A few weeks ago, I announced that I would attempt to set up Middletown Press newsroom staffers with Twitter accounts. We would then provide training and open a discussion about the usefulness of Twitter. The training is ongoing, and this discussion is open to anyone in the community. You are welcome to leave a comment or ask a question below, or answer any of the questions posted if you come up with additional or better answers than the ones I've provided.

During the first sessions we've had in the newsroom, I've documented the questions people had and tried to provide the best answers I could find.

Thanks to Chris March at the New Haven Register, Ivan Lajara at the Daily Freeman in Kingston, N.Y., and LeeAnn Moran at The News-Herald in Willoughby, Ohio, for helping provide some of these answers.

What is Twitter?
A micro-blogging and social media service where users can send out messages limited to 140 characters.

Why do I need to learn about Twitter?
It is a quick-growing tool for the media industry (and many other industries). For us, using Twitter can help grow our audience it can help reporters grow their sources and their knowledge about the communities they cover

What do I tweet?
You can tweet about anything you think people will find interesting. As a reporter you can tweet about what you are working on for the day, you can tweet questions to your followers, and send out links to your stories. (But try not to tweet about what you had for breakfast)

How often should I tweet?
As often as you’d like, but at least once a day. When sending multiple tweets, try not to send them all out at once, but instead spread them over a few hours in order for people to have a little time to digest them

How is Twitter different than instant messaging, Facebook and email?
Your Twitter posts can be seen by everyone who follows you, and anyone who decides to go to your Twitter feed. Instant messaging and email is usually just peer-to-peer communication. Twitter is similar to the status updates on Facebook, but it does not give anyone the option to “like” or comment specifically on what you said. Instead, they have a chance to send you a tweet or direct message back if they wish to comment

Should I set up a "protected" account or an open account? What's the risk of having an open Twitter account?
For our purposes at work, you should have an open account so anyone can follow your tweets. With a protected account, each person who wants to follow you is subject to your approval first. As with anything you post on the internet, you should be careful about the amount of personal information you post. Therefore, we discourage posting your exact location (unless you are tweeting about an event you are covering for the newspaper), tweeting your home address, what hours you leave work at night, etc.

Who should I follow?
People you find interesting, and people related to the towns you cover, the topics you write about. You should also follow your colleagues – and don’t be afraid to interact with each other via Twitter (retweet each other, answer questions, etc.)

How can I reach people that aren’t following me or already reading my website?
By using hashtags. If you tweet about a specific topic like education or politics, or about a specific person like Charlie Sheen, simply put this symbol # in front of the word you think will draw interest. At the Press, we use #Middletown, #Cromwell and #Portland as hastags, for example, to draw in local readers

How do I create short links? Why should I create short links?
Since you only have 140 characters, you need to shorten a link when posting it to Twitter or just the URL will eat up all the space you have available. You can use sites like tinyurl.com or bit.ly to shorten links. If you use programs like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, they will shorten the links for you.

How do you expect me to manage all these things while trying to do my job?
You can use a program called Tweetdeck, which runs in the background on your computer and new messages will pop up as they come in, kind of like when you get new emails. The key thing is to just work in Twitter to your regular workflow – it should not be something you do at the end of your day “because you had to.” If you do it right, you can have a lot of fun with it.

Here's a presentation on Twitter from LeAnn Moran:
Twitter 101

And here's a video from Ivan Lajara on how journalists can use Twitter:

This week, I’ve won the Spanish lottery, the British lottery and a Dutch lottery. I’ve inherited hundreds of thousands of dollars from a “relative” in Asia and a “former business partner” of mine just died and left me another few million dollars.

I also won the Greencard lottery, and all I need to do is wire $890 to a suspicious foreign account.

I’ve received an “unbeatable voucher” for hair removal and I’ve had the offer to buy – not earn – diplomas in several professional fields of study. I think I might choose to be a doctor, or should I get a diploma for blogging?

All I can think of when I receive all this spam is the television ad featuring an elderly man in front of a computer who yells to his wife “Honey, I just won the Australian lottery!” She calmly replies, “Did you ever play the Australian lottery?” and he says “No.” “Then how could you win?”

I haven’t played or entered any of these lotteries. Perhaps it’s time to figure out why my spam filter isn’t working properly on my work email.

This story from the Daily Local, one of our sister publications in Chester County, Pa., intrigued me.

A regular couple created a novel idea for carrying a laptop around and being able to work on it while waiting for the train or bus without having to balance it in one hand and trying to type with the other. Once your transportation arrives, you can easily snap the bag shut and hop on the train.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY

If you are frequent visitor to our blog sections, you will notice that we have added a few more blogs in the past month or so. A few more were added just a minute ago, and will soon be filled with postings, so be sure to check them out!


I'd like to highlight a few:

SNARKO MARX
Our Middletown-area anonymous commenter now has his own blog where he will comment on local, statewide and national events.

MIDDLESEX UNITED WAY
Executive Director Kevin Wilhelm blogs about strengthening lives, helping people, and improving community conditions in the 15 towns in Middlesex County.

LOCAL TOP 10 LIST
Our courts reporter will blog about Top 10 things in Middlesex County - anything from where to get a good pizza to what to do to avoid ending up behind bars. Suggestions welcome. Email wgogolya@middletownpress.com

PIECES OF THE PAST
Our local copy editor and reporter Kelly Ann Gore Oleksiw will share pieces from the archives of The Middletown Press.

Do you want to start your own blog? We would be happy to help you set up a blog and connect you to our blogger network. Contact me at editor@middletownpress.com.

I've never quite known what to think about LinkedIn - a social network that friends and co-workers keep inviting me to via email. Therefore, I was excited to find out that our sister publication The Register Citizen would be hosting a class on the subject in its new classroom with expert Cindy Donaldson from Founders Insurance Group.

The class taught me that it's all about who you know and are connected to on Linked In that matters, and you have to know how to fill out your profile so you will be found.

If you are looking for a job or looking to hire someone, LinkedIn can be a great tool. Through the people you are already connected to, you can find other prospective employers or employees with just the click of a button. And you don't have to used the paid version - the free version of LinkedIn is just fine.

LinkedIn allows you to upload your resume, share some highlights of what you've done in your career and connects to your Twitter feed and your blog, if you want them all connected. You can also join groups that can help you in your career.

My first step after the class was to go in and add my profile picture - that's where I had gotten stuck several months earlier when I first set up the account. LinkedIn also lets you import contacts from your email account to see if people you already know are in the network - kind of like on Facebook - and you can click through your friends and connect with others you might know.

I am by no means an expert on the subject and probably never will be, but I feel more comfortable with the site now and will hopefully be able to use it to make connections with people in the local community. Come find my profile here.

Our most popular local video from this week was - not surprisingly - a video about food and a new business opening in town (read story about Nardelli's HERE).

NARDELLI'S GRINDER SHOPPE OPENS


You can see the rest of our popular videos by CLICKING HERE.