How to Use Twitter

I have a Twitter account (@stefanwelsh) and have been using it a lot lately. I am not quite a pro at using Twitter, but I do know how to use it and get around on the site. I have been asked more than a few times lately to teach someone how to use Twitter so I am going to just give a little overview and answer some questions on how to use it to post pictures, links, videos, or just how to Tweet.

What is twitter? (About us page on Twitter)

Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations.
At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters in length, but don’t let the small size fool you—you can share a lot with a little space. Connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media. You can tell your story within your Tweet, or you can think of a Tweet as the headline, and use the details pane to tell the rest with photos, videos and other media content. See it in action.

How do I Tweet?

Twitter Home Console

This is a picture of a Twitter home console. I have circled the two areas that you can use to start a new Tweet.

The first circled item is the "New Tweet" button. The bar that the "New Tweet" button is on is permanently at the top of the screen when you are on Twitter. When this button is clicked a text box appears on the page and you can start a new Tweet and submit it using this button from any page on twitter. I use this button when I am not on my home page, so I can check spelling, or copy and paste more easily.

The second or bigger circle is  the "What's happening" box. This box is just like the "New Tweet" button, but it only appears on your Twitter home page.

To actually Tweet, all you have to do is put text in either one of those boxes and hit the Tweet button. Some people don't know what to Tweet about. Well that is entirely up to you. You can Tweet about your kids, your dogs, work, lack of work, the weather, anything literally! You can become a citizen journalist or just keep your family informed; Twitter can be as powerful as you want it to be.

How do I Tweet media like links, pictures and videos?

It is easy to Tweet links and videos and pictures.

As an example I Tweeted my website after compressing the link with bit.ly

How do I Tweet a link? All you have to do is say what you want about the link, then copy and paste the link inside the box. If your link puts your Tweet over the legal limit, you can shorten it with bit.ly or tinyurl. These sites shrink your link so you can fit it into a Tweet; all you have to do is copy and paste the full link on one of those sites, then click a button and they are compressed and ready to copy and paste into your Tweet.

How do I Tweet A Picture?
Twitter doesn't offer an official picture-posting feature of its own, however, most people use a third-party application (a popular one is TwitPic) to post pictures to Twitter accounts. Check out other photo and video apps on the Twitter Fan Wiki here. I usually Tweet pictures from my phone using an app on my phone from TwitPic. I was able to find a short video tutorial to help explain how to use TwitPic.

Hopefully that helps you figure out how to Tweet a picture, but you can use any other third-party application to Tweet a picture. Here is a short list of other sites that allow you to Tweet pictures.

• ThumbSnap
• Tagxta!
• tDash
• fumpr 
• TwitrPix  

There are many more that you can use, but those are just some random ones that I found online.

How do I Tweet a video?
Exactly the same way you Tweet a picture. Check out the Twitter Fan Wiki/Apps page here. Look at the Media - Photos and Videos in Tweets section, there is a lot more of those third-party apps or websites that are made to Tweet media.

I will make another post to help out with twitter in a while. Hope this helps you get a start. Get out there and Tweet it up, and follow me on Twitter @stefanwelsh.

A place for coding

I like to code, ha ha pretty geeky. I have compiled a top five list of the best places to sit down plug-in and get creative, or something like that.

1. The Blue Moon Coffee Company - Hastings, Nebraska

The Blue Moon is a cool quite place with a lot of cool booths, tables, chairs, and couches to relax in. The best part is their electricity situation. I am pretty sure that they have an outlet for at least every booth, I have not been there fighting for an outlet. A down that they have is WiFi. It is available and free but almost half of the time that I am there it is not working properly.

2. Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill - Denver, Colorado
Garbanzo is a pretty sweet place, try the food it tastes great get a pita with some hummus and beef. They don't have any really comfortable areas, but they do have outlets under each booth, and some in the walls next to small tables, they don't have WiFi, but I have always had an outlet to plug into, and they don't care how long you are there.
3. Bruegger's Bagel's - Denver, Colorado
This store is located pretty close to the University of Denver campus. Good service, they are very fast getting you through the line, and down in your seat. You don't have to buy anything either, you could just sit down in their padded booths and plug-in, the outlets are right next to the salt and pepper shakers, pretty nice. It also has pretty reliable free WiFi. But you will be lucky to get a booth, like I said it is pretty close to DU's campus, so there are plenty of college students that are trying to find a place to study that land there.

4. Starbucks Coffee - Monument, Colorado
The Starbucks in Monument is the most up to date one i have been in so far. they have free WiFi, and they actually have a little workstation that can host about six laptops at a table next to the pick-up counter. They also have several outlets by the windows and one or two along the walls. The only downfall to this area is traffic that it gets, it's right next to i25 and is always very busy, it is also a small place.

5. Ihop - Pueblo, Colorado
The Ihop in Pueblo is not full of outlets, but the food is fast, and if they are not packed they can find you an outlet, just don't show up on a Sunday morning. The last time I was there they didn't have WiFi themselves, but there were a couple available in the area, or you can just go off the WiFi on your phone like I did. They try to accommodate you and your laptop that is why they made my list, I have been to places that won't do anything to help your situation.

If you are in the area check those places out maybe I will see you there.