Learn 

Now that you've been using Twitter for a while, you might have some questions about etiquette for the polite use of Twitter. Perhaps you might want to know which of your Twitter updates might be responsible for people following or leaving you. 

You've probably seen the many uses for Twitter:

News almost as it happens from ordinary people or sites like CrisisWire that aggregate information about a specific crisis or disaster event from many different sources, including: Google Maps, Twitter, News websites, Blogs, UStream chat, Flickr and traditional news sources.

Branding or Marketing

Tweeting librarians and libraries  See the earlier Twitter Thing for other uses, especially in libraries.

These are the most noticeable ways Twitter is used.  How can you use it? Mashable suggests 9 ways Twitter can help you in the real world.

 
You can Tweet Congress. or Follow the White House.

As a participant in the More Things on a Stick program, you will be exploring many social networking applications. You might wish to think of using Twitter as part of an overall networking strategy on the Web.

Use Twitter for Social Bookmarking. Read this Mashable article to find out how to do it.

The possibilities for imaginative use of Twitter seem endless, limited only by the 140 characters per tweet.  Twitter is as useful, or useless, as you make it.


Who's using Twitter?

The ten users you'll meet on Twitter

Add your name to the Tweeter Directory  Be sure to explore this resource rich directory for all things Twitter.  Who's the  featured Tweeter of the Day? Who's just joined? There's lots to explore here, so don't try to rush through it quickly.

Meet Mr. Tweet, Your personal networking assistant.  Just follow him, & he'll suggest good people you've been missing out on, regularly update your stats, & recommend you according to his biographical information on Twitter.
 

Three types you'll find on Twitter

Celebrities you'll find on Twitter 

Top 10,000 most followed on Twitter refreshed daily

Medicine on Twitter: Doctors and Medical Libraries

 VIewing Tweets

There are many ways to view your Twitter stream in your browser.  I like Power Twitter, a Firefox extension that allows pictures and videos to show up in your Twitter feed when they are there without having to open up another window or go to another page. It also displays your thumbnail photo/avatar by your tweets.It gives you a face on Twitter and because Twitter is all about people, that's important!  Power Twitter does require a small download, just so you know.  There are some good instructions in this article, How to Improve the Twitter Experience with Power Twitter by Virginia DeBoldt.

Twitter Firefox addons like  Twitbin, TwitKit, or TwitterFox are other possibilities depending on what you're looking for.

Tweetdeck is another good choice for viewing your Twitter streams.  Users can split their main feed (All Tweets) into topic or group specific columns allowing a broader overview of tweets. The default columns can contain All Tweets from your timeline, @replies directed to you and direct messages.It also has support for a large number of various URL shorteners for your tweets.  It does require a download and installation.

Here is a tutorial on how to use Tweetdeck from YourBlogHelper.

Twhirl is another popular way to view tweets that also requires a download. 

You'll just need to experiment to see what works best for you.  I find that I use different applications depending on where I am (work, home, other) and what I am doing.  I use BeTwittered on my homepage at work as it is just there and I can check it should I have time, but it doesn't interrupt my work flow by alerting me.  But if I am waiting for a reply or monitoring something, Tweetdeck or Twirl will give alerts when you're twittered. 

BeTwittered is added as a gadget in Google, and also has a separate mobile application.  Recently when BeTwittered was misbehaving on my iGoogle page after Christmas, I twittered about it and received a prompt response from their support who must monitor Twitter for mention of their application.

Several applications allow you to post to Twitter from the Web using bookmarklets: BigTweet which also doubles your character limit is one,    tr.im a URL shortener which I find very convenient to use is another.  In addition, there is Twitsnip, found at TwitterGrader.  There are probably many more and more being developed with the growth in popularity of Twitter.

Mobile Twittering 

One of the strengths of Twitter is its versatility.  You can set up your mobile phone or device to work with Twitter.  Once enabled you can use it to post your tweets.  Twitter's mobile site is  m.twitter.com.  You can direct tweet from your cell phone by doing an SMS message to 40404 **.

Here from Mashable are over 35 Twitter resources for your iPhone, G1, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile device, smartphone, or basic cell phone.                                          
Here is a fun app for the iphone that integrates with Twitter: Coffee Buzz.   

