Using Twitter Well (With Tweetdeck)
Jesse Newhart has put together a good, 8 minute overview of how he effectively follows a high number (15,000+) of people on Twitter using Tweetdeck. I use many of the same strategies for following a lesser number on Twitter (2000+), and if you do follow a significant number of people, these ‘tricks’ are useful if not essential.
And while I am writing this, I just noticed that Brian Crosby has asked “why would you want to follow 15,000 people?”. I think the video may itself help to answer this important question as Newhart does explain each strategy in context (e.g., looking for links, helping to answer people’s questions, noticing popular trends among followers). While I do not follow that many, I know that I do benefit from following more people than I can regularly engage.
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September 5th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
[...] this page was mentioned by qadmon_rss (@qadmon_rss), Alec Couros, PhD (@courosa) and others. [...]
September 5th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Thanks Alec, this is really helpful and has practical ideas. It’s obviously not for everyone, but it gets away from the idea that follow 15,000 people means skimming tweets of 15,000 people.
I’ve been reluctant to add more followers some of the common reasons, but am seeing that there is value in keeping a wide flow of info. I already have a group column for people in my circle I value most (of course you are there). I can see that the “All Friends” can be a column not to scan w/o the filters- it is just the raw flow.
Do you keep columns withe these filters?
I do have to (um) say that the info in this screencast was great, but really, it could have gotten the point across in like 3 minutes with even just better pre-planning. I realize many people do screencasts as one-offs, but it almost pains me to wait for the info to come across.
Ergo, “I would have created a better screencast if I took more time”
September 5th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
@Alan: I keep the same types of columns, and add and drop columns often. For instance, when I am teaching, I will keep columns of my students filtered with question marks just to make sure I respond as quickly as I need. My use of filtering is not typically complex, but I’ll pay attention to the columns or create new ones depending on what I am doing (at a conference, have extra time for conversations, checking on my closer contacts, doing research, helping students).
As for the screencast, I know what you mean. In fact, I just reviewed an hour long screencast (it was part of an M.Ed project) that could have been summarized in 5 minutes. I’m a big fan of to-the-point media.
September 20th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
[...] Tweetdeck By ruthdemitroff http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/1683 [...]
September 27th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
[...] I tried to suggest how using twitter follows the Shirky logic of not whining about too much information, but avoiding filter failure– and giving credit to Alec Couros’ post on managing a lot of followers. [...]