Twitter Journalism » How To’s

Tips On Making It Work When College Grads Move Back Home

Rashanah Baldwin — Mon, 31 May 2010 23:40:49 +0000

Making it work when college grads move back home is easily said then done. CBS 2 News did a special on the Early Saturday Show with Dr. Janet Taylor, a psychiatrist who gave tips on how to make it work with college graduates.

CBSNews When College Grads Move Back Home: Psychiatrist Tells Parents of Boomerang Kids It Can Be Manageable, Even Positive! http://bit.ly/acfJhv 29 May 2010 from twhirl

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Dr. Taylor’s tips appeared to be very helpful and even achievable for both the parent and the college kid. For me moving back home after graduating from undergrad was a bit challenging and at times unbearable. I eventually learned that I would either have to move or I would drive myself crazy, because my mom was being too much of a parent.

I moved out on my own for two years but came back home after I realized I needed to save money and the real world proved to be tougher than I expected. However I was pleasantly surprise to see that some of the tips and advice Dr. Taylor shared on CBS, I was already following.

Taylor Tip’s

Establish a Timetable: It’s key to establish how long this housing arrangement is going to last.

Clarify House Rules: So establishing mutual expectations for curfews, household chores, overnight guests, or even noise are important to work out early on. Parents can list three things that they absolutely cannot live with, and grown kids must respect this.

Consider Charging Rent: It is absolutely OK for parents to charge rent. This can also include utilities, cable, or other benefits they’re enjoying.

Avoid Slipping Into Old Roles: Try to avoid falling into traditional parent and child roles. This is difficult, but parents should steer clear of doing traditional things such as loaning their grown kid money, and doing their laundry.

Don’t Over-Parent: Parents should not get overly involved in their kids’ lives and personal relationships. This is not healthy for kids or parents, and parents need to respect their kids’ growing independence. Creating a dictatorship doesn’t help them grow as self-reliant individuals.

Many twitter users retweeted the CBS segment titled “Making It Work When College Grads Move Back Home”, which indicated to me that they were just as interested in the subject as I.

GDIIncomeTeam Making It Work When College Grads Move Back Home: CBS News
The potentially bad news: He or she has returned to the… http://bit.ly/cDroAv 29 May 2010 from twitterfeed

Chris195j Making It Work When College Grads Move Back Home: CBS News
And of those grown children, about a-third say they use… http://bit.ly/bah75a 29 May 2010 from twitterfeed

247dotpt #News #Health Making It Work When College Grads Move Back Home (source: CBS News) http://bit.ly/9BhLiu 29 May 2010 from twitterfeed

sprink281 Making It Work When College Grads Move Back Home: CBS News
So, what’s a parent to do to keep harmony in the househ… http://bit.ly/bah75a 30 May 2010 from twitterfeed

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The tips shared by Dr. Taylor are a definite benefit for parents and college kids who experience the hassle of reuniting back under one roof. These are very simplistic rules that many can live by and can prove to help accomplish a much happier relationship.

How To Grow A Playoff Beard

Meghan Bower — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:51:38 +0000

With the Stanley Cup Finals finally upon us, many viewers may have noticed an abundance of fully-bearded hockey players on the ice Saturday, as the playoff beards are making their final appearances before they are either proven successful with a Cup win or an unsuccessful attempt to trick fate. Playoff beards came into existence in the 1980’s when players of the New York Islanders decided not to shave during their Stanley Cup run. After winning four consecutive Cups, the practice of not shaving during the playoffs became a lucky tradition. However, once the Islanders’ luck ran out, the tradition was lost until 1995, when the New Jersey Devils brought it back to stay.

Spreading from the NHL players to various hockey leagues and fans throughout the world, many hockey faithfuls may be interested in joining in this practice of not shaving, commonly despised by wives and girlfriends.

According to the Bleacher Report, there is only one rule to the playoff beard:

1. Players or fans cannot shave until their team is eliminated from the playoffs or after the final game of the Championship.

There is an exception, however, for players – like Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo – who are hoping a quick shave will change their luck.

Here are a few playoff beard styles:

However, some fans (and players) may not be able to grow a full playoff beard. Alternatives include convincing a friend to do it for you or, in Patrick Kane’s case, growing a mullet.

