Comments on: Posting to Twitter Now

By: digitalcameras

digitalcameras — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:29:38 +0000

[b]digital cameras[/b]

This is a blog about [url=http://undergroundphotographer.com]digital cameras[/url], images etc.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:18:46 +0000

Maybe, but we have documented proof that at least one reader (Dan) found reposting to Twitter useful. Besides, people aren't required to follow; it's another, optional, channel.

Twitter is highly subjective anyway. It's rare that people I follow interest me 100% of the time. We'll see how this goes.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:53:08 +0000

Yeah, that's what I assumed. I've got the account in Twhirl, since TweetDeck doesn't do multiple users. So, I can broadcast as necessary.

By: bex

bex — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:47:24 +0000

worlds are colliding! bex is getting upset!

Now people are going to accuse you of having a “blog vomit” twitter agenda:

http://bexhuff.com/2008/12/whats-your-twitter-a…

By: ontarioemperor

ontarioemperor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:07:09 +0000

Jake, since you asked, my suggestion re using the account for stuff you don't blog about was in addition to announcing blog posts. I personally don't object to blog post announcements in a Twitter stream, as long as they aren't the only things in the stream. Then again, I like “things you may not know about me” memes, so a few people may discount my opinion somewhat.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:35:56 +0000

The OE also mentioned using the account for stuff we don't blog about, so maybe I'll do that when I remember.

If we attend conferences, it will be useful to broadcast stuff like where we are, when we're speaking, etc.

Overall, I think we can evolve what we use it for, and thanks to Dan for motivating me to repost blog entries. Now I know at least one person finds that useful.

By: Dan Norris

Dan Norris — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:43:10 +0000

In general, I would agree that reposting blogs is not a great way to use an account, but for me at least, I tend to neglect my feed reader as most of the blogs I'm interested in reading post their new blog entries to twitter either directly or via an aggregator (like OraNA). And like you said, with each of you primarily using your own accounts, the group account doesn't seem appropriate for much else. I generally don't like “group” twitter accounts where multiple real humans use it. That is, except in the case of product/service support things (like @VMWareFusion and @comcastcares, to name a couple).

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:31:47 +0000

That was my initial hesitation too, but after thinking about it in light of Dan's suggestion, I feel better about it. Here's why:

1) We do offer multiple other ways to follow content, including RSS and subscription by email.
2) Each of us has his own Twitter account: jkuramot, rmanalan, ppedrazzi. Anthony never uses his, and I can't recall it offhand. So, theappslab account isn't really posing as anything other than a team account.
3) Posting to Twitter allows another stream for those interested (e.g. Dan).

So, for now, we'll see how it goes.

I frequently post content on my account that doesn't warrant a full post. You could follow me for that. I may/may not also post from theappslab, depending on how much time I have.

Did you have any other thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for adding your opinion.

By: MojoMark

MojoMark — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:17:58 +0000

I don't think that's a good use of the blog's Twitter account unless some immediate feedback is requested. If I follow someone on Twitter and they only post “here's a link to a new post on my blog” tweets, that looks like spam to me. If I want to read your blog, I'll subscribe via RSS. I think the @theappslab should be for content that is too small for a full blog post.