Twitter overview

1. Twitter & You
140 characters. Don’t be a douche.
A cra sh co urse in m ic ro bl og gi ng

2. Twitter & You
140 characters. Don’t be a douche.
A cra sh co urse in m ic ro bl og gi ng

3. What is Twitter?
“Microblogging” platform
140 characters
“What are you doing?”
Started as status updates

4. What is Twitter?
“Microblogging” platform
140 characters
“What are you doing?”
Started as status updates

5. Twitter

6. Twitter

7. Twitter

8. How it Works
Updates, called Tweets, from people you follow show
up on your Twitter homepage.
If someone is following you, your updates show up on
theirs.
Tweets are public - anyone can see them by going to
your profile, unless you have set your profile to
private.

9. How it Works
Updates, called Tweets, from people you follow show
up on your Twitter homepage.
If someone is following you, your updates show up on
theirs.
Tweets are public - anyone can see them by going to
your profile, unless you have set your profile to
private.

10. How it Works
Direct Messages are private messages visible only to
the person you have sent it to.
You can only send DMs to people who follow you.
You can block users if you don’t want your updates to
show up on their homepage.

11. Twaffic
Ranked 27th worldwide for
traffic (via Alexa)
16 million Tweets per day
400k-800k Tweets per hour
Feb 2009: 6 million users
40% retention rate of users -
60% drop the service after a
month = 10% of ‘net users

12. Twaffic
Ranked 27th worldwide for
traffic (via Alexa)
16 million Tweets per day
400k-800k Tweets per hour
Feb 2009: 6 million users
40% retention rate of users -
60% drop the service after a
month = 10% of ‘net users

13. Twaffic
Feb 2009: Twitter was the
third most used, and the
fastest growing social media
network:
#1 Twitter: 1382%
#2 Zimbio: 240%
#3 Facebook: 228%

14. Twaffic
Feb 2009: Twitter was the
third most used, and the
fastest growing social media
network:
#1 Twitter: 1382%
#2 Zimbio: 240%
#3 Facebook: 228%

15. Twistory & Twivia
Created in 2006 by Evan
Williams and Jack Dorsey as
SMS platform
Original codename was twttr;
inspired by Flickr, & 5 character
SMS shortcodes

16. Twistory & Twivia
“We liked the SMS aspect, and how you could
update from anywhere and receive from
anywhere.”
“We wanted to capture that in the name -- we
wanted to capture that feeling: the physical
sensation that you’re buzzing your friend’s
pocket. It’s like buzzing all over the world.
(cont...)

17. Twistory & Twivia
“We liked the SMS aspect, and how you could
update from anywhere and receive from
anywhere.”
“We wanted to capture that in the name -- we
wanted to capture that feeling: the physical
sensation that you’re buzzing your friend’s
pocket. It’s like buzzing all over the world.
(cont...)

18. Twistory & Twivia
“So we did a bunch of name-storming, and we came
up with the word "twitch," because the phone kind
of vibrates when it moves. But "twitch" is not a good
product name because it doesn’t bring up the right
imagery.”
“So we looked in the dictionary for words around it,
and we came across the word "twitter," and it was
just perfect. The definition was "a short burst of
inconsequential information," and "chirps
from birds." And that’s exactly what the product
was.”

19. Twernacular
Tweetup: real-life meetings where
Twitter friends meet up
Fail Whale: Twitter’s error page
Tweeple: People on Twitter
Twitterverse: The entire Twitter
community
Retweet (RT): When a user re-posts
something someone else posted and
gives credit.

20. Twernacular
Tweetup: real-life meetings where
Twitter friends meet up
Fail Whale: Twitter’s error page
Tweeple: People on Twitter
Twitterverse: The entire Twitter
community
Retweet (RT): When a user re-posts
something someone else posted and
gives credit.

21. Twernacular
Timeline: The place where
you read the tweets from all of
your twitter friends
Followers: The people who
have chosen to add your
updates to their timeline.
Twoosh: A tweet that is
exactly 140 characters

22. Twernacular
Timeline: The place where
you read the tweets from all of
your twitter friends
Followers: The people who
have chosen to add your
updates to their timeline.
Twoosh: A tweet that is
exactly 140 characters

23. (I’m starting to sound
like a Twidiot.)

24. (I’m starting to sound
like a Twidiot.)