Twelve of the sixteen playoff teams participated in the NHL’s Beard-a-thon, where fans can either gather pledges for their own beards or pledge a player or friend. Thus far, the Chicago Blackhawks are in third place with $36,299, which will go to Chicago Blackhawks Charities. The Washington Capitals are in second with $38,044, going to the Washington Capitals Caps Care program, while the Pittsburgh Penguins lead with $90,868, which will be donated to the Mario Lemieux Foundation.

Check out Puck Daddy, a Yahoo Sports blog, for a playoff beard comparison of the only two teams left standing – Hawks versus Flyers.

Fans tweet in on whether they love or hate playoff beards and which remaining team has the better beards:

areyouserious18 ode to playoff beards – oh playoff beards where scruff is dignified and connectors are king….and quantity beats quality oh playoff beards 26 May 2010 from web

volcompancake @sportsguy33 I can’t tell you enough how much respect playoff beards command 26 May 2010 from TweetCaster in reply to sportsguy33

compro16 @NHLBlackhawks We’re not shaving off our playoff beards until we’ve won the Cup! 28 May 2010 from TweetDeck in reply to NHLBlackhawks

salty_birdie @wyshynski Too much crazy going on and not enough playoff beards. The Flyers have the best ones this season! #showsomeloveNBC

How To: Join The #Cubs Conversation On Twitter

John Niederkorn — Sun, 30 May 2010 23:31:48 +0000

Baseball season is in full swing and Cubs’ fans can follow the action on the radio and television. But fans can also increase their Cubs chatter by joining Twitter.

If you do not have a Twitter account it is easy to sign up at Twitter.com and it may actually be less of hassle then starting an e-mail account. Once you have the Twitter account set up there are many ways you can follow the conversation and action surrounding the Chicago Cubs. It’s fun, easy and great way share and gather information on your favorite team.

1. Do a Twitter search of Cubs with a hash-tag (#) or the pound sign in front of the word “cubs.” So when you enter it in the search application on your Twitter home page it should look like this: #Cubs and the Twitter search icon is on the far right-hand column about half way down the page.

After you hit the search button all the tweets mentioning the #Cubs will be displayed.

2. Join the discussion. Once you search the #Cubs on Twitter you will be able to reply to others’ comments by hitting the “reply” icon located in the right-hand corner of each tweet. By commenting and replying to others you will gain followers faster and be able to engage with other fans on multiple issues and topics all at once.

3. Don’t be afraid to be a follower. Many influential members of the media and Cubs beat reporters often leak information and tweet regularly. Here is a short list of “Cub Tweeters” to get you started on your quest to join the Cubs conversation on Twitter: @CarrieMuskat, @aleagueofherown, @lenandbob, @thekapman, @PWSullivan.

4. Bloggers know best? Once you start searching Twitter for Cubs’ discussions you will run across many people that have their own Cubs’ blogs. Some of these blogs can be quite informative and interesting, however, some of the authors are just hacks spewing dribble. So be selective in what you choose to read and who you choose to follow on Twitter because many bloggers use Twitter as a platform to self-promote their own blogs. There is nothing wrong with this, but some bloggers have less to bring to the table and you want your Cubs’ Twitter stream to be free and clear of nonsense and spam.

Good luck, and please feel free to send questions or comments to @BehindTheIvy. Go #Cubs!

Tips on using Twitter For Going Green

Katie Rosebrock — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:27:20 +0000

Going green is a huge trend right now as people try to reduce their environmental footprint. There are plenty of books and websites out there offering advice on how to green up your life. But how to weed through all the tips? Try Twitter.

It can be a little overwhelming at first, trying to sort through the many Twitter feeds to find a feed just about green tips. But with a few tricks you can easily find suggestions for greening just about every aspect of your life. The tweets will help you connect with reliable websites and the most popular tips on the web.

The key to finding tips is knowing the right search terms to use. Surprisingly “#greentips” produces only a limited amount of results. “#greentips” might provide a limited amount of leads, but it can provide some interesting ones, such as this one:

EcoseedMP 11 unusual things you can compost http://bit.ly/cCfUcw #recycle #compost #greentips #greenhome 21 May 2010 from API

– this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

Searching for “tips going green” on the other hand, produces pages of results. Tips on everything from green vacations and green building suggestions to daily behavior or product changes.

