Now we’re getting into some pretty good stuff.  If a blog is like a roundtable discussion and Facebook is like a scrapbooking party, then Twitter is a cocktail party for text messaging!  Twitter is by far my favorite social networking tool right now for several reasons that I will get into.  I love the premise that conversations can be had with my friends, but they are limited in their size.  Do you know anybody that takes 4 minutes to ask a really simple question that can be summarized in 10 seconds?  I do.  Twitter is the nemesis of these people because you cannot exceed the 140 character character limit.  I love it!  That’s even shorter than the standard 160 characters for text messaging!  Before we look at the nuances of Twitter, let’s get you signed up.

New to Twitter? Getting started is easy, just follow these step.

Step 1: Create an Account

Go to www.twitter.com and click the green box near the bottom of the screen in the center that says “Get Started-Join”.  You will be asked for some basic information, like your username, password, email address and verification of a captcha.  This is the trickiest captcha I’ve ever seen, it took me a handful of tries before I got it right.  Grrrrr.  Regarding your username, some people (like myself) just use a real name.  My username is ‘mattsingley’.  Some people get cute with their usernames and go for anagrams and other odd usernames.  Just use whatever you are comfortable with.

Step 2: Personalize Your Account

Once you are set up, go to the “Settings” tab, located at the top of your screen. This will open a window that will contain several tabs.  We’ll go through each one quickly, with notes.

ACCOUNT

• Account: Do the world a favor and make your full name your real name, and make sure you have a space between your first and last name.  If you don’t do this, you are going to be hard to find via searching.
• Username: You have already set this up, it should be in place.  You can change it if you want, but don’t make a habit of this.
• Email:  Already in place.  Change it now if you have an email address you would rather use than the one you signed up with.
• Time Zone: Hopefully you know where you live.
• More Info URL: Put your blog address, MySpace or other domain page here
• One Line Bio: Keep it short!  Only 160 characters.
• Location: Again, I’m hoping that you know where you are.
• Language: I’m tempted to use Japanese, but since I don’t know it at all, I’ll stick with English.
• Protect my Updates:  WARNING: if you choose this option you have to approve people to see your updates.  I have many friends that do this, but I prefer to remain on the public timeline.
• Make sure you Save your Preferences.  On to the next tab.

PASSWORD

• You can change your password if you want, but you just set up your account, so no need to do that now.

DEVICES

• This is very cool.  You can set up your cell phone so that you can send and receive updates to and from Twitter via text messaging.  If you don’t have a good text plan with your carrier you probably shouldn’t activate this option.  I have unlimited texting through Cingular, so I do most of my updates via cell phone.  I also have selected to not receive text updates between 10pm and 6am, which is a good thing I think.
• You may also set up options within Instant Messenger.  I’m personally happy with updates going to my phone and via the web only, so I have not activated this.
• Save your preferences and we’ll move along.

NOTICES

• Auto Nudge:  This is annoying, don’t turn it on.  If you don’t realize that you haven’t updated in 24 hours then you probably don’t have anything good to say anyway.
• @Replies:  Semi-self explanatory.  I have only get @replies from people I am following, you can do more or less.  Twitter has a good explanation here.
• New Follower Email:  Check this
• Direct Text Emails: you get emailed when somebody sends you a direct message.  Check this too.
• Email Newsletter: If you want info from Twitter, check this.
• Save and move on.

PICTURE

• Please, please, please upload a picture so we don’t all have to look at the generic brown smiley face.  It can be a picture of you, or as in my case, a picture of an object like the apple I use on my blog.

DESIGN

• This allows you to customize the look of your Twitter home page.  If you look at this page and it seems scary to you, then don’t do anything to it.  However, if you want to play around with colors and pictures, go for it!  You can always choose “Use the Twitter default style” to bring you back to square one.
• That’s it!  You are now personalized.

Step 3: Post updates

Twitter is very simple in that it asks just one question, “What are you doing right now?”  To answer that question, click on the “home” link at the top of the page and type something into the text box near the top.  Remember, you are limited to 140 characters, so get creative in what you have to say.  In other words, instead of saying, “Since I am an unemployed bum I think I’ll stay home with Jack (my three year old) this morning and watch Playhouse Disney on TV with him until my wife gets back from the gym, at which point I will go to the gym myself” (77 characters too long),  you would say “hanging with Jack my 3yo watching playhouse disney, then off to the gym!”  Go ahead and try it, post an update.  What’s funny is that most people’s first update is something like, “Just trying to figure out this Twitter thing”.

