Useful Twitter Tools

Ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of information that is being posted on Twitter? Ever wonder how you could measure the number of times someone reposts an exclusive link? Want to get to know your beat reporters better? Below is a list of tools and sites that Sam Whitmore suggests PR professionals become accustomed with in order to take advantage of the massive amount of information being posted on twitter.

MuckRack
MuckRack is a resource for finding journalists on Twitter and read journalists tweets in real time. Muck Rack considers themselves a means for determining the news of tomorrow today. The main page features tweets from journalists that can be filtered by category, publication, beat, and links. “Muck Rack makes it easy to follow one line, real time reporting.”

Twibes
Twibes are groups of interest for twitter. Similar to facebook groups, Twibes allow twitter members to join a group of their interest and view tweets posted to the dedicated twibe handles. Twibes can be used to cultivate data and conduct market research of the twitter members who have joined the group. The site is set up to also be used for market research.

DailyRT
dailyRT is a tweet aggregator that gathers the most popular tweets on twitter and displays them using our own scoring algorithm and numerous filters. Some great uses that we've found so far are: discovering tomorrow's newspaper headlines today, tracking stories as they happen, exploring trends from specific dates in history, and finding out what the cool kids are talking about. dailyRT gives you the ability to search tweets based on keyword(s). You have the ability to search for tweets containing links, videos, and/or images. You can view tweets from people with a certain maximum and/or minimum number of followers. You can specify a timespan you would like to see tweets from. Once you are logged in, you have the option of only seeing tweets from the people you are following as well as being able to save your searches.

TweetStats
Tweetstats allows viewers to graph Twitter Stats including such as tweets per hour, tweets per month, tweet timeline, and reply statistics for anything that you search.

Exectweets
ExecTweets is a resource to help you find and follow the top business executives on Twitter. Created by Federated Media, in partnership with Microsoft, ExecTweets is a platform that aggregates the tweets of top business execs and empowers the community to surface the most insightful, business-related tweets.

Twendz
twendz is a Twitter mining Web application that utilizes the power of Twitter Search, highlighting conversation themes and sentiment of the tweets that talk about topics you are interested in. Mining Twitter conversations alerts you to brewing trends, conversation topics and points of view. twendz uses a keyword-based approach to score tweets. Meaningful words in each tweet are compared against a “dictionary” of thousands of words that are associated with positive or negative sentiment; each word receives a score that, when combined with the other scored words, allows twendz to make an educated guess at the overall tone of a tweet.

Ashton Kucher has 1 million followers! *yawn*

So, Ashton Kucher crossed one million Twitter followers last night and we're bound to see another hysterical round of Twitter stories.

I'm not a Twitter hater. I actually think it's an extremely powerful tool for creating communities but there definitely needs to be a dose of perspective for where this "milestone" falls in the grand scheme of things.

So, here's a brief list of some other folks who have a lot of "followers."

- Christ - 2.1 billion followers
- Mohammed - 1.5 billion followers
- Communist Party of China - 1.3 billion "followers"
- Buddha - 324 million followers
- Barack Obama - 69,492,376 followers
- Susan Boyle - 30,000,000 followers
- Jack Bauer - 10,958,000 followers- Confucious - 5-6 million followers
- Al Franken - 1,212,431 followers
- Norm Colman - 1,212,206 followers
- Barney and Michael Jones, leader of The Jedi Order in the UK - 390,000 followers

What's Next: Microblogging to Nanoblogging

Being in PR we are always on the look out for the next big thing to share with our clients...

New start-up, Flutter, looks to one-up Twitter by reducing their character count from 140 to 26. They are the leading (and only) company in the world of "nanoblogging."

Twitter trouble: Mark Cuban fined, Courtney Love sued -- over tweets

Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is apparently just as frank on Twitter as he is courtside at basketball games. The NBA fined Cuban $25,000 on Sunday for a complaint that he tweeted about the refereeing of his team's 103-101 loss to Denver.

Cuban complained that refs didn't call a technical foul on Nuggets guard J.R. Smith for taunting Antoine Wright after a missed shot. Cuban's 100-character protest, broadcast to his more than 13,000 followers on the short-blogging service, translated to $250 per character. That's one pricey tweet.

