Twittertastic
May 2nd, 2008 7
What do I do all day at work? I sit in front of my laptop drawing pretty pictures, writing code and hacking through more CSS than you could shake a stick at. I am, by all accounts, a geek. I even gave that last instance of “CSS” an abbreviation tag, and even worse linked the words “abbreviation tag” to the w3schools article on the subject so the reader, if so inclined, could find out more.
Yes, I’m “into” the web big time. I do it for a job, think about it when I’m out, and the other night I had this dream about this giant mouse trying to kill me… But that’s another story.
There’s a few things that people like me, erm, like (bad English not withstanding). They are Facebook, Twitter and Skype. Granted there are a LOT more, but for the purposes of this post - they’re the only web services that exist, got it?
So I’m feeling like I want to update all my “friends” (God forbid that I actually have people I talk to in real like, no that would be scary). I’m particularly enjoying a cup of tea perhaps, or have smashed my car into yet another wall. Only, I can’t be bothered to Twitter it, update my skype status AND do my little “Jon Roobottom is…” thing on farsebook. That’s where two magic apps come to your rescue.
The first is Twitterrific. This cool little (Mac only) app not only shows you your friends twitters and allows you to twitter until you fall off your chair with excitement, it also updates your skype status for you! Sweet. One down, one to go.
So jump on Facebook and find an app called “TwitterSync” - add this bad boy, and it’ll update your status based on your last Twitter! Awesome.
Follow these two simple instructions, and pretty soon you’ll be having your twitters sh*t out all over the net. Result.
7 Comments (+0 in the moderation queue).
#1 On May 3rd, 2008 at 7:58 pm Kris said...
I keep hearing people (well, you and lloydy) on about this twitter. I must take a look.
#2 On May 3rd, 2008 at 8:42 pm paulrobertlloyd said...
Woo woo, slow down Kris! It took you five years to get blogging, so I was truly expecting you to join twitter in 2012. Looks like I may need to adjust my expectations…
#3 On May 5th, 2008 at 9:23 pm Kris said...
So what is Twitter then?
#4 On May 5th, 2008 at 10:49 pm Paul Lloyd said...
It could be described as many things:
* Micro-blogging - You only have 140 characters per twitter, so people tend to think of it as a succinct form of blogging.
* You can also think of it as your IM status on steroids. The whole idea of twitter started out as a way for people to answer the question ‘what are you doing?’.
How it works. You register for a account at twitter.com, from where you can add your first tweet (which will no doubt be ‘checking out twitter’). You can then update this status message from the website or also your IM client, phone (SMS), from third-party desktop applications, from facebook… the list is endless.
Better still, you can also choose to follow your friends messages. When they update there status, you can elect to receive these updates via IM, the website, phone (SMS) etc.
Best way to find out is to try it. Beware however, there is a LARGE geek contingent on this service, who worry far too much about the social and technological ramifications of this service, almost to the point of distraction. Oh, and the site is almost always down.
But don’t let that put you off - the more ‘normal people’ that jump on board the better!
Final thought. Just got back from seeing Iron Man, and I stayed to see the clip that runs after the credits. I wouldn’t have seen this (pretty cool) clip had it not been for seeing a friends twitter update.
#5 On May 6th, 2008 at 11:29 am Jon Roobottom said...
@paul - do you WORK for twitter?
#6 On May 6th, 2008 at 11:34 am Paul Lloyd said...
Sorry if I was being helpful Jon, just answering Kris’s question.
#7 On May 6th, 2008 at 11:41 am Kris said...
Oh No!!!
I’ve caused an argument.
I sort of get what it is now, but think i’ll stick to just the blogging for a while. One geeky thing at a time!