Did you know you can post to Twitter just by talking on the phone?  Read how in this article from Computerworld:
Post on Twitter by talking into a phone

And Mashable offers many ways to mobile Twitter in this article:

How to use Twitter on the go

You can use Twitter with e-mail using these applications:

2tweet lets you tweet multiple photos and video directly from your e-mail
Twply lets you have all @ replies forwarded directly to your e-mail inbox.
Twittergadget lets you submit status updates to twitter in your iGoogle or Gmail account. Learn how to install TwitterGadget for Gmail here.
Remindr lets you tweet a reminder to yourself as well as e-mail, phone, and GTalk(Jabber).
MobyPicture offers a new and easy email feature for photomailing to Twitter.


From Dumb Little Man we have  Ten Awesome Tools that will make you an expert Twitter User.
Do you want to be a star?  How to be a Twitter All-Star
Learn How to Win Friends and Twinfluence People.
Advice from Guy Kawasaki on How to Use Twitter as a Twool.
David Lee King has some pointers on specific tools for organization based friending. (Do check out part one on friending as well while you're there  as well as the other links at the bottom of the post.) And do read and think about this one, why friending other libraries and librarians might not be a good thing.   Something to ponder...and maybe blog about?

If you having trouble deciding who you should follow, Twitter has recently launched a suggestions tool.
 

These three items have some different ways to look at Twitter:

A view of Twitter as an asymmetrical chat room       
Why I love Twitter

Twitter as Art

Stages of Twitter

If you are Struggling with Twitter, you might find these  items of interest:

The Limitations of Twitter

Twittering Tips for Beginners

Love it, Hate it,  The Inspiration that is Twitter

What exactly is the point of Twitter?


And of course, there's Twitter security to be considered.  Like everything else, it's a judgement call you need to consider.

Hobbies and Interests

Using Twitter with your hobbies is something that might be useful to you, or make you appreciate the possibilities of using Twitter.

Search Twitter by interests and hobbies

TwitterPacks, where the community recommends fellow Twitter users by topic of interest or geographical area.

Find Twitter users with related interests

Using Twitter for photographers:

Hashtag your photography tweets to make them easier to find

Photosharing 

Twitter and Photography

Share videos on Twitter with TweeTube.

Twitter for music aficionados:

Twitter your music with blip.fm

Use the  firefox add-on Foxytunes  plus its companion Twittytunes to post your tunes to Twitter.

Use Twitter and last.fm  to tweet your tunes.  There are several ways to do it.  Use feeds, lastfmlovetweet.
or this solution which uses Yahoo Pipes and can be cloned.  Or stream them there with this, but be careful not to bombard them or they'll quit following you quickly.

Use tinysong to share music on Twitter.  It works in conjunction with Grooveshark and posts a playable tune link to Twitter, with options to create widgets as well from the embed menu once you choose a tune to play. This works very slickly and it's cool to share a playable link, not just a title.

Combine photos and music interests:

Three ways to share pictures, video, and music on Twitter

 
For the adventurous- if you have a web cam:add a pop up video message to your Twitter with Bubbletweet;  here's how to use it.

Fan of BBQ? Check out this recipe and this post.

Birds of a feather, Twitter together?  Here's how to aggregate multiple users into one collaborative twitter.

Keep an eye on this app in development which is aimed to do the same thing: CoTweet

Twitter is really good for tracking trends and showing data visually:

twopular can be used to find popular trends on twitter    
See trends on Twitter as a cloud

Twitterfall is a way of viewing the latest 'tweets' of upcoming trends on the micro-blogging site Twitter. Updates fall from the top of the page in near-realtime.  Unlike other sites, Twitterfall purely does trends (for now). Because of this, they can be efficient - Twitter is queried from the Twitterfall server, and results are pushed to your browser, rather than your browser doing the queries, or your computer polling their server repeatedly.

Spy lets you visually listen in on conversations in Twitter, Friendfeed and some other social media sites. Try it.


Miscellaneous fun on Twitter

Like those Mac vs. PC commercials?  The battle continues on Twitter

Gift wrap your tweets

Is it time to consider Twitter Awards?  Look here for the Twitties.  Even better, the Shortys.

Writer's Block?  Generate a status to get you unblocked. 

