TWITTER : TIPS & TRICKS

TWITTER : TIPS & TRICKS
+++++++++++++++++++++++

This paste is dedicated to @SnooziSuzi4 ❤ thanks for getting me to revisit this :)

For POWER users there may be a few nuggets of useful information but
the following is primarily for those new to the #hivemind.

The #hivemind knows everything. Trust the #hivemind. On any number of occasions
-too many for mere coincidence- I have seen question and answer pop up,
separated by a few minutes if not seconds by two tweeps on a particular #tag.
Usually the answer precedes the question. Serendipity! Synchronicity?
Or just "Spooky action at a distance."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement]

Whatever it is, Twitter is quite definitely a collective consciousness.
One day we make take it to an extreme.

Youtube STNG: http://youtu.be/AyenRCJ_4Ww ("We are the Borg" etc)

Safety Safety Safety
++++++++++++++++++++

Help Centre https://support.twitter.com/
Safety & Security page https://support.twitter.com/groups/57-safety-security
Safe tweeting: the basics https://support.twitter.com/articles/76036
Protecting your personal information https://support.twitter.com/articles/18368

@Support FOLLOW NOW!
@Safety still active! FOLLOW NOW!

@SPAM DEFUNCT account deleted. Pity had a nice icon :(
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Twitter-Retires-the-spam-Account-347276.shtml

@twitspamorg DEFUNCT Which is also a pity because they were a good team.
The A/c is still active though not actively tweeting
https://twitter.com/twitspamorg
http://www.twitspam.org/ Site seems defunct


If you are not already following @Support & @Safety do so NOW
It may serve you well during the next outbreak of twitter war.
(See below.)

Read their respective pages and check on their timelines for up to date problems.

!!!NEVER click on an imbedded link from a person you do not know or trust!!!
             There is no telling where it may lead to.

If in doubt, go to their timeline. Are they repeatedly posting the same link?
If so: report them as spam.
-
POWER USERS:: _if you have good, up to date, virus protection_ try the link!
It may be unpleasant but then you can pass better details up the chain.
Apart from the usual obscenity, the Iranian secret service (#opIran
#SoG "SeaofGreen") once planted a very nasty trojan which took a deal of time
to remove. So don't say I didn't warn you.

POWER USERS:: Rather than report them to @support mark their accounts as Trolls
and monitor their output. Keep a record. Map their network of contacts.

Basics
======
RT MT QT PlzRT

Retweets RT are lazy and spread false memes. And false news!
Twatter [sic] is awash with premature deaths and wild rumour.
Try to keep the signal to noise ratio high... but not too high.

I always try to check a site before I RT. Except from sources I trust or links
to accredited news sites. Even then, those sources may be feeding off twitter
in an Ourobouros style, self perpetuating cycle of disinformation.

By far the better option is to read the subject matter then tweet it directly.
Naturally with a credit to the source:
via @personsTwitterHandle
or v/@person/@twitter/@handle for a chain of Tweeps.
Space permitting of course.

   MT is a modified tweet, usually an abbreviation of the original tweet
with space for a missing #tag or a snappy comment.

   QT is a quote tweet: snipping a fragment from a tweet. Again with your own
content added.

Always try to credit the immediate source. It makes us feel better.

   PlzRT "Please Retweet" Only to be used if all else fails and should be
linked with one or more #tags. #hivemind is a useful one to add. Some tweeps
hang out there -when we have nothing else to do!

DON'T automatically PlzRT anything with a link. ALWAYS check it first. That
being said if I see a PlzRT I automatically put it to one side for a spell
(depending)...

I then lurk on the initiator's timeline -after a polite message to that effect-
"Is the problem resolved." "Still need help" etc.
and then -IF I DON'T SEE THE PROBLEM RESOLVED- inject it into the twitter
stream with the appropriate #tag.

Normally PlzRTs spread like wildfire. Don't add to the problem, if the message
is already repeating in the #tag timeline.

If a problem does arise and is clearly sinking without a trace.
Once an hour is enough. Six times. Then once the next day.
Don't forget to include the original tweeps @name.
We've all done it:)

Similarly if you see a problem that needs a PlzRT tighten up the language;
add some appropriate #tags and whack it out there.

If the problem is sorted and you started the chain tweet:

           Contact all the RTers and thank them.

It's the polite thing to do. It also tells us to stop RTing!
Similarly if you know the problem is sorted and see a spurious PlzRT suggest
they contact the source.

