#4 Twittering & Microblogging

Twitter is a "microblogging" service in which users express themselves in "tweets" - posts of 140 characters or less, answering the question at the top of the page: "What are you doing?" You follow other users and read about their lives and thoughts in short bursts. All sorts of people are twittering - CNN, Newsday, even Shaquille O'Neal. It's a great way to express yourself quickly and to get quick updates on friends and world events.



Find out More:

Birds of a Feather Can Twitter Together (good introduction to Twitter)

Twitter: Is Brevity The Next Big Thing?

5 Ways to Use Twitter for Good

Twitter Support/FAQ



Try It Out!

• Log into the Library's Twitter Account
• Go to: http://www.twitter.com
• user name: mmscl
• password: mmscl11967

• Read the tweets that MMSCL is following - you'll see breaking news, trivia and some goofy stuff
  

• Post about a program or recommended book or movie - remember, it's got to be under 140 characters!

• Start your own twitter account! You can friend MMSCL and lots of other Twitterers.

• Go back to the blog you created in exercise #3 and create a blog post about your experience. Include the comment you made on the MMSCL twitter account. Be sure to visit the staff page to submit this exercise as described in exercise #1. Don't forget to add a link to your blog posting.

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Recording Progress:


Recording progress on the staff page is as easy as cut-n-paste.

First you'll need to sign up. This will be covered in the directions for activity #1.

For the first two activities, just check off the appropriate check box as discussed in "Sign up for MMSCL 2.0". Once you start recording your discoveries through your own blog (activity #3), you will need to check-off the item and enter the permanent link to the individual blog post that covers the exercise or "thing."

Depending upon the Blogger template that you selected, the "permanent link" for each individual post can be found either through the post’s title or through a link in the posts footer area the contains the date.

To record progress for an individual item on the Staff Page:

1. Log in to your blogger.com account that you created in activity #3.
   
2. Click on the permanent link for the individual post.
   
   Example:
   
   Here is where you would find the perma link for this sample blog post:
   
   
   Click on this link to see actual post.
   
   
3. Select the "permanent link" url from the address bar at the top of your browser and right click. Select Copy.
   
   
4. Follow the instructions from item #1: Sign up for MMSCL 2.0.
   
   
5. Right click on the address line for the item and select Paste.
   
   

See, it's as easy and copy-n-paste!

Your staff information page should now show a light grey "OK" image. After your activity has been reviewed and approved, the "OK" image will turn purple.