Okay, I get it…the Swine Flu is big news right now and it’s dangerous and I need to wash my hands and not lick toilet bowls in Tijuana and all that.  I think I’m taking plenty of precautions.  However, my Twitter stream is lighting up all day long with stuff about the Swine Flue and I don’t want to hear about it anymore, so what to do?  This very simple trick will show you how to filter out all mentions of Swine Flu, or anything else for that matter. And yes, I do think that it is ironic that I wrote this post on the same day that I have mentioned the Swine Flu at least three times. And yes, Chumdinger is a friend of mine, and I loved his link in this screenshot . Keep in mind that this tutorial is specifically filtering out one key word, but you can use it for anything, to remove or to search.

If you are in Southern California Thursday, May 7th and you like tech stuff (particularly mobile) then join us at the Cat & Fiddle for the Mobile Geeks of Los Angeles (MGoLA)!  We’ll be gathering for an informal evening of mobile story swapping, gadget playing and maybe a drinks.  This is a no-host event, but is brought to you by James Whatley of SpinVox fame, Jeb Brilliant, mobile consultant,  and your’s truly.

I think this is going to be a blast!  This is a pretty central location for Los Angeles, and I know that there are many of you that I’ve wanted to meet in real life as we’ve come to know each other online.  Please come by and say hello, even if it’s just for a quick drink…I would love to put a face with the name, more than a 24×24 avatar.

BTW, this is a very casual event, so come as you are!  Personally, I’ll be in flip flops. 

Go check out the official Facebook page and RSVP, and feel free to drop me a tweet if you have any questions or comments.  Check out the short video below from James (you may also know him as Whatleydude), showing the sick amount of hardware that he’s bringing over from London for this meetup.  I hope to see you there!

Tweet and Retweet: A great way to share information with others

UPDATE:  I changed hosting companies since originally publishing this article, and ironically it removed the number of reweets from the plugin at the top of the post. You have to love technology sometimes!

One of the fastest and most effective ways of spreading information through Twitter is to retweet somebody.  When you see “RT” followed by a username in an update by one of your friends, that means they are retweeting somebody else…taking that person’s post and redistributing it to their own followers.  It’s rampant on Twitter, and one of the most common questions I get asked is, “what are some guidelines for retweeting, and how can I get retweeted more?”  I want to address both of those with some simple guidelines and suggestions.

How To Retweet

Retweeting somebody’s thoughts, links or pictures is the ultimate compliment on Twitter.  It says that you think enough of what they have written to share it with your followers, a pool of people that may be completely different than those of the original tweeter! It is a fantastic way to share information and ideas.  Of course you are free to retweet whatever you want, but here are some general guidelines that I think make it easier for you and those that follow you.

NOTE: I originally posted this tutorial in April 2008, but with the recent wave of interest in Twitter because of people like Oprah and Ashton Kutcher, I thought I would reprint it, with some minor updates and edits.  Please feel free to share this with your friends and associates that would like to get started using Twitter.

If a blog is like a roundtable discussion and Facebook is like a BBQ in the backyard with your friends, 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.

The micro-blogging platform Twitter has blown up in the last few months, with over 5 million new users signing up in March alone, the mega-popularity of the service is now without question.  Although it certainly lags behind most social networks (like Facebook with over 200 million users) in total number of registered participants, it is getting more press time and attention that most of the other networks combined.  Arguably Twitter is the flavor of the month, but how long will its popularity last?  More importantly, what does the future user of Twitter look like?  Geeks and Nerds everywhere are starting to complain about the influx of celebrities to Twitter, and are now throwing temper tantrums, gathering up their toys and storming off because they don’t want to share the space with the ultra-popular.

Just saw a great video by Best Buy about using the company as a wiki.  That is, using tools (many of them social media) to crowd source your employees thoughts and ideas.  I think this is brilliant.  I’ve already tweeted about research that shows that employees that engage in social media are more productive, but it appears that Best Buy is taking it one step further.

Let Employees Use Social Media

They asked “how do you actually get people’s voices into our most important decisions?”  I don’t know how much of this is just for show, or how much they are truly embracing the concept of employees offering as much or more to strategic decisions as executive level talent, but I like where this is heading. 

If you own, manage or consult for a company (that should be about 92% of you) then take the time to watch this 4:32 video and ask yourself how you can apply some of these concepts to your situation.