After telling the world about his slap on the wrist, Cuban quipped on his Twitter page, "can't say no one makes money from twitter now. the nba does."

He isn't the only celebrity getting in trouble for a loose tongue -- make that loose fingers. Rock musician and party girl Courtney Love is being sued for defamation because of messages on Twitter. She complained on her Twitter page (sorry, no link due to excessive swearing) about conflicts with clothing designer Dawn Simorangkir, which spurred the lawsuit that was filed in an L.A. court.

Defamation is a sensitive issue among journalists. We weigh the concerns of what may be defamatory in everything we publish. But it has rarely been cause for concern among celebrities — mainly because they used to have to go through the news media to get their statements out to the mainstream.

Now that everyone has a direct line to the public, the courts will either have to redefine the legal definition, or we're all just going to have to play nicer.

-- Mark Milian

The Twitter Experiment on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Last night, Diggnation hosts, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht joined Jimmy Fallon and comedian Russell Brand in an experiment to make a relatively unknown tweep (?) secure more followers than Barack Obama, who is the most followed person on Twitter.

Bryan Brinkman was in the audience for the taping and had a following of 7 people. Fallon, Rose, Albrecht and Brand tweeted for everyone to follow @bryanbrinkman during the taping of the show. As of this moment, Brinkman now has a following of 22, 797! In one day, four heavily followed twitterers were able to empower 22,790 people to follow this unknown person. It will be interesting to see if more people follow Brinkman or if this is just his 15 minutes and slowly his following begins to decline.

Watch the video: http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2009/03/the-bryan-brinkman-twitter-experiment/

You Are What You Eat

In case you need another reminder about the sensitivity of social networking, Peter Shankman shares a great example of what NOT to do: http://shankman.com/be-careful-what-you-post/

60 New York Times Reporters on Twitter

A couple weeks ago Rob posted a list of journalists to follow on Twitter. There may be some overlap but to add to his list check out this one from Stephan Davies who posts a list of over 60 journalists from the New York Times alone. 

Twitter a Journo

@ericasmith, who runs the graphicdesignr blog, has posted an amazing list of 793 reporters, editors and newspapers who are using Twitter. Following these folks will not only help you get a better perspective on what they are writing but also could lead to a valuable reporter relationship.

Using Twitter to Become Part of the Conversation

The following tips come from a Cision executive tip sheet on how Twitter can become a key element of your communications effort.

Not a day goes by without hearing the terms social media, blogging, micro-blogging, Twitter, FriendFeed, etc. The question is, how do these services apply to public relations and can they be used to help you improve program execution and results? More important, how can they be used properly without getting burned? Millions have flocked to Twitter, a messaging application that has become the rage among the technorati, attracting more than 12 million registered users so far. Top technology industry analysts, PR and marketing pros, editors and writers, the big names influencing social media, corporate executives, community managers and others can be found at all hours of the day tweeting their thoughts and ideas or providing links to sites delivering critical information.

Many public relations and communications professionals see the growing community of editors, analysts and influencers congregating on Twitter as a “goldmine” of potentially useful contacts. But that is where the potential problem begins. If it is a goldmine, it is one that has to be mined appropriately and carefully. Don’t view Twitter as simply another channel through which you can pitch editors and other influencers. Instead, view it as a means to establish relationships with those who in the long run could help you and your clients.

Here are six tips on how to get involved with Twitter and other “micro-blogging” services, and what practices to avoid if you want to create meaningful relationships with key influencers who may be receptive to hearing and writing about your clients’ products and services:

1. First, get in the game.

The first thing you need to do is to sign up to participate. This is an extremely simple process. Given Twitter’s popularity, it should be your first stop. However, also consider signing up with FriendFeed, Identi.ca and several others. A simple Google search on the term “Twitter” will turn up thousands of articles that likely cover many of the competing services worth investigating.

2. Choose your friends.

Services like Twitter are of little value unless you find the right people to follow. Once you find people with interests similar to yours to follow, and once you start posting your own thoughts for other to see, you will start attracting your own followers. When you find a few valuable Twitter friends, you can then review their lists and find others to follow. You will quickly have a solid list.