25. Twa-- er... Stats
19% of online adults age 18-24
have used twitter or something
like it
20% of online adults age 25-34
10% of online adults age 35-44
5% of online adults age 45-54
4% of online adults age 55-64
2% of online adults 65+

26. Twa-- er... Stats
19% of online adults age 18-24
have used twitter or something
like it
20% of online adults age 25-34
10% of online adults age 35-44
5% of online adults age 45-54
4% of online adults age 55-64
2% of online adults 65+

27. More Stats
35% of twitter users live in urban
areas, 9% live in rural areas
17% of internet users in households
earning less than $30,000 tweet
10% of internet users in households
earning more than $75,000 tweet
76% of twitter users use the internet
wirelessly

28. More Stats
35% of twitter users live in urban
areas, 9% live in rural areas
17% of internet users in households
earning less than $30,000 tweet
10% of internet users in households
earning more than $75,000 tweet
76% of twitter users use the internet
wirelessly

29. And Yet More Stats
median age of a twitter user is 31
median age of a myspace user is 27
median age of a facebook user is 26
median age of a linkedin user is 40
(study by Pew Internet, March 2009)

30. And Yet More Stats
median age of a twitter user is 31
median age of a myspace user is 27
median age of a facebook user is 26
median age of a linkedin user is 40
(study by Pew Internet, March 2009)

31. Twitter Clients

32. Twitter Clients

33. Twitter Trends
“Trends” describe the topics
people are talking about the
most on Twitter
Hashtags are used to define
trends. #noise #socialmedia
Hashtags also help users at
events that don’t know each
other find other attendees

34. Twitter Trends
“Trends” describe the topics
people are talking about the
most on Twitter
Hashtags are used to define
trends. #noise #socialmedia
Hashtags also help users at
events that don’t know each
other find other attendees

35. Twitter Trends
Websites like Twitscoop.Com show real-time
trending topics

36. Twitter Trends
Websites like Twitscoop.Com show real-time
trending topics

37. Twitter in Politics
#IranElection hashtag:
221,744 Tweets Per Hour at
Peak
Twitter-driven network of
proxy servers info
dissemination to keep
communication open

38. Twitter in Politics
#IranElection hashtag:
221,744 Tweets Per Hour at
Peak
Twitter-driven network of
proxy servers info
dissemination to keep
communication open

39. Twitter in Business

40. Twitter in Business

41. Twitter in Business

42. The WRONG Way
Habitat, a UK-based
furniture store broke at
least two CARDINAL rules:
Repeatedly spamming
users with ads
Using false hashtags to
show up in trending topic
search results, like
#IranElection #Mousavi

43. The WRONG Way
Habitat, a UK-based
furniture store broke at
least two CARDINAL rules:
Repeatedly spamming
users with ads
Using false hashtags to
show up in trending topic
search results, like
#IranElection #Mousavi

44. The RIGHT Way
Skittles (Mix the Rainbow):
A recent series of messages on the Skittles wall:
Derek says: Is it just me, or does there seem to be
too many orange ones in the bags now?
Skittles says: Derek despite what you or the
Internet may think, we can assure you there is no
orange skittles conspiracy - red on the other hand...

45. The RIGHT Way
Taco Bell Canada
Clever, non-pitchy
tweets
Retweeting followers
tweets
Engaging their
followers
Personal tweets -
“I” instead of “we”

46. Twitter as a Tool
Financial
Tweet what you spend (@twys)
Stock quotes (@StockTwits)
Forex quotes (@FxTwits)
Bargain hunting (@CheapTweet)
and more!

47. Twitter as a Tool
Reminders & Tracking
Package tracking (@TrackThis)
Reminders/Post-its (@Postica)
and more!

48. Twitter as a Tool
Weight Loss
TweetYourEats, FoodFeed,
TweetWhatYouEat
Share lines of code (Snipt)
Share music (Tinysong)
Share files (Twittershare, Twipic)
and more!

49. Twitter as a Tool
Track gas mileage (@FuelFrog)
Access maps, directions & local
information (@multimap)
Local traffic news (@commuter)
Set alarms (@timer)
Search Amazon.com
(@junglebot)

50. Taking it Offline
Soil-moisture sensors connected to
a circuit board.
Measure the level of moisture
Communicate the information to a
microcontroller
User receives a tweet when plant is
thirsty

51. Taking it Offline
Soil-moisture sensors connected to
a circuit board.
Measure the level of moisture
Communicate the information to a
microcontroller
User receives a tweet when plant is
thirsty

52. Taking it Offline
Notifications when laundry is
done
Monitor power usage
(@tweetawatt)
Detect fart levels?!
(@OfficeChair)
Monitor baby movements
(@Kickbee)
Turn lights on and off remotely!

53. Taking it Offline
Notifications when laundry is
done
Monitor power usage
(@tweetawatt)
Detect fart levels?!
(@OfficeChair)
Monitor baby movements
(@Kickbee)
Turn lights on and off remotely!

54. Questions? Drop me an email or follow me on
Twitter!
@snipeyhead // snipe@snipe.net // http://www.snipe.net

55. Questions? Drop me an email or follow me on
Twitter!
@snipeyhead // snipe@snipe.net // http://www.snipe.net