TWEET_GO_GREEN Going Green in Your Kitchen: Five Useful Tips | Oh My Apartment: Going green around the home is a great way to get… http://bit.ly/9Ye6Gp 21 May 2010 from twitterfeed

realestatetips8 Tax Tips: Save Some Green by Going Green http://url4.eu/3dCuK 21 May 2010 from RSS2Twitter

PlusTrees Our Daily Green Tip: Avoid Overnight Shipping http://bit.ly/dw2S0t 25 May 2010 from twitterfeed

ionicgreen Take a Great Green Vacation! – Traveling can have a big impact, but it’s easy to leave lighter footsteps. http://ow.ly/17vuxu 26 May 2010 from HootSuite

– this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

So far all the search terms used have provided general search results. This is fine if you are just looking for general ideas that you might not have thought of before, but what if you are looking for something specific? Say you are looking for a better way to clean your home, something without all the toxic chemicals. As with any search you want to make your search as specific as possible. Type in “green cleaning tips” gets you pages of results on general cleaning suggestions while “eco-friendly cleaning tips” provides only two pages worth of very specific results.

While it may be frustrating to search through pages of results on Twitter, often times that is the best way to find new information. Scrolling through the search results you may find information you didn’t even know you were looking for, such as eco-friendly ways to keep mosquitoes away.

pluslily @GazillionBubble How to get rid of Mosquitoes using a bubble machine! http://ow.ly/1PFym #greenliving #ecofriendly #green 25 May 2010 from HootSuite

– this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

Even better is finding a Twitter feed you can follow. You will notice when searching Twitter that the same Twitter handles come up frequently, either their post is being retweeted or they are posting frequently. If you like what they have to say, click through to their profile, read their bio and check out their tweets. Many of the feeds are from websites such as @the_daily_green, which is connected to thedailygreen.com or @ionicgreen, which tweets links to their blog Going Green…for everyday living!

Often times though, the best tweets come from individuals who are not associated with websites, especially if you are looking for overall trends in going green or the environment. One such feed is from Clifton Weatherbee who tweets @green_living_tips.

As with any search engine, the results you find won’t be perfectly tailored to what you are looking for, at least not right away. But spend some time scrolling through the various results and you are sure to find some interesting, helpful facts and useful tips.

How To Effectively Use Real-Time Search

Craig Kanalley — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:52:40 +0000

The Twitter Search interface is brilliant.

Thousands of tweets are posted per minute. And this tool allows you to search all of them — in real-time. It’s been affectionately called the “Google of Twitter” in the past, and it’s sometimes viewed as a threat to Google itself. Simply put, it’s a tool you can’t miss.

Journalist or not, it’s hard to get the full Twitter experience without delving into Twitter Search.

Not only is it a great way to find people talking about things you’re interested in (keyword searches) or to find people who live nearby (geographic searches), but it can also be used to track brand names, user mentions, company mentions, general emotions, pictures, and a whole lot more.

But how does a journalist use the real-time search capability effectively? In all of the following ways:

Track mentions and interact: See what people are saying about you and your company. Reach out to those paying compliments and thank them, and equally get in touch with the nay-sayers and start a dialogue so you can gain valuable feedback.
Utilize trends to see what’s hot: The top 10 trending topics are listed in blue links on the Search home page, as well as on your Twitter.com Web profile page. Keep an eye on these at all times. You never know when breaking news will pop up or a topic of interest to you makes the trends.
Find breaking news tweets: Nothing is more exciting than breaking news on Twitter. But you need to be quick to find the goods. Before a discussion gets too spammy, and everyone joins the fray, jump on breaking news stories fast and search keywords and the locale to find tweets that add context.
Don’t be afraid to go back: The “Older” link at the bottom of the first page and at the top and bottom of the rest is your best friend. While Search.Twitter.com is the Google of Twitter, results aren’t sorted by relevance; instead, the best in the bunch is oftentimes a few pages back — especially during breaking news.
Click the links: The tweets alone won’t be enough to satisfy your information hunger. Click the Twitter user’s name to learn more about them and see their past tweets. Click “Show conversation” when it appears to find context to Twitter dialogue in a threaded format. And most importantly, click the Web links in the tweets themselves (but first — for shortened URLs like bit.ly — try clicking “expand” to see that they’re not spam).

