• A Twitter Holiday Auction - Bid For Literacy!

    Thursday, December 02, 2010

    Did you know Twitter made a special wine to support global literacy?



    We launched the Fledgling Initiative in October 2009 to benefit Room to Read, a non-profit that works with communities throughout the developing world to promote literacy, establish libraries and publish children's books in local languages. Twitter employees helped harvest the first grapes by hand and spent a full year working with Crushpad winery to craft a Chardonnay and Fledgling Pinot Noir, which are now on sale through our site here.

    In spirit of the holidays, we're making limited-edition bottles of Fledgling and other unique gifts available through an auction on eBay's giving works platform. From December 6-16, you can bid on signed bottles, special edition magnums (a fancy word for huge bottle of wine), and lunch at Twitter HQ with co-founder Biz Stone. All proceeds will support the children of Uttarakhand, and the dedicated Room to Read volunteers who are teaching them that literacy can be their connection to a whole new world.

    Bid on a bottle today by going here, and raise a glass to literacy over your holiday dinner. For more on the Fledgling Initiative itself, visit www.fledglingwine.com.

    #TwitterAuction

    Posted by @ at 4:00 PM

  • What Will You Be Tweeting On World Aids Day in 2015?

    Wednesday, December 01, 2010

    This year, nearly half a million children will be born with HIV.

    By 2015, that number could be zero. Imagine it -- the first generation of children in 30 years to be born without HIV.

    When this disease first began ravaging societies around the world, the Internet as we know it was a mere infant, cellphones cost $4,000 and the idea of an open, global exchange of information with the tap of a few keys was just a dream.

    Now, a Tweet can reach millions of people in seconds.

    Today is World AIDS Day, and our friends at (RED) are encouraging you to tweet using the hashtag #turnred. It's one small step towards making the dream of an AIDS-free generation in 2015 a reality.

    It will take all of us to keep this issue on the forefront of the fight against AIDS to ensure the funding and focus needed to reach this goal continues. Use your Tweet today to start practicing.

    When you use #turnred today, your tweet of support will help turn a map of the world red.

    How?

    Each time someone tweets using #turnred on World Aids Day, the message maps itself onto a data visualizer of the world developed by Ushahidi and (RED). Each action will help turn a different time zone red on the map.


    On Jan 1, 2015 we hope to share the news that no child was born that day with HIV. Real hope, in our world.

    Want to learn more about (RED)? Follow @joinred to stay informed and to go to www.joinred.com to see the map that your tweets are turning (RED) and learn more.

    Posted by @ at 10:44 AM

  • Discover: Your Appetite

    Tuesday, November 23, 2010

    Have you ever found yourself wondering where that taco truck you went to yesterday is parked today? Or had a nightmare that you forgot to make a dessert for your holiday dinner party and woke up frantically trying to decide what to cook? Before they even emerge, these questions and fears can be quelled by following the right sources on Twitter.

    Since Thanksgiving is coming up and food is top-of-mind for many, we're highlighting some of the discoveries that will help satisfy your tastebuds and get your kitchen wafting with aroma.

    A Lifeline:
    Direct any cooking question to @foodpickle and their community will answer it before you can say "preheat your oven to 350".

    Inspiration:
    Famous chefs like @markbittman, @davidlebovitz, @michaelpollan and @tylerflorence tweet about life inside the kitchen, and you can almost smell the food cooking in kitchens around the world through accounts like @wednesdaychef, @chefgui and @vindee. Get 140 character recipes from @cookbook, or follow outlets like @latimesfood, @saveurmag, @slashfood, @FoodNetwork, and @fandw for bite-sized tweets of foodie news and info.

    Eating local:
    Do a search for local sources in your area to find accounts like @eatersf and @SFoodie, which share info before anyone else about restaurant openings and other news. Check to see if your local farmers market has an account (if they don't, tell them how it's done!). Many markets tweet what's fresh off the farms each week so you can plan your meals accordingly.

    On the move:
    Keep up with your favorite food trucks on Twitter. @mobilecravings has created separate lists of carts in cities around the U.S. that you can follow. If you've got a craving, try sending one of them a Tweet to see if they can come your way–you never know, the cupcake lady could be heading towards a street near you!

    For fun:
    @tiwyf (this is why you're fat) tweets about ridiculously unhealthy foods like the Doughnut Ice Cream Sandwich.

