Twitter Lists

Lists have the potential to be a game-changing feature. A week ago, I hated ‘em… and then I noticed something.

You don’t need to be following someone to put them on a list. Creating a list aggregates the tweets all of the people on that list, in essence creating a new “stream” for you to watch, whether you follow those people or not.

If you wanted to trim who you follow down to just people you care about, and put everybody else (people who owe you money, jerk family members, etc) in lists that you check less often, you can do it.  That way, you only follow the people who you really want to see in your main stream (or when you click on “Home” or visit Twitter.com).

Everybody else you wouldn’t follow; you add them to a list.  You can then check that list as a new stream.  Lists appear on your sidebar under search.

Each time you’re added to a list, your “listed” count (on your profile page) goes up.  Lists are a good indicator of street cred.  The more exclusive the list and the more lists you’re on, the more cred you have (in theory).

Lists can be public or private.  Public lists can be followed by other users (that is, they “follow” the list you created to see all the tweets from those users, without having to follow each of those users).  Private lists can only be seen by you and don’t count toward the “listed” count.

Want to hook someone up to a network?  Share a list.  It’s also an easy way to damage other people’s reps.  The “Idiots” list, for example – “people I’d never listen to but want to keep tabs on”.

As far as I know, there’s no way to remove yourself from a list.  The owner of the list has to do that.

Here’s the downside: it’s very easy to make duplicate lists.  If Joe and Jimmy both know Web Developers in Fort Collins, and both make lists, then which list is better?  Which list do you follow?  How do  you know if Joe’s list is more recent than Jimmy’s?

We’ll see! But lists are definitely a cool feature with a lot of potential.

ReTweet Mods

A few users noticed this new feature message on Twitter.com today.

Now when you hover your mouse over a Tweet on Twitter.com, you can Retweet in addition to Reply.

When you click on the Retweet link, you have to confirm you’d meant to RT it.  When you do, in your stream (and on list streams) that Tweet appears… but not from you.  From the original author.

@Zaibatsu is not a member of the IgniteFC-Presenters list.  But underneath the tweet, it says “Retweeted by you”.  The same thing happens on your profile page.  Except that instead of their avatar, a new RT icon appears.

Tweets Retweeted in this manner do not appear in TweetDeck or any other 3rd party tool.

Combine this with Twitter Lists and you have two new unique features you just can’t get outside of Twitter.com.

TwitBlock and TwitterCounter are just two.

These sites require you to log-in to Twitter to use ‘em.  But instead of asking for your username and password, they use something called OAUTH.

Think of OAUTH as the valet key to your car.  It can start the car, sure, but you can’t get into the glove box or trunk without the real key.

Sites that use OAUTH have no ability to change your username, your password, or your e-mail address… things that hackers would love to do (so they could pose as you, for example).  OAUTH also can’t be duplicated, the permission you give is unique to that individual site.

Most sites say “Authenticate (or Log-In) with OAUTH” and a window will pop up that looks something like the picture above.

Giving out your username and password potentially gives unscrupulous people access to change any of those details – whenever you give out your username and password, you hand random strangers the real key to your car.  A bad site could sell your username and password or pass it off to someone who wanted to do bad things.

OAUTH permission can be revoked at any time (or you can check to see which sites you’ve given access to) by logging in to Twitter and going to: http://twitter.com/account/connections.  You can’t get back your username and password once you’ve given it out.  Your only recourse would be to change your password, and by the time you realize something’s wrong, the damage is likely already done.

The best way to keep your Twitter account safe is to:

1. Choose a strong password – with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one symbol.  Avoid whole words, the names of your pets, or things someone who reads your Tweets might easily be able to guess.
2. Use OAUTH instead of giving out your username and password.  If a site doesn’t use OAUTH, you shouldn’t be giving ‘em your info – trust me, I make websites… it’s not hard to build OAUTH into a site.

Dunbar’s number says that a human being can only keep up with 150 friends at a time.

How many people are you friends with on Facebook?  How many people are following you on Twitter?  How many people are fans of your Facebook page?

There’s nothing wrong with being popular, except that it can force you to take attention away from your true fans.  Your true fans appreciate you; they help you shape your product, your business, your essence.  They tell their friends and turn them into true fans.  They stick by and buy from you, even if you slip up from time to time.

You know that saying?  The ones who mind don’t matter, the ones who matter don’t mind.  Those are your true fans.

When you start playing the numbers game, you have to forsake your true fans’ interests and head to the higher, middle ground.  In essence, you’re aiming to become king of a very small, very crowded hill; all you’re really trying to do is see more true fans.  But now, your true fans have to shout to be heard.  And try as you might, you will probably never be able to hear them as clearly as you once did when you were right by their side.

Your true fans will tell their own group of 150 about you, if they think you’re worthy.  That’s unlikely if you treat them like a commodity.  Show them the trust they deserve, it’ll all work out in the end.

The uninitiated are bound to see the advertising as an insurmountable obstacle.

The long-term viewers are likely to get frustrated and give up.

Hey, it worked when Fox wanted to kill Dark Angel, Titus, Undeclared, Action, That 80’s Show, Wonder Falls, Fast Lane, Andy Richter Controls The Universe, Skin, Girl’s Club, Cracking Up, The Pitts, Firefly, Get Real, Freaky Links, Wanda At Large, Costello, The Lone Gunman, A Minute with Stan Hooper, Normal Ohio, Pasadena, Harsh Realm, Keen Eddy, The Street, American Embassy, Cedric The Entertainer, The Tick, Louie, and Greg The Bunny.