These are just five ways on how to effectively use real-time search in your day-to-day duties. Got more? Let us know how you use Twitter’s Search capabilities and other ideas you can think of. Just leave a comment or contact us at @TwitJourn.

How To Choose #Hashtags For Your Tweets

Craig Kanalley — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:25:30 +0000

I recently addressed the importance of including hashtags in your tweets. Every tweet, when it comes to news, should have at least one.

Now the tough part: how do you pick your hashtags?

The Next Web recently wrote about hashtags and gave this example of what not to do:

There seems to be a misguided assumption among some Twitterers that in order for their tweet to show up in searches it needs to be filled with hashtags. It’s not uncommon to see these people write things like “I just tried to use #iPhone #Tweetdeck but it kept #crashing. Back to #Tweetie I go”.

It’s not necessary to write your tweets like this because (1) that’s too many hashtags, making it hard to read, (2) the hashtags are poorly chosen, and (3) this is not a newsworthy tweet.

The best way to pick hashtags is to see what other people are using as hashtags about the same or a similar topic. That way, your tweets can be indexed alongside theirs. For example, many people were using “#crisishn” for the Honduras crisis recently, and you may not have known this unless you’re checking other people’s tweets or searching Twitter.

#crisishn is an example of an event hashtag. Another example is #iranelection. Anything related, about Honduras or Iran, should include these hashtags because it groups them together and makes them easier to find.

Then there are location hashtags. If you’re writing something newsworthy, it’s good to provide a geographical location like #nyc (or #newyork), #uk (or #england), or #asia, depending on the story focus and whether it’s local, regional, national, or continental.

There are also topical hashtags. These are terms like #earthquake or #journ for journalism. They’re good to know, especially when you’re searching for information.

And finally, there are name hashtags. When President Barack Obama is giving an important speech, #Obama may be used. Sometimes #Ahmadinejad, #Merkel and other foreign leaders appear as hashtags in themselves. Brand names like #Apple or #Microsoft could also be considered name hashtags.

In general, if you have a breaking news tweet, you should include at least one hashtag. Many times, it goes at the end of your tweet and it won’t repeat a word you’ve already used. The event hashtag is preferred (which may also include a conference or seminar hashtag), probably second would be the location hashtag, followed by the topical hashtag, and finally the name hashtag.

Don’t put too many hashtags in your tweets, but put enough to make it easy for your reader to see what you’re talking about, and easier for people going through hundreds of tweets to spot yours in search (and to group them with related tweets).

How To Easily Find Journalists On Twitter

Craig Kanalley — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:43:34 +0000

There are two Web sites that make it incredibly easy to find journalists on Twitter: Media on Twitter and Muck Rack.

Both sites offer an easy and quick way to find journalists on Twitter, who you may be interested in following. While Media on Twitter lists more journalists on its site, Muck Rack is particularly useful during breaking news and times you’re interested in real-time information.

Media on Twitter

This site is the more comprehensive of the two, with 1,064 journalist accounts (and counting) in the U.S. alone. Originally founded by @PRsarahevans, who also founded the weekly and ever-popular JournChat, Media on Twitter is simply a database of journalists on Twitter.

This database is continually updated. In fact, you can contribute to it yourself by filling out the form at the top of the site. You can sort by name, Twitter ID, media outlet, position, whatever you choose. You can also view contacts by country.

Muck Rack

This site is a bit more lively, as it actually displays tweets and TwitPics posted by journalists in real-time. It is particularly useful to follow this site during breaking news, as not only does it post what journalists are saying, but it has its very own “trending topics” and you can navigate by beat or news organization.

Muck Rack works directly with Twitter as an application. So by hovering over any tweet, you can reply, retweet, or follow the user, as well as classify their tweet as either newsworthy, witty or insidery with a single click. Muck Rack also has spin-off, sister sites that allow you to follow what designers, developers, celebrities, musicians, sports figures, and venture capitalists are saying on Twitter.

How To Verify A Tweet

Craig Kanalley — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:46:58 +0000

Twitter is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you have 100 followers or 10,000, you can break news. That’s because all tweets are recorded and indexed at search.twitter.com. If someone types the right keyword(s), they can find your tweet.