    Posted by @ at 11:48 AM

  • #TwitterTip

    Friday, November 19, 2010

    Tip #43: Use your mobile phone to get @replies and mentions via text message.

    Planning a super busy weekend away from your computer? Take one key part of Twitter with you while you're on the go. Read on to learn how to get all your @replies and mentions delivered to your mobile phone via text message.

    Why is this helpful? Say I post a Tweet asking for happy hour recommendations before heading out for drinks on Friday. When my friend @mischa gets back to me by posting a reply on Twitter, the message will be delivered to my mobile phone as a text message. I don't even have to sign in to my Twitter account to see it!

    Here's how you set this up: make sure you've added your phone to your Twitter account. Then just turn on "mentions and replies" notifications in your account's mobile settings tab. Or, from your phone, you can text the phrase "set mentions on" to your local shortcode to activate these notifications. After that, you’ll receive a text message anytime someone mentions your username in a Tweet.

    Posted by @ at 3:26 PM

  • Instant Notifications

    Tuesday, November 16, 2010

    When you’re out and about, your phone probably isn’t always in front of you. It might be in your pocket or purse or on a table – perhaps with the screen off. We want to make sure you see important Tweets even when you’re not looking at Twitter at the moment. To help with that, today we’re launching push notifications for @mentions.

    Whenever an account that you follow mentions you, you’ll immediately receive a notification. You’ll know who is talking to or about you on Twitter, and you’ll be able to continue the conversation in real-time. Notifications for @mentions will initially be available on SMS and on the latest version of Twitter for iPhone, which you can download today from the App Store.

    In addition to @mentions, we’re also bringing push notifications for Messages to Twitter for iPhone, as we’ve already done with SMS and Twitter for Blackberry. We’re working hard to introduce this feature to Twitter for Android and Twitter for Windows Phone soon.

    To turn on SMS notifications, go to twitter.com/devices and check the boxes under “Text message notifications”. You can change your notifications settings at any time. For example, text “set mentions all’ to turn on notifications for @mentions from everyone, rather than just those whom you follow, and ‘set mentions off’ to turn off @mentions notifications.

    Posted by @ at 2:37 PM

  • More Cities, More Trends, More Understanding

    Monday, November 15, 2010

    We're happy to announce two improvements that will help people connect and discover what's new -- no matter where they are in the world or what languages they speak.

    Almost any topic you can imagine is being discussed on Twitter. The most mentioned ones get highlighted as a Trending Topic in real time, letting people zero in on hot news in specific locations as it’s bubbling.

    Trending Topics is in high demand from folks in cities that aren’t yet on the list, so today, we're expanding local trends to include 14 new countries and 6 new cities*. These new locations include some of our fastest growing markets. More cities and countries to come.


    Second, since Twitter is a global communication tool, there are many different languages spoken in Tweets. We are now using Google Translate to display Tweet translations in the details pane to give people more access to what people are talking about around the world. This feature is currently available to a very small percentage of users and will be rolling out to everyone over the coming weeks.


















    We hope these updates will help you get the most from Twitter’s amazing global population!

    *Countries: Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, Venezuela. Cities: Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, Rio De Janeiro, Sydney, Toronto

    Posted by @ at 1:56 PM

  • Discover: Music

    Friday, November 12, 2010



    Now that you can preview songs from iTunes within Twitter.com, discovering and sharing music is even more fun on Twitter. With that news, it seems apropos to highlight some of the best accounts and sources to follow, so awesome recommendations are delivered right to your timeline when you need them.

    • Digital retailers like @Amazonmp3 tweet daily deals on digital downloads, giving you an easy way to sample new music everyday–catch them before they expire.
    • Radio and magazine accounts like NPR's @AllSongs, @Stereogum and @Pitchforkmedia share news about new bands and give quick reviews of albums, while @Hypem lets users tweet links to songs that are playable in full.
    • If there's a local venue you frequent, search to see if they have a Twitter account (and if they don't you should tell them they need one!). @theRoxy Tweets when new shows are announced, @Bluenotenyc Tweets last-minute ticket giveaways and backstage perspectives, and @CarnegieHall shares both new and historic news from their account.
    • Follow vendors like @LiveNation to snatch tickets to hot shows before they sell out.
    • Tune into live music events as they unfold. Just this week, the MTV European Music Awards and the Latin Grammy Awards took place. Watching the festivities fly by in Tweets was a useful way to experience the festivities first-hand.
    • And, obviously, you can find and follow your favorite artists to hear what they're up to and get inside news about their shows or contests. Scan the Music list in your "Browse Interests" section to find anyone from @LadyGaga and @iamwill to @Ricky_Martin and @TheDecemberists. You can also follow labels like @Universal_Music that aggregate Tweets and info about their artists.

