Twitter *still* makes my head hurt

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Okay. Found it. The “track” command — see this list of twitter commands

Sounds good, right? Follow the hashtag #aauw or #08NTC and we’re done.

So I test. And nothing. Nada.

More research. Turns out that’s not the only list of twitter commands — but it may have been an early one that prompted this at twitter.com. Ah, there’s the rub. Only works with IM and phone, and I’m using the TwitterFox extension to read the tweets.

So…

If I want to follow #aauw on my computer, I can do it through RSS or I can climb another learning curve and get onto IM. [Eeks. “Talk” was deemed evil back in the 80’s. Can I overcome my resistance??]

Or do I go back and reinstate the unlimited text on the phone that I had during Phoenix?

Sigh.

Still trying to wrap my head around twitter

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Okay, here’s what feels like a Rube Goldberg method for members of a group to share info via twitter without following each other and without needing the web to read the tweets.

  • Go to twitter.com/hashtags and click follow
  • Post a message with an the agreed upon tag, preceded by the # symbol (called a “hash” in some dialects). An example:

Exec director interview to air on CNN tonight at 9:15 ET #myorg

  • Go to twemes.com and get the RSS feed address for the hashtag — probably something like

http://twemes.com/myorg.rss

Looks good in theory — hangup is that feedblitz complains that the twitter account name isn’t formatted as an e-mail address. Anyone see what I’m doing wrong or have an alternate strategy?

And there are several things I haven’t thought through … What’s the risk of a spammer glomming onto the tag? How do I separate some tags for special handling (i.e. send to the phone, not just the web). [Maybe take the RSS feed, connect it to a special twitter account and watch that?? Ouch.]

The explanation problem

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You may know this: I’m a fan of Common Craft, the folks who have put out those absolutely brilliant short videos “in plain English” on tech topics.

In a recent post, Lee Lefever wrote about “Discovering the RSS Explanation Problem” based on this exchange:

Q: What is RSS?
A: RSS is an XML-based content syndication format.

Say what? A true fact that’s not at all helpful.

He generalizes the “explanation problem” to point out that when someone says “What is …?” they usually mean “Why does … matter to me?”

So here are a few stabs at what is RSS:

  • a technology that changes the “pull” of visiting a web site to find its news to a “push” of the site sending you the headlines that you can collect with the headlines from other sites into your own personal “web newspaper”.
  • a technology that allows you to republish news from partner web sites on your own site

But do watch RSS in Plain English, and think about answers to the questions

  • what is Facebook?
  • what is a blog?

and even

  • what is AAUW?

Status of my Facebook Applications

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Here’s a quick look at the Facebook applications I’ve tried on my profile, the ones I’ve kept and the ones I’ve disabled.

Applications

  • Facebook Basics
    • Friends
    • Groups
    • Ads and Pages
    • I am a Fan of (like groups for pages)
    • Mini-Feed
    • Information
    • Education
    • The Wall
  • Information I provide
    • Command Post – an easy way to post info to multiple places. I use it to post to Twitter — the interface is actually easier to use.
    • Profile HTML, Profile Box – allow posting of arbitrary HTML on the profile. I’m using it on the AAUW NC page to show info from AAUWNC.org’s sidebar. It’s not dynamic, just pulling things statically.
    • Simply RSS – reposts a configurable RSS feed. I’m using it on the AAUW NC page to repost a yahoo pipe that combines the various AAUW RSS feeds.
    • Notes – miniblog items and imports of this information stream
    • Posted Items – links that I want to highlight
    • Flickr Badge – photos I post on Flickr rather than Facebook
    • Wordbook – import of the branch news
    • Where I’ve Been – not used very much
  • Information I find that might be of interest to others
    • Podcasts – I was hoping to use this on the AAUW NC page, but for now it’s on my profile. Links to NPR rebroadcasts and such.
    • Swarthmore College News – Cool. But actually more interesting for the architecture. Thee are several “news” apps around — it’d be good to find out how they work.tt
    • Feed Friend RSS – primarily AAUW related RSS feeds; has changed in the last month to put info in my mini-feed
    • del.icio.us – primarily items tagged aauwtech
    • SlideShare (for slide shows written by others; I tend to post my own slides elsewhere)
  • Fundraising applications
    • Change.org – campaign based. Useful for linking nonprofits to a “change” to educate the change supporters about the mission and capacities of the nonprofit.
    • Changing the Present – campaigns linked to a specific nonprofit. Good for micro-payments to honor a friend or for a group to collaborate to raise a specific (usually not very large) sum. Seems well matched as a substitute for secret Santa gatherings — at least for groups that are just too serious for such frivolity as Dollar Store gifts.
    • Causes – campaigns linked to specific nonprofit. There’s no AAUW presence, and it’s not clear the volunteers are empowered to create one.
  • Social Networking applications
    • Blog Friends – I’m not sure I get this one. It appears to recommend blogs based on your interests.
    • Introductions – allows me to introduce one friend to another
    • Top Groups – provides quick links to my most used groups (but has even less information about recent updates than the standard Groups application)
    • Interactive Friends Graph – works with Introductions to visualize friends who don’t yet connect
    • Bumper sticker – allows for sharing “badges.” The app, though, has some serious problems and is too flakey for a general recommendation.
    • My links – links to me on other social networking sites

Concerns

  • Very few apps work on pages. How to find good ones there is a challenge. In particular would like to use the notes feature, particularly if enabled to import a blog.
  • A simple training app like Flashcards would be helpful
  • I’m still looking for a way to integrate Twitter with a page. See twitter.com/aauw07. If I find a good app that integrates “status” with a page, I’ll create a Flickr account to post those updates for AAUW NC.

Disabled or Deleted

  • Virtual bookshelf — may reactivate once I have time to read
  • Word-A-Day, Zoho Online Office, – just didn’t use
  • Questions — would more likely use this on LinkedIn, not Facebook (?)
  • Flashcards and FC Test – developer seems to be off on other things, and until there’s a search function it seems minimally useful
  • Circle of friends – public or private “circles”. This functionality (like address lists in your e-mail) is now built in to the Facebook Friends interface. It’s more flexible and easier to use there.
  • Entourage – panel of friends’ pictures, can be easier to find them there. I just don’t use this.
  • Hotlists – I’m not into the ranking here.
  • My Cookbook – Okay. I posted one recipe. But if I think of saving one, I’ll post it at member.acm.org/~shoemaker And if I need one, I go to epicurious.com
  • Top Friends – not used.
  • Advanced Wall – not used. Let’s keep it simple, people.

35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade

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We must not go back.

Read Sarah Weddington‘s, A Question of Choice.

Review what was said around the most recent March for Women’s Lives.

Listen to the stories of women who have had abortions on today’s Talk of the Nation on NPR.

We need to work on pregnancy prevention initiatives: give girls real hope that they’ll have successful lives and a reason to delay pregnancy, support comprehensive sex education, and more. Abortion should be rare — but it must be safe and legal.

Vote for candidates who support reproductive rights — the simple right of a woman to make her own health care decisions, with the advice of her physician and (one hopes) with the support of those close to her.

If we do nothing, we *can* go back. But we must not. Vote pro-choice.