This experience prompted me to find the easiest way of checking out my new followers and easily return the follow (i.e. without logging into twitter).  I have been using Topify for the last week and cannot stop raving about this service! Here is why . . .

Get a New Follower and Topify will notify you via email.  For example:



Now no offense meant for this David character, but I love twitter for the conversation so can tell at a glance that I will not be following this person by the Mr Tweet stats: 1% Conversation.  If I did decide to follow David all that I would need to do is reply to the email . . . pretty easy.

Another example, I have been following the wonderful @mistygirlph for a while and when she began following me I received the following message via Topify:



You can see the difference, 87% Conversation, 45% Links & 30 Mr Tweet Recommendations. As I am already following her updates Topify gives me the option of sending her a direct message via reply email . . . which is also an option when you receive a confirmation message from Topify saying that your follow request was processed:





Topify is currently in beta, however you can grab an invitation code here, or follow @topify and request an invite!

If you would like to learn a bit more about Topify, take a look at their You Tube video:

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read about my experience with twitter spam and learn about how to opt out of recieving automatic direct messages.

If you enjoy following me on twitter, please drop me a Mr Tweet recommendation - Thanks!

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How did this happen?

Well, I have been very busy recently and hadn’t been keeping up with new followers on twitter, I had 100+ emails from twitter inviting me to check new followers profiles and I felt bad about having not done so.

I mean these are real people who have found value I what I have to say and have chosen to follow my updates, the least I could do is take a peek at their profile.

I then decided that rather than going through the 100 emails that I would just  follow everyone who has followed me recently, automatically.  A bad decision, I advise that you don’t do this!

I was surprised that nearly a quarter of my new follows were people who used automated services to broadcast utter rubbish.

So after unfollowing everyone who sent me a direct messages I did a little bit of research about how to automatically block DMs, here is what I ended up doing:

• Follow @OptMeOut
• Await DM advising that @OptMeOut is following you
• Respond to DM to finalize process

Now I will not receive any automated direct messages from TweetLater, for full details on the process click here.

While I am sharing, I also came across Turn This Thing Off! and love the frustrated bird!

If you use automatic DMs . . . can you please tell me why?

If you don’t use automatic DMs . . . how do you feel about them?

Before you go, have a look at how I am now managing new twitter followers and subscribe to my RSS feed.

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I have been a BlackBerry addict for the past two years.  Originally I had my trusty Curve, with a battery that lasted around four days and now the magnificant BlackBerry Bold.

I am also a tad additcted to twitter, the only problem was – up until recently my BlackBerry and twitter were not the best of friends.  All of the twitter applications that I tried were lacking in some way.  Then, I came across dabr . . . hallelujah!!!

dabr has been accurately describe as ‘m.twitter.com on steroids’ – it is the only twitter interface that I have used that does everything!

Have a look . . .

Before we look at the features of dabr, let me highlight the above discussion I had with the developer on twitter.

I was playing with dabr trying to get used to the fact that it didn’t have a character counter and tweeted the following . . .

dabr didn’t ignore me . . . but rather responded with a solution half an hour later!

Very impressed, now I just need to wait for them to add a character count to the RT & direct messages!  Ok, you got me, dabr doesn’t do everything  . . . but it does have Twitpic integration; meaning that you can easily upload a pic from your phone and preview thumbnails of other twitpic posts automatically!

I even love the fact that dabr has an ugly orange theme by default (that is always a good thing right?) . . . however you can change the look if you wish.

Using dabr is very intuitive, there are great navigational controls on each tweet . . .

The navigation of different parts of twitter is also intuitive, with shortcuts included if you have a little tiny itty bity phone . . .

I mean the developer even advertises his competitors on the front page of his site!!!

dabr states that “Your ideas aren’t just welcome, but are the driving force that makes dabr improve and hopefully be your mobile twitter client of choice. So please get in touch ”

I believe they mean it.  What do you think?  Are you going to try dabr right away?

You may also be interested in reading about how I manage new followers on twitter.

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There are some great introductory videos showing people the basics, such as Common Craft ‘Twitter in Plain English‘:

That being said, I haven’t yet come across a video that explains #hashtags, Retweets, #FollowFriday and the importance of conversation in Social Media.

I am sure there are some, but I feel like making one.

To do this I need your help . . . I don’t want the tips in this movie to be based only on my thoughts, but to base them on community response.

Please take a minute or two to share your thoughts about twitter in the comments below.

To get you started:

How do you use twitter? i.e. is it for communication with friends, advertising, networking etc.

What is the most confusing thing about twitter? e.g. “why is everyone putting #blib at the end of their twitter letters?”

What other advice do you have for the Twitter Noob? e.g. complete your profile and upload an avatar.

Thank You!

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This is what BlokesLib is all about (taken directly from the BlokesLib Blog):

BlokesLib lives! It’s alive I tell you … alive! Better still, it’s free.

. . . .

Put simply, BlokesLib is a tongue in cheek opposition to Women’s Lib. A place where men can be men, socialize, have fun, share stories and have access to topics that are important to men.

For those who get bored reading this stuff and tune off after the 1st few lines, here’s the meaty stuff.

BlokesLib.com is a site that will be crammed packed full of information for us men.

It contains a blog section where you can publish your own blogs, forums, instructional sections, live video events, 1 on 1 instant messaging, the odd celebrity chat session and the really fun bit, two sections where we interact with key women. Who knows we may even learn something!

There’s information on most things blokey and yes of course the obligatory sex help section. Most content is still being recompiled at the moment, but it’s coming.

Believe it or not, women too are encouraged to join. If only to keep an eye on us.

Please visit the BlokesLib site to read the full post.

Take a moment to Sign Up, I am expecting great things from this site.