Oh, yeah – and there’s a girl in that picture.  Can you find her?

Check out the Digital Gunslingers – we meet every week for an hour to talk about social media. We only charge $1.

… CO2 is Green now? Wait, wait… let me get this straight – so a panel of scientific experts gets together, saying that rising CO2 levels will create a warmer planet, and… after a few beers, and what I’m assuming is literally wheelbarrows full of cash, these scientists decide (at the behest of oil industry executive H. Leighton Steward and the “Coal CEO” Corbin J. Robertson Jr.) that CO2 is green? And not only that, CO2 is THE ANSWER TO OUR UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS? The folks behind CO2IsGreen.org think so. Going so far as to say:

“In the foreseeable future, all forms of hydrocarbons are needed to power the world economy, employment, and provide for people’s daily needs. If the U.S. moves to the most expensive energy sources, the economic impact will be suicidal.”

– CO2isGreen.org

That’s right! Nevermind nuclear, so long solar, bye bye wind! They want you to believe that the future is a wet dream of oil and coal.

Now, I’m not one to shake my finger at hard scientific evidence, but the “science” page is filled with quotations from a site called PlantsNeedCO2.org. You guessed it – sharing slogans and ties to CO2isGreen.org, PlantsNeedCO2.org is about as scientific as a meth lab. And that’s not all – a few simple searches reveal a boatload of half-truths and manufactured claims.

Proof that you can indeed market anything – and these marketers, I’m fairly certain, have no souls.

I’m no hippie environmentalist douchebag, but this one reeks of bullshit. If you fall for this (like the 300+ Facebook fans have – mostly driven by a sense of irony, I’m sure), we have a special CO2-filled room for you to celebrate with the “plant and animal life” you’ll be thriving with.

Hey, while we’re at it, can we all just finally agree that dihydrogen monoxide is just a bad thing for everyone?

First, you should grab your vanity URL.  That is, your username on Facebook that will allow you to visit http://www.facebook.com/username to go straight to you.  Start by logging in to Facebook and click on Settings from the top menu bar.

Click on the Change link across from Username.  You can only change your username ONCE – and it has to be unique, meaning no one else can have that same username – so pick something that everybody knows you by or your full name.  Mine is NickArmstrong, but could have easily been Nick.Armstrong, NickMArmstrong or NicholasArmstrong.  Make sure you spellcheck and error check before you finally decide on one.

Also, if you’re somewhat popular (or planning on becoming somewhat popular) and want to make a fan page for yourself some day, you won’t be able to use the same vanity url for the page as you did your personal profile; keep that in mind.

Once you have your vanity URL, it’ll be easy enough to remember: http://www.facebook.com/NickArmstrong or whatever you choose.  Of course, if you can’t remember your own name, just go to the top menu bar on Facebook, right-click on your name and select Copy Hyperlink/Copy Link Location.  Paste it somewhere:

http://www.facebook.com/NickArmstrong?ref=name

Then remove “?ref=name” from the end of the url and share to your heart’s content:

http://www.facebook.com/NickArmstrong

That’s it!  Have fun with all your new friends.

The moral of the story: try not to murder your test subjects.

I’m making it my mission in life to remake this commercial.

Test Your Package offers complete STD testing.  That’s right – THAT’S the package they meant.  And if their homepage doesn’t give you the creepy tingles, I don’t know what will:

Yes, those ARE Facebook and Twitter profile icons you see – which are JUST as awkward.  In fact – their Facebook ads are how I found ‘em, apparently I find it impossible to resist an ad labeled “Name Your Package”.

Their Twitter profile is just plain creepy.  Their description? “Hair today, schlong tomorrow.”  Their location? “In your pants.”

If that weren’t enough, this is their profile picture:

Oh yeah.  I’d totally trust that guy with my junk.  Suppose he’s the one that meets you at the lab?

I can’t tell if they’re a legit business or not.  They sell kits and provide logins to their website so you can see your results and print ‘em out.  I haven’t done it myself, but I imagine they have a big “I’m Clean” certificate you can show to your significant other (or maybe just frame above the bed) and stickers you can put on your car.

In any case, they’re putting a dent in the stigma of STD testing – which is a #WIN in my book.

They’re taking a product that covers up frilly nickers far too seriously. The point of jeans: cover up things you don’t want other people to see, accentuate curves (for girls and some guys), and be able to withstand punishment.

I’ve never walked into a Gap store and said, “You know, I really want those jeans that the actress/photographer/etc was wearing…” Granted, I’m probably outside the target demographic – but I’d say it’s a fair bet that millennial women (under 15-30) aren’t falling for this.

You want to sell me jeans? Don’t give me a sappy story or pseudo-experts lecturing me on things I don’t care about. Show me a hiker falling down a cliff, breaking both legs, and when the ambulance gets there – they can’t cut open his jeans. THAT’S a pair of jeans I want to buy. I want to survive a bull gorging without becoming a bull’s bitch. And if my ass looks good when I put ‘em on, I’m buying those jeans.

Anything else is nonsense.