Step 4: Find Friends to Interact With

As of this writing I am “following” 131 people and 140 people are “followers” of mine.   Unless updates are protected (as explained above), anyone can follow you, and you can follow anyone. So how do you find them?  First, if the person that you want to follow is a blogger, they probably have a link on their blog page to their Twitter accou
nt.  Another way is to go to a person’s Twitter page (here is a link to mine) and look at the people they follow.  If you see somebody you know or would be interesting to follow, click on their picture, which will take you to their home page.  If you want to follow that person, click the “Follow” button directly below their picture.  Once you see that you are following them, you can click the box again to expand it’s selections.  You can now turn your Device Updates to “on” if you want their updates to go to your phone via text messaging (assuming you signed up for that earlier).  If you don’t want that, leave the default “off”.

Two other ways to find people on Twitter.  First, at the top of the screen is a small search box.  Just put a name in there and his “search”.  You may or may not come up with results.  I find that it’s actually quite useful, and I’ve found more people this way than I thought I would.  The other way is to click the “Find & Follow”button at the top (highlighted in yellow) where you can search based upon email address, or actually send invitation to people.  I got several people to start on Twitter by sending them an email invitation, so don’t be shy about sending them out.

Step 5: Enjoy the Cocktail Party!

  Now that you are signed up and you have friends on Twitter, just have fun!  Beyond the fun side of Twitter is a very practical side as well.  There are many large companies (e.g., Jet Blue) that use Twitter to keep in touch with different departments.  For me personally, it’s a lot easier to send a Twitter message out than to send several text messages or phone calls.  Of course nothing will ever replace face to face conversation, IMHO, but Twitter does a fine job of keeping me in touch with my friends.  If you run an organization, you can set up a Twitter account for that too!  Before my departure from Bel Air Pres I set up an account so we could send out quick updates about church life. Other people are creative in their use of it, like the LA Weather or even CNN.

As you become more familiar with Twitter I think you’ll discover a couple of things: first, it’s not just a silly little app that the “young kids” use.  It’s an incredibly powerful form of communication that is used across all demographics.  Second, it’s somewhat addicting.  There are scores of websites dedicated to all things Twitter, like Twitterholics.  You can go there and find all kinds of different uses for Twitter.

Whatever you use it for…enjoy!  And don’t forget to add me as a friend.

In the last post we talked about creating a blog, this post will talk about following other bloggers.

I currently follow just over 200 bloggers.  You may wonder how I keep up with all of them without spending all day clicking from one page to the next.  The answer is simple: I use a feed reader.

A “feed” is the name for a post that goes onto a blog that is supported by RSS (really simple syndication).  RSS allows people to dump their feeds into one place so they can neatly sort and read them.  Think of it like a newspaper: the blogosphere is the entire newspaper, made up of different sections and articles.  One blog post equals one article.  Just like you wouldn’t expect the newpaper company to deliver one article to you at a time, likewise you should not expect to have to read one blog at a time.  Enter the feed reader (the newspaper), which help you collect them all.

While there are many choices of feed readers, I’m going to explain how to set this up through Google. 

Step 1: Set up an account with Google

Look in the upper right corner of the Google homepage.  You’ll see an area that says “sign in”.  Click that, then on the next screen, click “create an account now”, which you can find on the right side of the page.  Your next screen will ask you for several pieces of information, but should be quick and easy to fill out.  Got it?  Great…sign in and move on to step 2

Step 2: Log into Google Reader

Google Reader will store and sort your blog feeds that you want to follow.  Go to www.google.com/reader to get started.  Once there, let’s go find a blog to subscribe to!  Open a new tab or window and go to www.LeadingWithALimp.com

Step 3: Add a Feed

Once you have arrived at the blog you want to subscribe to there are a few ways to add this to your Google reader.  First, look for the universal RSS symbol, which is a orange square with white waves in it.  At Leading With A Limp you can see that it appears in two different places on the page…on the right column and in the address bar.  It appears in the address bar in Firefox, in Internet Explorer it’s going to be in the menu bar that stretches across the screen right above the main viewing area.  When you click these they should give you an option to subscribe in Google or in a feed reader of your choice.

Another way of subscribing, which a lot of people find even easier, is to copy and paste the address of the blog right into the Google reader.  It will magically find the feed and at it to your list! This is particularly effective when services like Feedburner mess up.  It happens, technology isn’t perfect yet…but it’s getting there!

Step 4: Sort

Just like a newspaper has sections (sports, business, metro life) I like my feeds to be sorted into categories.  I have labeled mine things like “Pure Geek”, “Marketing” and “Bel Air Blogs”.  Using the settings found in Google Reader, I categorize and sometimes even rename the blogs that I subscribe to.   Since I follow so many blogs, this makes it easier for me to read what I want and when I want it.

