Tag Archives: twitter

Deadwood: When is the last time you cleaned up your Apps?

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Fyi_33Deadwood: We’ve all heard the word and what it implies. But, have you ever thought that you could be in support of it?

I read an article by Nick Bilton of the New York Times recently about Apps, which have access to your social accounts. Continue reading →

Privacy On-line.. Should We Surrender?

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surrender privacyHow many of you are wondering if your attempts to control your privacy on-line is probably going to be one of the most challenging tasks before you?

In recent weeks there have been so many news articles headlining breaches in security safety for people as well as for government information!  Just when we think we have it under control they pull us right back in with stories that suggest there is no sure-fire way to secure our information.  How can we not feel vulnerable?

So are you planning to surrender?

eyespy

For those of you who believe you want to continue the challenge of protecting your digital identity, below are some guidelines that have been suggested from various professionals.  As always, click the link provided at the end of the summary for a more detailed description.

  1. Use Adblock Plus:  Adblock Plus (ABP) is an open-source content-filtering and ad blocking extension for Mozilla Firefox (including Firefox for mobile, Google Chrome and Opera web browsers. In November 2012, Adblock Plus was also released as an app for Android devices. ABP, a forked version of Adblock, allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being downloaded and displayed. via Adblock Plus – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
  2. Adblock is free:  Click this link to learn more: Adblock Plus – Surf the web without annoying ads!.
  3. Use Ghost E-Mail: Create various e-mail addresses. Companies often share your email address. Using the same email address across various sites may allow companies to connect those address with your identity. When using sign-up forms it may be wise to withhold some of your personal information.
  4. Use a “dumb phone“:  Low tech phones can only make calls and send text messages. Smartphones are designed to track everything you are doing on the Internet. You can use this link to check what services are available for this type of equipment. http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/12/verizon-new-prepaid-basic-plan/
  5. Use Multiple Browsers:  Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox. Use one browser for email, one for social networking, and another one for general browsing.
  6. Pay Cash.  All credit cards leave digital trails and are used for tracking purposes.  Pay cash for items you want to keep private (such as, health items).  Pay cash for alcohol, cigarettes and other personal items.   via Ways to Make Your Online Tracks Harder to Follow – NYTimes.com.

Twitter Privacy

twitter_mannersTwitter users will want to read this post about Online Privacy Settings, by Susan Wright-Boucher in Communications, Social Media .  Click the link for details.  3 Steps to Better Online Privacy on Twitter | Susan Wright-Boucher.

I hope this is helpful!  🙂

Manners for the Twitter Zone

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twitter_mannersIn this latest of the recent series about on-line manners, below are some guidelines I found, which I think are great for Twitter users. As always click the link at the end of the summary for a more detailed description.

♦ ♦ ♦

♦ Twitter manners 101

  1. Be gracious.
  2. Be social. Twitter is about conversation, not monologue. Say “thank you” a lot.
  3. Use the @ reply to publicly thank someone.
  4. Don’t just follow people; engage them.
  5. Have a sense of humor.Refrain from flaming.
  6. Use your words to encourage and lift up rather than to tear down.
  7. Never underestimate the power of a tweet.
  8. Don’t follow someone expecting him to follow you back. Follow because you’re interested in what the person has to say. Conversely, and somewhat ironically, if someone does follow you, it’s courteous to follow back.
  9. Be informal. Have fun. Don’t treat it as a chore.
  10. Don’t hound influential people, begging them to read your blog or retweet you. Win their trust and influence by being remarkable and serving them first. My best strategy for networking is serving others. via 20 Essential Tips for Better Twitter Etiquette | Goins, Writer.

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♦ It is always a good idea  to check out some of the rules Twitter has about:
Impersonation,Trademark. Privacy, Violence and Threats, Copyright, Unlawful Use, Misuse of Twitter Badges via Twitter Help Center | The Twitter Rules.

♦ You should also check out: Rules and best practices via Twitter Help Center | Rules and best practices.

I hope this is helpful 🙂

The Twitter Zone

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Just as we discussed previously in Tech4Boomer’s Post, “Digital Olympics”, nowadays
it’s as though there is a Technology Olympics going on.  What I mean is that the  “rate of change” is astounding.  As a matter of fact, you should receive a  Gold Medal if you can keep up with what’s happening with Social Media.  Just when you think that you have achieved a happy, and somewhat dynamic  equilibrium,  grasping the changes  occurring within the social media phenomenon, e.g., Apps, Foursquare, Google Earth, chatting with friends, and followers (are they bots?) etc., you come to find out that actually it has changed again, and you have just entered another dimension:

“The Twitter Zone”.

I had a fortunate reading experience with an article written by Andy O’Donnell at About.com Guide. The article, which is about Twitter, not only introduced me to terminology I had never encountered, it also brought to my attention the importance of periodically checking who is following you on Twitter.