    Posted by @ at 11:09 AM

  • Twitter + Ping = Discovering More Music

    Thursday, November 11, 2010

    Every day, millions of people use Twitter to follow and share what they care about. Twitter users now send over 95 million Tweets a day, many of which are about the music they're listening to.

    Starting today Ping, iTunes' new social network for music, and Twitter are making it even easier for people to share music discoveries with their friends by putting Ping activity, song previews and links to purchase and download music from the iTunes Store right in their Tweets on Twitter.com.


    Click here for a screenshot of the integration.

    How does it work?
    On Ping you can easily link to your Twitter account to instantly find Ping users among the people you already follow on Twitter.

    Once you’ve linked the accounts, whenever you Post, Like, Review, or tell your friends why you purchased a song or album on Ping, this activity will also be tweeted to your Twitter followers – complete with playable song previews and links to purchase and download music from iTunes.

    When you click on a Tweet that's sent via Ping or that contains an iTunes link, you'll see the song or album in Twitter’s details pane, with the ability to listen to song previews from iTunes, making the experience even richer.

    iTunes song previews are available on Twitter.com in the 23 countries where the iTunes Store offers music.

    Posted by @ at 9:01 AM

  • #TwitterTip

    Wednesday, November 10, 2010

    Tip #367: Learn to pay attention to the filmstrip icon.
    Studies have shown that a short break during the day to watch (or share) something entertaining raises dopamine levels in the brain, which leads to clearer thinking and increased productivity. Just the other day, my friend tweeted this message with a fantastic video from RadioLab – watching it provided a much-needed breather in the middle of my busy day.

    To quickly find and watch videos others have shared on Twitter.com, simply scan your timeline for Tweets marked with the filmstrip icon. Clicking the icon will open a details pane beside your timeline in which you can watch the video.

    Want to share a video and give others an excuse to take a so-called “YouTube” break in their day? Just use YouTube’s sweet and simple link shortener. Grab the video ID (that jumbled set of letters and numbers in the video’s URL on YouTube) and insert it into this little URL: http://youtu.be/[videoID] These types of links will display the video in Twitter’s details pane, and will mark your Tweet with the filmstrip icon.



    Wasn’t that fun? Now, back to work!

    Posted by @ at 1:16 PM

  • Account for Haiti

    Thursday, November 04, 2010




    Nine months after the earthquake, Haiti is now shelled with another crisis: a cholera outbreak in the western region. More than 300 people have died so far, and aid organizations of all sizes are working to provide rapid support to contain it.


    We're intrigued by the new Red Cross Twitter account, @kwawouj, which was created specifically for this outbreak to send updates in Haitian Creole that direct locals to the resources they need on the ground.


    Thanks to the support this weekend from Voila, one of Haiti's leading wireless communication providers, locals using their service were encouraged to follow @kwawouj’s cholera updates via SMS through our fast follow function. This new feature is the quickest way to begin receiving updates from a Twitter source on your mobile phone without having a Twitter account of your own. Since the launch of @kwawouj, over 1,000 people without accounts have opted to receive important Tweets relevant to this particular crisis through the Fast Follow feature.


    It's wonderful to work with a mobile partner like Voila who is on a similar mission to provide the best tools possible to help strengthen the region through connectivity. We are working to build similar relationships with carriers around the world that have the potential to engage their customers through collaboration.


    The Red Cross account is currently in our Promoted Tweets for Good program through Hope140, which gives special ad platform benefits to selected non-profits who are using Twitter for their campaign. Follow @hope140 to stay updated on this type of news and to provide feedback on how Twitter could be used effectively as a force for good.


    To see how mobile updates can be used to connect victims with resources, check out information on crisis mapping of the cholera outbreak here.



    Posted by @ at 11:30 AM