s a kind of Twitter shorthand that means the Twitterer with the username So twitter means the Twitterer with the username twitter Home Profile FindPeople Settings Help Sign out Name Twitter Location San Francisco CA Web http twitter com Bio Always wondering whats happening 123 2 719 148 12 988 following followers listed Tweets 598 Favorites Did you here the news about twittermobile http bit ly SbxciA ras twitterteam View all Can t get enough of the COLOURIovers app A slick Actions customization tool for your Twitter background appwednesday block twitter 4 18 PM Dec 2nd from web report for spam Salute World Aids Day with a simple Tweet Following eae rary aa cael E a a 5 a 11 15 AM Dec 1st from web alee Help Twitter tum red for World Aids Day PA a e Eo a g a At Se Responding to high error rate Lists feature temporarily disabled P Py http bit lv BH3RHx fatt E 5B CA E 1 5 Check out the twitter account for the latest updates on the Twitter service Changing Your Twitter Password When you forged your new Twitter account you had to specify an account password and Twitter is security minded enough to rate your password on the fly Too obvious Weak Good Strong or Very Strong If you settled for a Weak or even just a Good rating you might be having second thoughts and feel you d sleep better at night with a Strong or
12. to open the Twitter Status page which displays updates on Twitter s woes and worries as shown in Figure 1 4 Alternatively visit the twitter account by checking out http twitter com twitter shown in Figure 1 5 STATUS Responding to high error rate Lists feature Sam oray aa led 3 days ago Starting about 10 minutes ago we began experiencing a very high rate of errors and we are working on the underlying problem Update 1 30p We are now recovering from this unexpected downtime The Lists feature is temporarily unavailable as we diagnose the cause of the outage Update 3 30p We have turned the Lists feature back on SMS delivery issues on AT amp T 4 days ago Some users are unable to send or receive tweets via SMS On the AT amp T network We are investigating the cause and troubleshooting why only some users are affected Update 9 18 We believe this is fixed and will continue to monitor the situation Updates on the status of the Twitter service Related Links Pingdom Uptime Report Official Compan Blog Official Hel Documents User Discussion Forum Developer Community 1 4 Drop by the Twitter Status page to keep an eye on Twitter s health Ideally you should follow twitter so you see the service updates automatically See Chapter 4 to learn how to follow folks on Twitter If you re wondering about the symbol that appears periodically throughout the book know i
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