To help come up with cool t-shit slogans and to get involved with BlokesLib make sure you follow @BlokesLib on twitter.

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TwitDir (a twitter directory) shows more than three million people are communicating in this way.

The exchange is different to normal conversation, it results in sharing of resources, help with fleshing out ideas, stories are told, people are inspired, problems are solved, feedback is gained and collaboration occurs.

The trick is to know who to follow and how to manage the flood of information; as well as being prepared for the fact that you may get more insight into the person that you are following than you have had previously.

I originally started using twitter a few months ago but was rather disappointed about the whole experiment because I didn’t know anyone else who used it.

This changed when I came across Jane Hart’s Directory of Learning Professionals on Twitter.  Suddenly I realized that I would get the most out of this tool by connecting with others who worked in same field as me.  There are over 400 entries on this list so I just went through and picked out professionals whose work I already followed and others whose descriptions inspired me.

Not long after I started using twitter a new site was launched which has directories for tweeters in all sorts of industries.  JustTweetIt’s Education directory has links for over a hundred people that you could follow and you can easily add yourself to this directory so others can follow your updates.

Now I have a stream of people who I follow.

This means that whenever I choose to tune in to twitter I have the chance to talk about eLearning, communication, design and web 2.0+.  To share articles, pictures, videos and blog posts.  To collaborate, promote, assist and inspire – it is the perfect tool to connect with others who have similar interests.

The 140 character limit really encourages you to be precise about what you are saying, something I really benefit from as I tend to be a bit wordy.

Being able to quickly and easily provide an update on what you are doing and to get feedback from others results in a better work flow and reduces the amount of time it takes to share an idea.

Just now I have twittered the following:

Within 5 minutes I have a number of responses suggesting that what is most important in a new model of communication is the “ability to convey what you want people to know” (@mayhemstudios) and “the message itself, by far” (@alexhosterman).

By considering the way that we communicate and share our lives with others, we have an opportunity to change the way that we work together in the future.

For those of you who are new to the world of Twitter, I suggest you check out Twitter in Plain English Video by CommonCraft below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o&hl=en&fs=1]

I am considering how twitter could be used in business to improve communication and how it could be integrated into the eLearning experience.

I will post more on these topics another day, but for now I leave you with this question . . .

How do you see us communicating in the future?

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This video is a much watch; it highlights the changes that have occurred in the way that we interact over the web, raises some very interesting questions and reminds us that we are writing the web – we are teaching the machine.

I have watched this video a dozen times already and continue to press replay because it encourages me to rethink the way that I interact, the way that I create and the way that I consume information.

When did you realise that we are writing the web?

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It feels good to have made this decision.

It feels right.

Liz Strauss:
I took my brave and my vulnerable out of their separate jars.
They’re not broken anymore. In that way, neither am I

For a long time I deliberately didn’t have an online presence.  This decision, to be an online ’spectator’ was mainly because I felt vulnerable exposing myself to the online community.

I have been able to ‘take my vulnerable’ out of its separate jar thanks to the encouragement that I have received from friends and colleagues in continuing with my blog.  It is funny, while I have been working in training & eLearning as well as studying related areas for many years – it wasn’t until I started using Twitter that I developed a true understanding of what it meant to be part of an online community.

If you are interested in finding like minded professionals in twitter make sure you check out the Directory of Learning Professionals and Just Tweet It’s Education Directory.

One of the hardest decisions to make at this point is answering the question:

“What will you actually be doing on your website?”

This question has many answers, yet none of them capture the essence of what my new website www.matthewbibby.com will be about.

Some of the possible responses include:

• Showcasing eLearning development skills & resources
• Providing technological advice on the use of web 2.0 applications in business
• Discussing the use of new technology in eLearning development
• Developing eLearning material showcasing how to use web 2.0 applications to increase productivity
• Gathering material for use in online course creation
• A platform from which to offer informational products and my freelance services

I don’t know where this project will take us . . . so as an early visitor to my blog I would like to give you the opportunity to play a part in shaping the future of this website.  All you need to do is complete a 30 second, anonymous survey.

Don’t worry, no registration is required, just click here and the survey will open in a new window.

There will be many exciting developments on this site over the next few months so make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed so you don’t miss anything!

Thanks!

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Among other things, I have been thinking about Blue Day since I made my last post . . .  considering the impact that anxiety and depression has had on my life.

I tend to be optimistic about life and (thankfully) I have not spent much of my time being anxious or depressed.

Emo de Nayadel’s Water Crystals video came to mind as an appropriate video to share:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVcmPnFpUbQ]

As well as thinking about Blue Day I have also been very focused on the use of Web 2.0 tools & concepts in elearning.

My recent involvement with various people in the social media community (primarily via twitter and the Work Literacy Web 2.0 for Learning Professionals course) has highlighted the benefits of being engaged in a supportive online community.  I feel connected to others who are passionate about social media in a way that I hadn’t before.

The world is changing.  The way that we communicate with each other is changing and the ways that we engage each other on both a personal and professional level are different to what they were 10 years ago.

The changing nature of communication means that anyone can be actively involved in online communities . . . if you are passionate about something then find others who feel the same way!

Anxiety and depression are serious issues that impact us all.  Reach out into your community (online or offline) and share your passion and enthusiasm with others.  It really can help make a difference.

You can reduce the impact of anxiety and depression in our community by modeling engaged and enthusiastic behavior.  There is a lot to live for . . . however when you are suffering from anxiety or depression it may not always seem this way.

Wherever possible, get actively involved in a community of interest and see how you can share with others your enthusiasm or passion for that topic.

You very well may change someone’s life for the better.

How can you reach out to sufferers of anxiety and depression and positively impact their lives?

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