Breaking Tweets prides itself on giving many different types of Twitterers credit for breaking news, whether it be someone in Honduras with a dozen followers recording the first “earthquake” tweet or a news organization providing the first details of a major story.

But how do you know a tweet’s legitimate?

Here’s some methods I use at Breaking Tweets that you can try too:

1. Timestamp: Anytime something breaks with hundreds of tweets in minutes, like a natural disaster, it’s good to type various keywords and keep paging back until you find the first few tweets about the news. Unless these Tweeters are psychic, they’re probably among the first to have knowledge something’s up and they may have additional context depending on the story.

2. Contextual tweets: Immediately check the Twitter user’s page for related tweets around the tweet you found. You’d be surprised how often someone posts a follow-up tweet later or precedes the ‘breaking tweet’ with other pertinent info. This could provide additional context for the story, but it can also help verify a person, especially if they’re posting pictures or other content from the scene.

3. Authority: Check the Twitter user’s Bio. Is this a journalist? Is it a random person off the street? Is it a prankster? How about a comedian? Check their Web site or blog if they have one listed. See what you can learn about them here. It’s important to have some idea who the Tweeter is as you assess the validity of any tweet.

4. How many past tweets: Be leery of new Twitter users. If it’s one of their first tweets, it could be anybody starting an account and claiming to have info on a breaking story. The newer the account is, the more skeptical you have to be.

5. What are the past tweets: Check for context by examining the person’s Twitter stream. Go back several pages and see what they normally tweet about. Do they interact with people? Check the accounts they interact with for additional background on piecing together who this person might be. If they say they’re in Paris, are they talking about Paris a month ago? Are they tweeting in French? If not, why not? Evaluate the person and get a feel from them as best you can based on past tweets.

6. Google them: Google their Twitter name because sometimes people use a Twitter handle as their user name on other sites. See if you can find a LinkedIn page, a Facebook page and other sites that add to who these people might be. If they don’t list a full name on their Twitter page, and their user name doesn’t turn up much, you have reason to be more skeptical. The more information the person hides, the harder it is to know who they are. Likewise, the more open they are with info, the more likely they’re legitimate.

7. Check for related tweets: If someone says they heard an explosion in Lahore, what are other people in Lahore tweeting about? Check that and see if anyone else is reporting this. Chances are if a series of diverse people are tweeting about it at the same exact time — and they don’t appear related from looking at their accounts –, something’s up.

8. Talk to them directly: Send an @ reply. Start following them and try to send a direct message. Get a conversation going. Ask for more information and build a relationship as best you can. This will help you create a profile of this person and piece together their connection to the story.

These are ways that Breaking Tweets works to verify a tweet. It’s all about context, really – the person’s past tweets, other tweets that support their tweet, seeking more information about them specifically, and seeking more information about the topic. And of course the timing of the tweet is critical too. If you stay on top of the tweets and follow these sorts of steps to verify tweets, you’ll be well on your way to finding great story tips and breaking news well before traditional methods.

How To Choose Who To Follow

Craig Kanalley — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:22:57 +0000

It may seem a trivial place to start, but choosing who you follow is one of the most important parts of the Twitter experience.

You’re a journalist, and you’re probably interested in story tips. Find your competitors and follow them. Find the major news outlets you’re interested in. Check Twellow for other journalists (or those with a specific profession if you have a niche beat) and browse the map at Twellowhood to see the top Tweeters in your hometown or city of interest.

It’s critical you choose wisely. This will be your wire service, your tip service, that is available at any time of day with a simple refresh. If your stream becomes cluttered, unless you’re using a tool like Tweetdeck to sort through it (which we’ll get to later), it’s practically useless, becoming more of a random free-for-all.

All that being said, there’s a twist. The best tweets you’ll ever find often come from people you don’t follow.

Sites like Twitterfall and search.twitter.com allow for searching tweets by keyword or locale. Local reporters and editors especially should keep an eye on what people in their area are saying. National and international journalists should be ready to pop in a specific location when major news breaks, and watch the tweets from that place trickle in.

You can’t follow everyone. The most compelling tweets are often found in this way, even though your very own Twitter stream is a great place to start.