Guide To “Mastering Twitter”

The best way to learn about Twitter is to try using it, according to blogger Paul Bradshaw.

And to help journalists do this, the Birmingham City University lecturer has assembled “a guide to mastering Twitter as a journalist”, which includes lots of tips about some nifty Twitter applications.

So here are a few highlights from his guide to the microblogging platform:

Newsgathering Via Twitter

- “The more people you follow on Twitter, the more likely you are to come across a lead or a useful contact.”

- “Try Twits Like Me to find people who twitter about the same things as you.”

- “Twitterlocal will help you find twitterers in your local area.”

Managing Your Contacts

- “Desktop applications like Twhirl and Snitter will give you an audio alert; the latter also allows you to filter your tweets (for keywords for instance).”

- “Set up Twitter to send updates to your mobile phone. It's free, and is particularly useful for following what’s happening while you’re on the move.”

- Track your own username to pick up messages aimed at you or track keywords of relevance to your patch.

News Publishing Via Twitter

- Tweet breaking news before posting articles in order to “get to the top of Google quickly”.

- Use applications such as TwitPic and Twiddeo to post breaking news tweets with photos or video.

- “Tap into its social, conversational nature - or combine the RSS feeds from a number of twitterers.”

The full guide is available to view on Journalism.co.uk.