Twitter

1. Twitter: Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) is a microblogging and social networking website in which users post and interacts with messages known as tweets. Registered users can post, read, like, and retweet tweets originally restricted up to 140 characters long, but were doubled to 280 for non-Asian languages in November 2017, but unregistered users can only read them. Users access Twitter through its website interface, through Short Message Service (SMS) or its mobile application (app). Twitter was developed by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams way back on March 21, 2006 and presently it is owned and operated by Twitter Inc.

2. Facilities Available at Twitter: The following are the facilities available over Twitter.

a) Profile: The registered user can have a profile. Twitter allows users to update their profile via their mobile phone either by text messaging or by apps released for certain smartphones and tablets.

b) Post Tweet: Registered users can post tweets originally restricted up to 140 characters long, but were doubled to 280 for non-Asian languages later on or photo or video. Twitter messages are public, but users can also send private direct messages.

c) Like: Users can also like (formerly favorite) individual tweets.

d) Retweet: Individual tweets can be forwarded by other users to their own feed, a process known as a retweet.

e) Following: Users may subscribe to other users’ tweets which is known as following and subscribers are known as followers.

f) Mentions: The @ sign followed by a username is used for mentioning or replying to other users. Mentions lets users in a tweet conversations type @ to give a particular user a notification.

g) Hashtags: Users can group posts together by topic or type by use of hashtags #.

h) Twitter Lists: Twitter Lists feature make it possible for users to follow ad hoc lists of authors instead of individual authors.

i) URL Shortening: Twitter has used its own t.co domain for automatic shortening of all URLs posted on its site, making other link shorteners unnecessary for staying within Twitter’s 140 character limits.

j) Trending Topics: A word, phrase, or topic that is mentioned at a greater rate than others is said to be a trending topic.

k) Moments: Twitter Moments allows users to curate tweets from other users into a larger collection.

l) Apps Centre: Users can also use various embedded apps available in the Twitter that help users find other applications.

m) Verified Accounts: Twitter stated that an account with a verification badge indicates that they are in contact with the person or entity the account is representing and verified that it is approved.

n) Polls: Twitter began to roll out the ability to attach poll questions to tweets. Polls are open for up to 7 days, and voters are not personally identified.

o) Privacy: Tweets are publicly visible by default, but senders can restrict message delivery to only their followers.

3. Why Twitter is Important: Twitter has been used for a variety of purposes in many industries and scenarios. For example, it has been used to organize protests, sometimes referred to as Twitter Revolutions. A practical use for Twitter’s real-time functionality is as an effective de facto emergency communication system for breaking news. Below are some of the reasons for which your institute or library should have a Twitter account.

a) Microblogging Service: Twitter only allows you to post 140 characters at a time. As a result, you are forced to be concise. If the users don’t have time to write and read anymore then Twitter messages are well within the threshold of average user’s attention span.

b) Save Time: Twitter is an easy way to tell people about anything in a very short span of time-both for you and your audience. You can write a message over twitter in less than 30 seconds.

c) Generate Traffic for your Website: Twitting your blog post can be a viral effect on your blog traffic.

d) Create Brand: For anyone who needs to build a personal brand, be it a library or an institution the Twitter learning curve is shorter. You tweet, people follow, and your network grows.

e) Breaking Coverage: Twitter provides the fast transfer of thought, and an endless supply of original content that's easy to consume on the go. Twitter is the only way for us all to stay relevant.

f) No Grammar: Most users don’t posses serious writing skills and Twitter does not require serious writing skills. Because of Twitter’s 140-character limitation you can be excused for bad grammar, spelling mistakes and abusing abbreviations.

g) Marketing Platform: Twitter has made marketers rethink the way they market. On twitter you can find more companies than users. All have their twitter accounts and send tweets to their followers and it is the new age marketing.

h) No Device Barrier: Twitter is highly usable through all types of web enabled devices.

4. How to Auto Post to Twitter: Opening an account in Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) is very easy. Just log in to http://www.twitter.com and click on the Sign Up for Twitter button and follow the steps. To auto post to Twitter from others website, blog or RSS feed, kindly use the following-

a) Feedburner: The best way to auto-post from RSS-powered website or blog to Twitter is Feedburner. After linking your Twitter account with the Feedburner, whenever you will post anything over your RSS-powered website it will automatically be published over the Twitter account. You can also post directly in your Twitter account. Here are the steps to link Feedburner with Twitter account.

Steps

1. Log on to Feedburner (http://feedburner.google.com)

2. Click on Publicize tab

3. Click on Socialize tab

4. Click on Add a Twitter account button

5. Log in to the Twitter with your user id and password and then click Allow button to authorize and add the Twitter account to Feedburner.

6. Now in the Feedburner account change the formatting options (select Title and Body and include Link).

7. Click on Activate or Save button to start the auto-tweet function.

b) TweetDeck: TweetDeck (https://tweetdeck.twitter.com) the popular social media dashboard is a brilliant application to auto-post to Twitter. One can access TweetDeck via its Chrome app, iPhone app, Android app, Windows app or Mac app. The key features of the app include its ability to monitor lists, user activity, and searches – all in a single dashboard. Moreover, it also provides one with the ability to select which tweets they want to display in the dashboard i.e. one can exclude specific users or even specific terms from tweets.

c) HootSuite: HootSuite (https://hootsuite.com) allows you to schedule and publish updates across multiple social networks including Facebook (page and group), Twitter, Mixi, LinkedIn, Ping.fm, WordPress, MySpace, and Foursquare automatically. HootSuite also allows you to add RSS feeds, Instagram, YouTube, Blogger, Flickr, Tumblr, StumbleUpon to your account to update your social networks when new posts are available from your own blog as well as others. You can use HootSuite for free with up to three social profiles.

d) Buffer: Buffer (https://buffer.com) is another wonderful tool that can help you in auto-posting to your social media accounts. You can post updates or schedule posts through the use of the Buffer dashboard. Updates can be sent to your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. From within the Buffer app, you can set up ‘buffering patterns’ (auto-sharing schedules) for different days of the week. This means that you can have a different posting schedule on Monday, a different one on Tuesday and so forth. Again, one of the most useful features of the Buffer app is the content suggestion tool that automatically tells you what you can post to your social networks.

e) Zapier: Zapier (https://zapier.com) is an automation tool that works on individual automated tasks that are known as Zaps. For instance, a single Zap could be created for monitoring a particular YouTube channel. Zaps are generally used to gather content and then automatically publish the found content on your social media profile. The app itself supports over 250 services and you can create Zaps according to your own requirements and preferences as well.

5. Conclusion: Twitter is an online microblogging service for distributing short messages among groups of recipients via personal computer or mobile phone. Its microblogging system allows one to send and receive short posts. It incorporates aspects of social networking websites with instant messaging technologies to create networks of users who can communicate throughout the day with brief messages or tweets”. In addition, users can elect to track specific topics, creating a dialogue of sorts and pushing the number of followers in a given Twitter feed into the millions.

How to Cite this Article?

APA Citation, 7^th Ed.:  Barman, B. (2020). A comprehensive book on Library and Information Science. New Publications.

Chicago 16^th Ed.:  Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. Guwahati: New Publications, 2020.

MLA Citation 8^th Ed:  Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. New Publications, 2020.

Badan Barman at present working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014, Assam, India. He is the creator of the LIS Links (http://www.lislinks.com) - India’s most popular social networking website for Library and Information Science professionals. He also created the UGC NET Guide (http://www.netugc.com) and LIS Study (http://www.lisstudy.com) website.