Step 5: Start Reading!

You will naturally find blogs over time that you want to subscribe to, so don’t worry about finding everything all at once.  Very often bloggers keep blogrolls on the sides of their main page, so if you find a blogger you like, browse through their blogroll since they likely subscribe to similar people.  Add away!  Here are some tips for the morning reading time:

• In Google Reader your bests friends are the “J” and the “K” keys.  Striking “J” moves you forward to the next unread entry, striking “K” sends you back one.  Very useful.
• If you find something that you want to read more in depth or refer to at a later date, just “star” the item! You can find “Add Star” at the bottom of each post you are reading.  Later you can go back to your starred items and go through it closely, or refer it to a friend.
• Speaking of referring to a friend…you should share the most interesting stories!  Right next to the “Add Star” button is the “Share” button. This will put it onto your shared blog (everyone in Google has one, here is mine), or if you are a geek like me, you can add a widget to your blog that will show all of your shared stories.  Another cool and recently-added feature is that your shared posts will go to friends of your that have gmail accounts and have agreed to see your shared items.  I love this…people that are similar to me recommending blog articles to read!

That’s it!  Well, that is to say, that is it for this post.  You can explore Google Reader or another feed reader, they will have plenty of other options for customizing your reading experience.  If you follow more than a handful of blogs, I strongly recommend using the RSS technology to keep track of them.

See you in the next post, where we will explore Facebook with a little bit of depth.

This is the first entry into a mini-series I am writing about the New Media.  To some, the NM is a way of life, to others it’s a foreign concept and to still others it’s a threat to the old way of communicating ideas and actions.  No matter where you fall in this, I think this series should be of some interest to you. Today I will cover blogging, how to set one up, and what to do once it is set up.

Blogging has been around for the better part of a decade, although it’s really come into maturity in the last few years.  I actually missed my billion-dollar idea about eight years ago when I coded an entire blogging platform by hand, but then never pursued the commercial application.  I thought, “sure, I like to post up my thoughts and have others comment on them, but would this idea really take root in the real world”?  We all know the answer to that question now.  So instead of owning my own country, here I sit in front of my computer in SoCal, telling others about blogging and it’s benefits. Me? Bitter?  Nah…

The word ‘blog‘ is a shortened version of ‘web log’, in other words, an online journal.  Most people have kept a journal or diary of some sort at some point in their life, so think of a blog that way.  The difference?  Anybody can read your journal, and not just read it…but leave comments about what they think!  Yes, the New Media is about radical transparency and global information collaboration.

If you are comfortable with the idea of blogging and want to get your ideas out there for the world to see, I’m going to tell you how to get started now.  BTW, as a side note, most blogging platforms can let you set your page to ‘private’ so that only people you allow or invite can read your blog.  You’ll have to figure that part out on your own however, I’m going to tell you how to share your information with the world.

Step 1: Select a Platform

There are many, many blogging platforms (services) that you can use.  I have been using TypePad for about 2.5 years and I love it.  This is a pay service, and it allows me a tremendous amount of control over content and code.  For about $15/month I can do what I want, when I want to my blog.  This may be overkill for the beginning blogger, I’ll talk about free services in a moment.  If you want to get started on TypePad, just click here and you will be taken to a page where you can start a free trial.  It should take about 10 minutes to set up, and it’s very intuitive, you just follow the prompts and fill in the information that it asks for.

Another very popular platform is WordPress.  This is a free or paid service, depending on which features you want.  I don’t use WordPress, but I know a lot of people that do.  A lot.

My favorite totally free service is Tumblr.  It’s a very simple platform without a lot of bells and whistles.  I like that!  I like it so much, I started a mini-blog over there a while ago, intended to be my floating thoughts.  I saw a Twitter stream the other day between Kem Meyer and others that involved Tumblr as a destination for some beginning bloggers.  I totally agree.  From sign-up to first post should take you about 2 minutes…if you’re slow.

Google has a great blogging service called…well, blogger.  It’s free and very popular.  This is also a great option for people to use, and signing up is simple.  You never know who you’ll find there, people like my wife and my son. 

Now is the most important part…select one of those platforms (and this is far from an exhaustive list, but I don’t want to overwhelm you with choices) and sign up!   Then on to step 2…

Step 2: Know Your Audience

Are you writing your blog for Uncle Floyd and Aunt Mildred in Kansas so they can keep track of the kids, or are you wanting to share your business knowledge with a broader audience?  If you want people to follow you…and keep following you…then you need to know the answer to this.

