Tags: #myday, my week, storify, tweets, twitter

I recently started Tweeting at the end of each day. In 140 characters or less, I try to succinctly describe what happened during my day. I think it’s an interesting challenge that keeps me better aware of how I’m spending my time. I also think it’s a great complement to other types of journaling.

I also recently started exploring the use of Storify to create blog posts. I’m not sure how I feel about Storify. I like the idea of being able to easily add quotes and reference social media responses to hot topics. At the same time, as a blogger I’m not sure if I like my content originally being produced on another site before moving it to a blog. So, we’ll see.

To test it out, I decided to put together my Tweets for the week. Storify lets you add a lot of extra text other than the Tweets that you add. I didn’t do that yet. This is just the first try at capturing what happens during my week using a combination of Twitter and Storify. Feedback welcome!

Tags: #myday, storify, twitter

As I’ve mentioned here before, I try to stay active on Twitter. After disliking it for quite awhile, I finally got pulled into using it daily. And I admit that I was wrong about it in the first place. It’s a great place to communicate with people on all different types of topics.

Some of the major types of people that I follow on Twitter include:

• Other writers. I’m happy to say that I’ve been included on two different lists of Top Writers to Follow on Twitter. I try to follow the other writers on both of these lists as well as bloggers and writers who aren’t on these lists but who are active on Twitter.
• Frugal living twitterers. I love learning about how to live frugally or to save money on different things so I follow a lot of people who offer tips about that.
• Mobile news writers. I like learning about mobile phone news. Cell phone twitterers really help with that.

Some people that I exchange thoughts with on the site really stand out because they offer good conversation throughout the work day. Ten of those that I’d recommend are:

1. @allison_w
2. @marcofratelli
3. @inksnatcher
4. @ebwriters
5. @BillHarper
6. @JessicaWard
7. @henpow2nd
8. @bekkal
9. @moneywatch
10. @texaswriter

Who do you follow on Twitter?

Tags: follow on twitter, kathryn vercillo, tweeps, tweet, twitter, twitterers

I’ve mentioned here a few times that I’m trying to stay active on Twitter. This can be hard sometimes because there are so many people on Twitter who are there just to spam you. (I can’t even count the number of posts I see about how to get more Twitter followers – more people who will just keep posting those same posts about getting more followers!)

However, there are some people on Twitter that I really enjoy conversing with. These people bring great thoughts to the Twitter table and I enjoy hearing what they have to say. They also offer good links that I actually want to follow.

Here’s a few of those people to check out if you want some good conversation on Twitter:

• @dragonblogger – I mentioned this Twitter user here not too long ago because he does a really cool thing where he gets random words from fellow Twitter users and writes Twitter poems with them.
• @Scout66com – This is the only music blogger or music site that I’ve seen so far that doesn’t just promote music but also engages in intelligent discussino on a range of topics!
• @kashicat – Check out the blog Confessions of a Cultural Idiot to learn more about this cool Twitterer.
• @marcandangel – They share life advice on their blog and through their Twitter account.
• @spreadingjoy – The name says it all but there’s a corporation to go along with this Twitter account.

Who do you recommend following on Twitter?

Another link that might be of interest to people on Twitter is this article with links to over 100 different Twitter tools including tools for analysis, information gathering, networking building and sharing.

Tags: great twitterers, kathryn vercillo, people to follow on twitter, Social Networking, twitter, twitterers

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on Twitter lately. After a lengthy period of adjusting to using the site, I’ve finally come to really like Twitter. I feel like it’s giving me a great opportunity to share links and ideas with other people.

One of the really fun things that I’ve gotten into doing on the site is participating in a daily poem project that @dragonblogger does. Almost every morning, he puts out a request for people to send in random words. These random words are then worked into a poem for the day which is posted on the Wanderer Thoughts blog.

These poems are always really interesting. Sometimes the words that are submitted are really challenging. For example, check out Unstoppable Disease which included a lot of medical words in it. (My word for that day was simpler: productivity).

This is just a fun little project to participate in when I think about it as I’m on Twitter. I think it’s inspiring to do little daily projects and this is an example of a good one.

Tags: fun, kathryn vercillo, poetry, projects, twitter, writing

I used to have a love/hate relationship with Twitter. Over time, that has changed. I lean a lot more towards the love side now. I suppose that’s because I’ve learned how to use Twitter in ways that make it fun for me. I meet people and share information there.

I actually do a lot of my research through Twitter, using it as a starting point to find news and articles about the topics that interest me. For example, I stay on top of the latest information and thoughts about mobile phones by following people on Twitter who write about these things.

There are so many people writing about this topic that it would be impossible to follow them all. I’ve found about 20 mobile phone Twitterers that really interest me a lot. These are what I would suggest as a starting place for people interested in researching that topic on Twitter.

Of course, you can make a list like this for any interest that you may have. I also follow people on Twitter who are interested in personal finance, simple living and creativity since those are topics that also interest me a lot. I think it’s worthwhile to take the time to find the people who are networking on these topics and to follow their activities online.

My Twitter account is at http://twitter.com/KathrynVercillo.