PlzRTs can get out of hand... ONLY IF ALL ELSE FAILS.


BASIC TOOLS
-----------

TinyURL
=======
http://tinyurl.com/

Essential in the old days, before twitter automatically shortened links in your
tweets but still useful outside twitter.
Customised URLs are a nice way of stamping your take on the link!
However they can be used to disguise links to bad sites and virus/ trojan attacks.

Twitpic essential
=======
http://twitpic.com

Personally I don't like the way twitter handles images and videos.
They occupy too much space on the timeline. They also take too much processing and
memory - especially if you have multiple twitter feeds on the go.

[@twitter please note].

The nice thing about twitpic is that it also acts as a permanent (?) archive
of small pics in the cloud. I have a collection that can be used to
illustrate a point or perpetuate a meme. They can also be deleted.
Which is sometimes useful ;)

Twitlonger essential
==========
http://www.twitlonger.com

for those tweets that just will not fit.

Pastebin essential
========

for those tweets that turn into an essay. Like this.

Flickr for bigger images.
https://www.flickr.com/

Youtube Videos that you want Five Eyes to see ;)
Vimeo et all [sic] for the rest

ADVANCED
========
https://twitter.com/search-home

http://trendsmap.com/ Trending #Tags associated with a Google Earth Map
TwitTrend -Useful graphing function alas defunct
Twist -another #tag, trend graphing function also defunct

If anyone knows of another free tool #tag graphing tool/ site please let me know.
Ta brobof.
Similarly this is not the be all and end all of twitter apps
If you have a useful aggregator piece like this I would me most happy to link.

#tags and twitter wars
======================
For me the real fun (?) of twitter begins when an #op kicks off. More recently
#IndyRef (Scotland) was fun and sequel #the45 is coming along nicely.
Search "#topic_of_your_choice and see what the hivemind is thinking...
sometimes: Globally!

But wherever you are in the TwitterVerse try to do your bit to help.
At least for an hour or so.
You can make new friends.
Influence people.
Bring down governments...

http://nesaranews.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/occupy-photos-england.html
(Nuff said)


In all this: #OLSX #SoG, #lulu, #EgyStuff, #the45, etc

"Trust but verify." has served me well. (That and good virus protection!)

If you are promoting a cause or project ALWAYS use a short #tag
Six letters or less is about right!

Monitoring a #tag:
You need at least one power user per tweets/sec.

Thus if there are sixty tweets per minute on a particular #tag:
one power user should be able to cope. Add extra tweeps pro rata.

Assign multiple tweeps to your main organisational twitter handle/
personality: let them handle the account.
Do not miss a thing!

Any 'personality' will be an aggregator for ideas and comment; useful data
produced by the #hivemind and *all too often* wasted.

This tweep wonders how many tweeps the White House hivemind has!
Unless it's an NSA bot.
The various US Embassies are particularly on the ball!

Consider creating new twitter accounts @CAUSE_Ideas; @CAUSE_AgitProp
(Agitation Propaganda); @CAUSE_StupidIdeas; @CAUSE_Help; etc. to better
channel input. Similar accounts to spread output.
Again assign POWER users to these accounts.

Use specialised #tags like #FYEO_Topic for internal commmunications
and DMs for secure communications.

   Security Security Security
   ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

   A note on security. Whatever you do, you will be penetrated.

   Secure VPNs; TOR; IRC; and other options: become focal points of interest
   to the lidless eye. (Sauron, Middle Earth refers. See link above).
   The use of parallel language, slang, argot and other diversionary terms for the
   sensitive word is a better cover than heavy duty encryption. Especially if it is
   embedded in detailed instructions on how to build a tin-foil hat vs the thought
   waves projected by the lizard people.

   If you know a little science and can read between the lines: this is not such
   garbage after all.

   Remember Greenwald & Snowden took the batteries out of their phones and then put
   their phones in the fridge.

   Tin foil makes for a primitive Faraday cage and "brain" = mobile phone.
                    THE LIGHT BEGINS TO DAWN PERHAPS...
   As to the LIZard people... well I'll leave you to figure that out yourself :)

   {Ultimately, only word of mouth is really safe. And I'm not sure about you!}

   In the face of 24/7 total surveillance under the 5eyes of BB be fearless,
   the sheer volume of twitter acts in our favour.

   http://www.theonion.com/video/cias-facebook-program-dramatically-cut-agencys-cos,19753/
   (Sorry about the terrible sound)
   You can always use an obscure foreign language http://www.mrklingon.org/

Create or recruit twitter Personalities (not necessarily celebrities !)
who can get your message out.