A personal blog, that is, one that is familial and very personal, can be done very well.  Take a look at my friend Alli McKenney’s blog.  She takes approximately 6,430 pictures of her kids every day and then puts the best of the best online for her friends and family to see.  It’s very well done! That’s an example of a good personal blog. Cute kids, too!

Think you know a lot about your industry?  Then write about it!  Check out VC and marketing guru Guy Kawasaki’s blog.  He gets a ton of traffic through here because he is an authority on many things, and people want to know what he has to say.  Same thing with Seth Godin’s blog.  He’s an author and speaker, and very well respected.  He’s an authority, so he writes about what he knows.  That isn’t to say that you have to be super popular to have a great blog. Perhaps you like to knit.  Hey, who doesn’t? Make a blog about it and share your passion and knowledge with the world.

Step 3: Write, Baby, Write!

Want a lot of readers?  Keep your posts short.  I know, I am totally violating that right now.  Call it creative license.  But do write…and write often!  I lost 500+ regular readers over the last 8 months because I haven’t been blogging with frequency or passion.  If you stay regular, and if you stay passionate, you will have people find you and follow you, it’s just that simple.  I think if you are putting up posts (the name for an entry on your blog) 2-3 times per week, you’ll be just fine.  Of course some people have to post every 15 minutes, but that is more of a spiritual gift than anything.

Step 4: Interact

At the bottom of most posts is an area for people to comment on what you just wrote.  There is a reason that is there…people want to interact with you!  A blog is a platform for you to get your ideas out to others (like a lecture of sermon), but the big difference is that it’s also a place for people to respond.  So suddenly your thoughts have moved from a lecture to a roundtable discussion!  I’ve found that fewer than 10% of the number of people that come by and read actually comment, so if you only get one or two people leaving their thoughts, don’t be discouraged!  Make sure you talk back to them!  Leave a comment in your own comment section in reply to them!  One blogger that does this just about better than anyone is Anne Jackson.  Reading through her comments feels like eavesdropping on a fireside chat…it’s very conversational, and she often replies directly to those that say things about her posts.  Very cool. 

Of course some people don’t want to have comments on, and that’s fine.  Seth Godin, who I mentioned earlier, doesn’t allow any comments on his post.  This works well for Seth, but probably not so well for start-up bloggers.

Step 5: Share The Love!

Once you start blogging, others are going to follow you (which I will explain in detail in the next post).  You will follow others as well.  When you find some bloggers you like, share the love with your readers!  Create a blogroll.  That’s an area in the sidebar where you link to other blogs.  Some people have blogrolls as extensive as a phone book, others (like myself) believe that too much information just makes people ignore it.  On my blog I have a rotating blogroll, so every time you refresh the page it’s a different group of people.  Three categories (soon to be four), five people in each category per page load.  Simple is better.  If you want to know how to create a rotating blogroll, check out my post here.

If you made it this far….God bless you for your persitence!  In the next post we’ll look at how to follow other people’s blogs without clicking through to each page one at a time.  It’s easier than it sounds, I personally follow 201 blogs and it takes very little time or effort to do so.

There is a lot of talking right now about the New Media.  Most people that are talking about it really have no idea what it is, and so I want to take some time to explain it, as best as it can be explained.  The perception that this new wave of social networking is something for young kids, digerati or geeks only is wrong…this is the new media, the new economy of attention and communication, and I’m pretty sure it’s here to stay.

For a better understanding of this new way of spreading information, and for the sake of brevity each day, I’m going to break this up into a few parts, explaining each area with a decent amount of depth, but not so much that it is overwhelming.  I hope that by the time this is finished you will be one of the new tweets or FB users.  You’ll understand what that means soon.

Simply put, the New Media is the description given to the flow of information via internet, email and cell phones.  Most of this information is very communal in that it’s not a one way conversation…it’s multiple venues of conversation, coming at your from every direction.  Overwhelming?  Well, it can be, if you don’t factor in one very important thing: you control the information that you want, and you block the information that you don’t want.  Some people have described the New Media as "drinking from the fire hose".  Those people clearly don’t understand what it means.  Using the same water example, I would say that it’s more like selecting a glass and then filling it with water from the tap.  The pressure in the main system is still the same…that is, there is just as much water flowing to a fire hydrant as there is to a neighborhood, but the difference is the control valve.  Cryptic, I know.  It will start making sense soon enough.

Tomorrow I will talk about blogs, the following day we’ll look at Facebook and then we’ll finish it off with a discussion about the SMS cocktail party called Twitter. 

By the way, some other people that talk about the New Media frequently are good ol’ Angelenos like Rhett Smith and Cynthia Ware, go check them out.

Stay tuned…