These are some of the topics that O’Donnell  covers in the article:

  1. How to use Status People’s Fake Follower check to see what percentage of your followers are fake, real, or inactive.
  2. How to report followers for SPAM and what happens when you do.
  3. Malicious Twitter bots, which are used to spread links to malware, and how they are often disguised as shortened links.
  4. The importance of checking whether some of your followers are legitimate. Sometimes you can just check if they have any followers.
  5. How to protect your Tweets by putting restrictions in place. Of course in this case you will also have to ‘approve’ each ‘follow’ request. In addition, your tweets will only be seen to those you have approved.
  6. How to Block other Twitter followers.

Use these links to check out the guidelines and get  some of the details of various things you should know about and take action on:

Glossary:
Twitter Bots – In addition to spammers, hackers and internet criminals may send out malicious Twitter bots5 to follow you. Malicious bots are used to spread links to malware which are often disguised as shortened links6 so that the malicious link itself is obscured from view by the shortened link. http://netsecurity.about.com/od/informationresources/a/How-To-Prevent-Strangers-From-Following-You-On-Twitter.htm?p=1

SPAM and SPIM bots
These bots bombard your inbox with SPAM and interrupt your chats by sending you unsolicited instant messages (SPIM). http://netsecurity.about.com/od/advancedsecurity/a/Malicious-Bots.htm

PUBLIC & PROTECTED TWEETS https://support.twitter.com/articles/14016-about-public-and-protected-tweets#

Are all bots bad?  So, now we know how to recognize them. But there is another issue. Is it bad to follow a bot? It might be, if it’s a bot that tricks you into buying things you didn’t want in the first place, or if you think you are really dealing with a person. But maybe not always. via How to recognize Twitter bots: 7 signals to look out for.

Help

Read the entire Andy O’Donnell article using this link:
http://netsecurity.about.com/od/informationresources/a/How-To-Prevent-Strangers-From-Following-You-On-Twitter.htm?p=1

Twitter for Android Phone Users

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As I searched for the best Mobile Twitter App for Android, what I discovered is the best app to use is the one endorsed by Twitter itself.  This app is free of charge, and can be found at the Android Market. Just click the link below.

  Twitter – Android Market


After you install the Twitter app, I suggest that you use the guidelines I found written by Dan Gookin, which explain how the program works for the Android phone.  These guidelines will be least confusing, and give illustrations, which explain the various parts of the screens (please don’t take the name of the article personally).  I have found articles by Dan Gookin, and by other authors in the ‘Dummies” book series, very helpful. Click the line after the word via.

How to Use Twitter on Your Droid X

By Dan Gookin

You can use Twitter through your Droid X to share your existence with others or simply to follow what others are up to or thinking. You can create a Twitter account by using your Droid, but it’s a lot more work that just using a computer. After you create a Twitter account, use the Twitter app on your phone to view Twitter updates or to tweet.

A good Twitter app was developed by the Twitter people themselves. The Twitter app is free and available at the Android Market.

The Twitter application provides an excellent interface to many Twitter tasks. The two most basic tasks, however, are reading and writing tweets.

via How to Use Twitter on Your Droid X – For Dummies.

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For those of you who want to do a bit more research, check out the article below by TechShout, posted August 2011.

8 Best Twitter apps for Android phones to download – TechShout.

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This post completes the sessions for using Twitter on your cell phones.  I hope this is helpful 🙂

How to use Twitter from your BlackBerry – Simple Help

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How do I find a Twitter mobile app?

As I mentioned in last week’s post, Twitter mobile apps are probably among the more widely used for sending Tweets, and for keeping up-to-date with what’s happening on Twitter.  This week we cover how to use one of the most popular Twitter mobile apps recommended by Simple Help, a blog I often go to for information about various Social Media guidelines.  Simple Help provides easy to follow  illustrations, which I expect you will find useful in loading a Twitter app on your Blackberry phone.    Be aware:  these guidelines assume that you understand how find the web browser on your Blackberry device.  If you are not familiar with these techniques, now would be a good time to check out the manual for your phone.  You can find  Blackberry manuals at this link –  BlackBerry Smartphones – Manuals and Guides.

Twitter for Blackberry Users

Loading Twitterberry

This tutorial will guide you through every step of installing and using TwitterBerry, arguably the most popular Twitter client for BlackBerry devices.

1. First up, launch whatever web browser you use on your BlackBerry. Head over to http://orangatame.com/ota/twitterberry (or http://bit.ly/jE4rM – which is just a shortened version of the same link). After scrolling through the text, select the Download Now button. Then when prompted, click the Download button on your BlackBerry screen.

via How to use Twitter from your BlackBerry – Simple Help

I hope this is  helpful !