But always remember it's the tweeps out in the cloud that will propagate
your message and keep it bubbling in the #hivemind.

Thus you MUST support your twitter troops. Co-opt the gifted, witty, active.
Respond to the desperate. List the trolls. But don't report them.
Follow them! Until it's time to out them... and their friends.

       _Build your #tag community well in advance of the main event_

If you see a parallel #tag absorb it into yours.

Be prepared in the middle of a twitter war for a situation or crisis to
splinter off with a new #tag created by the #hivemind. Have a team in reserve
just in case and just in case it all goes wrong.
Be creative. Be flexible.

REMEMBER “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley” Burns

or should that be "no battletweet survives contact with the hivemind"
with apologies to Helmuth von Moltke.

Resistance is futile as we are the #hivemind
Bro. B!0!F!

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NOW SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE #the45 MOVEMENT
1/ First
Post #IndyRef "Grannies don't tweet."
Whilst this is a nonsense as there are loads of tweeting grandmothers and
grandfathers out there in the twitterverse. There could be many more and
many who could benefit with a hand-me-down smartphone or cheap tablet.

However this is useless *unless* you engage, inform and interact with your
older relatives on the utility of twitter.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10683749/Rise-of-the-silver-surfers.html
Never underestimate the power of the grey panther movement.

2/ #OneScotland
Whilst this makes for a useful inclusive campaign slogan, as a #Tag it is too long.
I would recommend #1Scot or #1Alba as useful seed crystals.
That being said...
3/
Spread the Meme: #the45

This tweep (full disclosure: English born and bred but Glaswegian mother
#haveKiltWillTravel)

...has noticed on the WOS boards and elsewhere, concern being expressed
over the new #the45 #tag. As being divisive:

a) because of 1745 (? seriously) and
b) because of the disaffected 55 (us vs them - this one has traction)

We have had this problem with other campaigns. Tweeps being a little
hyper-sensitive. However from the looks, the meme is embedded: twibbons, etc.

Answer:: spread the meme.  Spread the meme to 1945!

Advantages
==========
"Post war consensus"
Country emerging from a trauma: WWII (National referendum)
New age for UK (Scotland): NHS; full employment; homes fit for heroes;
nationalisation; investment in industry; hope for the future!
(Not much change there then:)

"Spirit of '45" engages the OAP naysayers. Becomes a topic of conversation.
INCLUSIVE conversation during family visits.
"Is this the country you fought for?"
"Is this the country your parents fought for?"
"Is this the country your grandparents fought for?"

And in the case of the purring Liz I/II:
"Is this the country your great grandparents fought for?"

[Aside here: the Ashcroft Poll was conducted by the TORY peer: Lord Ashcroft
specifically to split concensus; divide by: region; age; immigrant status;...
Divide and conquer IIRC was used successfully - post 1979?]

Back to 1945 :)
With this re-interpretation the #the45 not only becomes a more *inclusive*
meme wrt age but also a useful meme encompassing left of centre politics.

So much so that #the45 has potential to spread to the rest of the United
Kingdom!
Contacts with the Peoples' Assembly against Austerity perhaps.
Ken Loach?

Finally 1945 to 2015 is seventy years! The GE will be held in a
post-war fervour. Probably as the Tories planned it. Whilst simultaneously
fighting a ground war in Syria and Iraq. Remember these are Tories after all
- they have previous on this...

CAUTION it 'may' be possible that a "Spirit of 45" movement/ meme could
cause a leftward lurch in the British Labour party and potentially a small
swing in SLAB.

But I doubt it!

To forstall anything I would thus suggest that the #the45 = "The Spirit of
1945" meme be grabbed by the SNP/ SSP/ ScotGreen "Rainbow alliance." ASAP.

Concensus politics rules.

Labour IMHO are stuck with centrist politics and fighting the UKIP vote.
A lurch to the left at this stage would be a by-our-lady miracle.

Personally I predict the dream team: Boris and Nigel.

Can I move north?

This addition is also posted as a twitlonger http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sc2ahd


"Hope is our Duty!" Occupy the Media

Same bat time Same bat channel (Batman applies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwbsx6LvnfY Queen of Diamonds)

Bro. B!0!F!