Twitter papercraft/ Twittergami.

Take this quiz to find out what punctuation mark you are and post it to Twitter and/or Friendfeed.

Look at a visual representation of the influence of the Twitter users with TwitterPoster.

How much is your Twitter profile worth?   

What's your rank and authority on Twitter?

The ultimate measure of Twitter power

If you are Twitter Addicted you'll be interested in a Twitter Toolbox, More Twitter Tools, and the Twitter Apps wiki. And you'll surely want to know how much time you waste on Twitter.

If you find yourself copying other people's Twitter messages and reposting them with such codes as "retweet" or "RT", you may be a Retweetist. Don't worry, you are not alone. In fact so many people are RT'ing that we can use this to see what are some of the most valued topics out there. Be a Retweetist today and retweet about it!  See what's been retweeted the most during the week and find out who's most retweeted.  Don't know how to retweet?  See the beginner's guide.  Twitteraholics will want to read about the art and science of retweeting.

Twitter for tracking

Use keywords to track people and then automatically follow them with Twollow. 

Twilert rocks.  I used it successfully to score in one day the scarce Wii Fit for Christmas by having it alert me daily to "in stock" + "Wii Fit" as a search after spending two months searching for it using other online shopping tools and checking stores from Ashland, Duluth, Virginia and Hibbing.  I could have saved lots of miles on my feet if I'd found Twilert sooner. It's very versatile.

ConvoMonitor is a dashboard view that allows you to track your brand on Twitter. You also can track Twitter conversations about any topic, word, phrase, idea, or person.

Try this free service that alerts you via text (SMS), twitter or email when a website goes down or when it comes back up.

You can search Twitter's public messages and user profiles using Tweetscan with  alert results available via email, RSS, JSON, and Twhirl.

Keep tabs on your money by tracking expenses with Twitter.

Twitter Plays Well with Others

Here are few examples of Twitter working with other Web2.0 applications.  I'm sure that as you explore you will find many more.  Do share your finds with us via mnmorethings Twitter.

Listmaking with Wipeelist,  in conjunction with Twitter.  Or with Rememberthe Milk.

Flickr my background: Put your latest Flickr image in your Twitter background

Did you know you can now Twitter your library to LibraryThing?
   

IM: a tutorial from the Download Squad on How to add Twitter and Facebook IM support to Pidgin for Windows
  
Friendfeed and Twitter better together?

Get Facebook friends to use Twitter without them even knowing

Friends too chatty? Try Twittersnooze

There are Greasemonkey scripts to improve your Twitter experience, as well as mashups and tools.

Shorten URLs and post them to Twitter with Tr.im.

Make it easy for people to Twitter your blog posts by installing a TinyURL plugin.   

Learn how to display Twitter Tweets on your blog.

Show your Twitter Stuff

There are many  resources out there to get Twitter badges, widgets, counters, and more. Here are a few to get you started.

Flaunt a Twitter badge.

Look at some twitter buttons, badges, widgets and counters to help you find followers. Or easily generate a badge using Tweetsnap that will update when you update, so you can always keep people in the loop.  It'll always show your last update, even if Twitter's down. 

Twitstamp does the same thing, but with a greater variety of looks.  If you look at Twitstamp, be prepared to spend some time playing there.  You might want to bookmark it so you can go back and change your stamp by season or whim.

Here are just a few ressources for icons to use on your blog or other social media site:
Twitter icons for blog and Twitter bird

Free Twitter Bird Icon Set - Productivedreams.com
   
The best Twitter Icons for you - Sharebrain
 

Free Twitter Ribbon Ad Generator
  

Twitter Questions?

While Twitter has a nice support page, Caroline Middlebrook put together a nice FAQ that may be helpful with questions you might have.

More Microblogging

Twitter isn't the only microblogging application out there, even though it may be the most popular.  You can read about other microblogging tools here, but note that Pownce shutdown in Dec. 2008 and Jaiku has been announced for discontinuance too.

Microblog + chat = fun That's the promotion of Rejaw, a new way to chat with your friends, family, co-workers, and the world. Send pictures, videos, MP3s, links, or just your latest update.  Shout to the world or whisper to your friends.

Create  your own microblog network for anything.