2 posts tagged “twitter”
twitter + twittergram + flickr + twittersync = today's closest semblance to true mobile, social networking. with this combination:
- i have kept friends updated on my canvassing trip to pennsylvania with notes and pictures real-time from my iphone
- while in pennsylvania, i knew that my buddy was at sharpkuts in SF, considering getting something shaved in his head
- i have almost on two occasions, if not for scheduled meetings, met someone for lunch at shake shack who i've only communicated with via twitter / email a couple of times
- while on my way to a soccer game in brooklyn, i saw a picture of what my friend was having for lunch in the east village
real time updates, enriched with pictures from mobile devices, distributed to a network of friends -- irrespective of your locations -- truly helps to bring others into your life in a more efficient and effective way than other platforms (email, SMS, web based social networking sites, etc.).
if you want to be able to do this, read my instructional post here.
i'm sure some of you might disagree - let me know if i've overlooked another service (or package of services).
note of clarification: mobile social networking entails, to me, entails not only being able to use a mobile device, but to be able to effectively be connected with the lives of others in my social network while on the go.
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.