Tags: kathryn vercillo, mobile phones, research, Social Networking, twitter, Wireless

There are a lot of technological devices out there which have the potential to make us more effective in our productivity (such as unified communications tools). Unfortunately, a lot of these devices can be a double-edged sword; they offer a lot of ways to decrease our productivity too.

A really simple example is the use of instant messaging programs. They can increase productivity by making communication with team members more immediate and more efficient. However, if you have IM programs running all day then you may get distracted from your focus and actually lose productivity.

This was highlighted by a couple of the Twitter responses that I got yesterday when I requested for people to send me their top productivity tips. A couple immediate responses were:

• @BerksBess “turn off Twitter (and the Internet as a whole)”.
• @cdolwagen ”set aside specific time slots for email, web browsing and Twitter. Use a timer so you don’t overrun ”

In other words, you really need to maintain some level of self control when you are making use of technology and Web 2.0 tools. The level of productivity that is possible with them is truly within the power of the person using them.

Smart people are going to maximize their use of these tools without overusing them. The other tips that I received via Twitter from those types of smart people were:

• @kashicat ”For creative people with ADD, doing work in small chunks (i.e. light at end of several tunnels) can help get it done.
• @Ivenetian When you feel yourself drifting…say to yourself “back to work”!

So, back to work it is!

Tags: business, efficiency, kathryn vercillo, productivity, self-control, Technology, twitter, work

I recently answered a question on Yahoo! Answers that had to do with Twitter. I’m interested by Twitter despite the fact that I have something of a love/hate relationship with the social networking site. I’m intrigued by how it is being used by different types of people.

Recently I’ve been reading a lot of articles online by people who believe that Twitter can improve their writing. It’s an interesting idea and goes to show that technology tools can be used in different ways to achieve different ends by different people.

The question that I answered on Yahoo! Answers was a simple question about the difference between ReTweets and Replies. Most Twitter users can easily tell you that a ReTweet is a re-post of someone else’s Twitter information whereas a reply is a response to what someone has written.

Only a couple of us bothered to respond to this Yahoo! Answer and my response, being thorough, was chosen as the best answer there.

Tags: answer question, kathryn vercillo, q&a, questions, reply, retweet, Social Networking, twitter, Yahoo Answers

I am active on Twitter. I post to Twitter daily. I have four different RSS feeds that add my blog content to Twitter throughout the day. I have about 400 Twitter followers and follow about that many people. I am starting to make use of Twitter clients and Twitter tools like TweetDeck. I link my Twitter account in various ways to other social networking sites that I’m on.

And yet, the fact of the matter is that I don’t love Twitter. Or maybe I do.

For the most part, I don’t enjoy Twitter. I don’t like the format that it’s in because it seems messy and complicated and overwhelming. Even with the use of Twitter clients, I don’t find Twitter to be friendly on the eyes (or the brain). I also don’t like that Twitter seems to be most effective as a tool for blog traffic if you’re following tons of people but that means that you’ve got to look at Twitter updates every few seconds because there are so many people posting all of the time.

But there’s definitely something that draws me to Twitter. It’s addictive. It’s interesting. I can see what people are thinking about all of the time. I get links to information that I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. I feel connected to the world around me by virtue of the fact that we’re chatting online even though I see a level of superficiality to all of that online communication.

You know, come to think of it, my love/hate relationship with Twitter is a lot like my love/hate relationship with the city of Las Vegas. I don’t like Las Vegas much. It’s overstimulating and overwhelming and superficial in so many ways. But I go to Vegas fairly often because it’s a convenient vacation, most of what I want from a trip can be found there and the benefits of traveling there sometimes outweigh the negatives of the experience. Now if only Twitter had showgirls and slots … you know, I bet if I looked around, it might.

Tags: hubpages, internet, kathryn vercillo, online networking, Social Networking, Technology, twitter, twitter tips, web, web 2.0

I’m still trying to get the hang of using Twitter. I really didn’t like the site when it first came out. However, since it was the online social networking tool that everyone was using, I realized that I needed to get on board if I was going to keep staying in touch with the people who I communicate with online. I signed up for an account and started playing around with it.

The truth is that I’m still adjusting to Twitter and I don’t know if I like it much yet. I feel like I don’t quite “get it”. I have a hard time staying on top of conversations with people on the site since updates are so frequent. But the more I use it, the more I get used to it so it gets easier to understand which makes me like it a little bit more.

One of the things that made me feel like the site had gotten easier to use was discovering TwitterFeed. Before discovering that tool, I was trying to update Twitter manually with all of my various blog posts and articles. It was time-consuming and kind of felt like a waste of time.

Now that I use TwitterFeed, the posts update automatically to Twitter. This way, I can use my time on Twitter to actually respond to people and to post updates that I actually specifically want to share with my Twitter friends.

I’m still learning the best tools for communicating on the site. I’m still playing around with when to use @Replies and when to use direct replies. But I’m getting there. Anyone who has specific tips on the use of Twitter in conjunction with blogging is more than welcome to comment here!

Tags: blogging, internet, online networking, rss feeds, Social Networking, twitter, twitterfeed