sending a message w/ picture via twitter.

i've become a big fan of twitter as of late, primarily after i setup functionality that lets me take a pic from my phone, attach a message to it, and have the message (with a link to the picture) twittered to all my friends. here's a recent example of a twitter message with a picture link.

for the unanointed,  twitter is a micro-blogging service which allows you to write 140 character messages (aks "tweets"), which are distributed to your friends. wikipedia has a better explanation.

there's a few steps to setting this up, but it's very simple to use once you are done. i've expanded on fred wilson's post on this topic (which is where I picked up on this).

UPDATE: there are a few other services which i've found to be easy to use to post pictures directly to twitter: twitpic and natuba (for iphone only). i am sticking with the process layed out below, however, as i still like the idea of sending one message to a single email address, and having it posted to twitter and flickr both. here's a way to use twitpic and flickr but requires sending messages to two email addresses.

1) setup twitter account here.  once you're setup, keep in mind that twitter defaults to showing you updates through the web interface. when i'm at work, i like to receive twitters via IM and on my phone when i'm not at work. this can be setup here. once you've done that, you must select which connections you want to show up on the "devices (IM and / or phone) by activating them here.

2) setup flickr account here.  flickr is a photo sharing site which will serve as repository for the pictures in your tweets. once you've got your flickr account, setup up the functionality for your flickr account to receive pictures (via email or MMS) here. take the email address, and put it into your phone's address book or contact list so its easily accessible under the name "flickr". under the "Add these tags each time" slot, add a tag which will indicate the source of your pictures (i use "iphone").

3) setup twittergram here.  twittergram is the middle man. it picks up the message/picture sent to flickr, and transports it to twitter. you'll enter your twitter login / password, flickr username and the "tag" for your pictures you entered in step 2 (in my case, "iphone"). you must add this tag exactly the same as in step 2.

4) send message's with picture link.  take a picture on your phone, enter up to 140 characters for a title, and send it to your flickr email address. twittergram will pick up the message and it'll appear on twitter within 15 minutes.

5) OPTIONAL. setup twittersync here.  twittersync automatically syncs your facebook status with your latest tweet. it makes my facebook more current. unfortunately, it probably also makes people wonder why i'm updating my facebook status all the time.