3. Listen closely.

Sit back for awhile and follow the conversations. See what is being said about specific industries and even specific companies or products. You may even read things about your company or a client. Learn what interests the people you are following. In addition, there are tools that allow you to plug in a search term and see what is being said about a company or a topic. These search tools can also help you find the right people to follow. [My favorite site to search for what other's are saying about our clients is www.summize.com - If they are talking about our client, I usually end up following them.]

4. Time to start talking.

Once you feel comfortable, you can then enter the conversation. Respond to topics and post your own topics, thoughts or ideas. If you see an interesting article, post a link to it. Closely follow which of your posts seem to generate the most interest and post more of the same. At some point, one of your followers or someone you are following may send a direct message to you asking you a specific question or looking for further details on something you posted. Also, interesting and provocative posts usually attract more Twitter followers. [I usually try to post links to good blog posts or articles about our client as well. If they offer a fresh perspective or a good tip, usually others want to hear about it.]

5. To pitch or not to pitch.

Having established Twitter relationships with key influencers, the next question is, do you actually pitch them on Twitter? Most cases, the answer is no. Unless, of course, you have established relationships through direct messaging, and you feel the target of your pitch will be comfortable receiving it. Many influencers who are on Twitter would bristle at direct pitches, so it is best to be careful. However, the information you gain on Twitter should help you with your pitches moving forward, be they via email, telephone call or other method.

You can, however, post client news, although it is strongly recommended that you do not spam. Many agencies and PR/social media professionals are avid Twitter users and when they post news from a client they clearly label it as such. And, they usually keep this type of post to a minimum. In addition, numerous companies have Twitter accounts that they use for various reasons, including developing stronger relationships with customers or to distribute news.

6. Improve your writing skills.

Twitter’s 140-character limit per post might seem imposing at first. However, it eventually becomes a great way to improve your ability to tell a story in a few words. Being able to make a clear point or communicate a message in 140 characters or less on Twitter should help you to become a more succinct and better writer when it comes to developing pitches and other communiqués. There are several Twitter users who have taken to writing 140-character news releases and they have been able to effectively communicate a story.

To sum up, technology and the internet have put a new level of communications tools in the hands of PR professionals. Used properly, these tools can give you and your clients a major advantage. Used poorly, they could end up hurting you and your clients. Make sure you have a game plan in place before running on to the Twitter field.

50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business

[this is pulled from another blog]

We really can’t deny the fact that businesses are testing out Twitter as part of their steps into the social media landscape. You can say it’s a stupid application, that no business gets done there, but there are too many of us (including me) that can disagree and point out business value. I’m not going to address the naysayers much with this. Instead, I’m going to offer 50 thoughts for people looking to use Twitter for business. And by “business,” I mean anything from a solo act to a huge enterprise customer.

Your mileage may vary, and that’s okay. Further, you might have some really great ideas to add. That’s why we have lively conversations here at [chrisbrogan.com] in the comments section. Jump right in!

First Steps
-Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
-Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
-Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more widgets, but it shows us you’re human.
-Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
-Share links to neat things in your community. ( @wholefoods does this well).
-Don’t get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( @jetblue gives travel tips.)
-Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
-Promote your employees’ outside-of-work stories. ( @TheHomeDepot does it well.)
-Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
-Talk about non-business, too, like @astrout and @jstorerj from Mzinga.

Ideas About WHAT to Tweet
-Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
-Have more than one twitterer at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety.
-When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
-Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
-Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.
-Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
-When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
-Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things.
-Don’t toot your own horn too much. (Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I do it all the time. - ---Side note: I’ve gotta stop tooting my own horn). Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the heck out of others, too.

Some Sanity For You
-You don’t have to read every tweet.
-You don’t have to reply to every @ tweet directed to you (try to reply to some, but don’t feel guilty).
-Use direct messages for 1-to-1 conversations if you feel there’s no value to Twitter at large to hear the conversation ( got this from @pistachio).
-Use services like Twitter Search to make sure you see if someone’s talking about you. Try to participate where it makes sense.
-3rd party clients like Tweetdeck and Twhirl make it a lot easier to manage Twitter.
-If you tweet all day while your coworkers are busy, you’re going to hear about it.
-If you’re representing clients and billing hours, and tweeting all the time, you might hear about it.
-Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
-If someone says you’re using twitter wrong, forget it. It’s an opt out society. They can unfollow if they don’t like how you use it.
-Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.

