All a Twitter

ALL A TWITTER:
A classroom lesson on how to turn Twitter into the greatest textbook in the world.

Recently, I have been on a campaign to show students the benefit of Twitter.

The advantages of Twitter are immense for aspiring journalists and anyone interested in news. With hundreds of professional journalists, media outlets, magazines, and high school journalism outlets all tweeting a well set up feed can easily be considered the best textbook in the world.

So how do you set it up?

Create a user name and upload a photo:
I would recommend one that is your name or if your name is not available use an underscore or a numeral to create an available name. People should be able to recognize your Twitter name as yourself. To upload a photo format a small photo and upload it in the setting panel.

Change your wallpaper:
Creating a different background will give your profile a unique feel and allow for a more personalized experience. To change the background image go to the settings tab. The background image will be layered.

Selecting Users to Follow:
Once a background image has been selected from the setting panel the next key is to follow a wide selection of journalists, news organizations, magazines, corporations and writers. Below is a list of writers I have recently recommended and is a good start to creating a Twitter feed that will provide valuable information, breaking news, and links to current online stories. Once a list on a Twitter feed has begun then Twitter will also make recommendations for which it thinks a person should follow.

Final Tips:
140 Characters:
A tweet is limited to 140 characters.

Hashtags:
Typing in a hashtag (#) in front of a word or phrase will create a grouping. These will group tweets with a certain hashtag. For example, there is a constant hashtag of #hawkeyes reporting on breaking Iowa football news.

Blue Check Marks:
Celebrities or any person of note will have a blue check mark next to their name if it has been authenticated as the person of fame.

Retweeting:
The RT designation signifies a Retweet of another person’s tweet.

Bit.ly Links:
Shortening web addresses will allow for more typing under the 140-character limit. Simply go to Bit.ly’s Web site to paste in an address and it will make a shorter version.

PEOPLE
and ORGANIZATIONS on TWITTER

Journalists & Writers

Jonathan Martin (POLITICO), @jmartpolitico

Chris Cillizza (Washington Post), @thefix

Rick Klein (ABC News), @thenote

John McCardle (Roll Call), @McCardleRollCall

Luke Russert (XM Radio/NBC News), @RussertXM_NBC

Ana Marie Cox (GQ Magazine), @AnaMarieCox

Phil Elliott (Associated Press), @PElliottAP

Maureen Dowd
NYTimesDowd

Jay Rosen – NYU
jayrosen_nyu

Chuck Todd
@ChuckTodd