The Negatives People Will Throw At You
-Twitter takes up time.
-Twitter takes you away from other productive work.
-Without a strategy, it’s just typing.
-There are other ways to do this.
-As Frank hears often, Twitter doesn’t replace customer service (Frank is @comcastcares and is a superhero for what he’s started.)
-Twitter is buggy and not enterprise-ready.
-Twitter is just for technonerds.
-Twitter’s only a few million people. (only)
-Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing.
-Twitter opens the company up to more criticism and griping.

Some Positives to Throw Back
-Twitter helps one organize great, instant meetups (tweetups).
-Twitter works swell as an opinion poll.
-Twitter can help direct people’s attention to good things.
-Twitter at events helps people build an instant “backchannel.”
-Twitter breaks news faster than other sources, often (especially if the news impacts online denizens).
-Twitter gives businesses a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization. -Remember presence in the 1990s?
-Twitter brings great minds together, and gives you daily opportunities to learn (if you look for it, and/or if you follow the right folks).
-Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them.
-Twitter helps with business development, if your prospects are online (mine are).
-Twitter can augment customer service. (but see above)

FriendFeed Is In. Twitter is Out.

Last month Twitter was all the rage, this month it's Friendfeed (Think Twitter on steroids) - what will it be next month? I read somewhere that there are only about three months in an Internet year, which means that by the time I finish this post... nevermind. With technology advancing as fast as it is on the internet and news being thrown at us from every which way it's hard to keep up with it all. This blog post is my attempt to provide you with some more information on FriendFeed and why it might be worth your (or your clients') time to check it out. What makes Friendfeed so hot right now? It's all those Millennials, or those otherwise known as Generation Y. I actually am a Millennial myself so I know a thing or two about it. We are masters of multitasking - texting, emailing and IMing all at the same time is second nature to us. We are digital natives seeking instant gratification where ever we can find it. We live online, it's how we stay connected to friends, peers and other's like us. It's others like us that we're interested in. Enter FriendFeed. 

According to FriendFeed's site they "enable you to keep up-to-date on the web pages, photos, videos and music that your friends and family are sharing. It offers a unique way to discover and discuss information among friends. " "On FriendFeed, you and your friends contribute to a shared stream of information - information that you care about, because its from the people that you care about." If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were talking directly to me and perhaps, just maybe, the 75 million other Millennials out there.  So lets say you are currently blogging and are active on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. FriendFeed will allow you to create a feed for all of these online services in one place and share your content from all these sites with your friends and others. Check out this article on PRWeek that talks about how PR professionals can utilize FriendFeed for their clients. 

So where is FriendFeed headed? The same place Google, Facebook and any other self-respecting social search site is headed. According to Steve Ruble, all of these sites will "build businesses around social contextual search advertising" which will allow me to search for content created by my peers, people I trust. Danny Sullivan calls this, Search 4.0: The Human Factor. This basically means that search engines, like Google and FriendFeed, will be serving up data custom-tailored to you. 

Keep an eye on FriendFeed, many predict it will replace Twitter. I'd love to hear your ideas for using it to interact with consumers and reporters.

I have a Twitter stalker

Ok, maybe this can't really be classified as a genuine stalker case. But, today I received an e-mail informing me I was now being followed via Twitter. Normally this would be a fairly normal circumstance and I would think nothing of it. But my newly found Twitter friend is somebody I've never met with or spoken to before in my life.

Naturally I was intrigued as to who this person was and why they selected me as a friend to follow, so I did some research. In addition to me, this person follows people and organizations such as Barack Obama, CNN, Jet Blue and Sky News. I also discovered the person writes a Travel Blog in New York City and is planning a trip to Seattle this weekend.

Seattle? Is this a coincidence? Maybe they just want my opinion on some cool places to visit while in town. But I still ask, "Why me?" I know the person can't be subscribing to my Tweets because I'm a heavy influencer in the Seattle community. I don't think I can be accused as one who contributes thoughtful and meaningful messages. I mean, let's be realistic I only have six followers and my last Tweet was about bowling.

Of course all of the time and effort I've invested researching the person who is following me on Twitter does bring up the question..."Who's the real stalker here?"