My Twittonary – Every Twitter Term and Tool I Can Find

Recently I've been very intrigued with twitter. It has been my source of interaction for the most part - I work on the computer day and night (ya I know I should get out more!). And I also use my iPhone to tweet while watching television. For those who don’t know, Twitter is a micro-blogging application that allows you to send updates (aka “tweets”) to the Twitter website and your twitter friends, similar to the Facebook status (with a limit of 140 character input). You can find and interact with people with similar interests. You can follow them, and others can follow you. It’s an instant-messaging-meets-social-media-networking tool.

If you want to learn all about Twitter and how it can benefit you or your company as a brand, I highly recommend Deborah Micek and Warren Whitlock's Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online. They really know their stuff with regards to Twitter and Social Media. I had the liberty to meet Warren Whitlock at Blogworld Expo in Vegas over a month ago (a very nice man he is too!).

Below is my compiled list of every term, shorthand and tool that I researched on the net (after being disappointed with http://twittonary.com/ – they can use my list below if they give credit!). I am sure many new tools are still being developed and I may have missed many that will be in Warren and Deb’s handbook (feel free to comment on the post if you know of any I missed- I am sure there's more! )

I colored coded my list by: Terms ( orange ), shorthands ( green ) and tools ( purple ) all in alphabetical order.

• 1 – ( shorthand ) one, won
• 2 - ( shorthand ) to, too, two
• 30 Boxes - (tool) has tight Twitter integration. After adding Twitter to your Web Stuff, you can view twitters from you and friends and you can post directly to Twitter.
• 4 - (shorthand ) for, four
• 4U – ( shorthand ) for you
• 4ward - ( shorthand ) forward
• ab or abt – ( shorthand ) about
• B – ( shorthand ) be
• b/c – ( shorthand ) because
• b4 – ( shorthand ) before
• BFN – ( shorthand ) bye for now
• bgd – ( shorthand ) background
• BiggerTwitter - (tool) A service similar to Twitzer which allows you to post longer messages, although works by placing a link in the Tweet.
• BigTweet - (tool) - BigTweet installs as a bookmarklet to your browser and allows you to post to Twitter from any web page. Insert special Unicode characters and shorten URLs.
• Blackbird - (mobile tool) a Twitter client for BlackBerry smartphones.
• Blogo - (mac tool) A weblog editor which is also a full-featured Twitter client integrated with Twitpic, tinyURL, tweetburner and Ping.fm.
• BLT – ( linux tool ) Perl script that lets you see what your friends are doing right from the Terminal.
• BR - ( shorthand ) best regards
• BTW – ( shorthand ) by the way
• CelebrityTweet - (tool) Stalk or follow celebrities on Twitter as they tweet in real-time.
• CheckYesOrNo.info - (tool) Create simple yes or no polls and use the 'send to twitter' feature to easily share with your twitter buddies. It's like those notes you used to get from girls back in junior high.
• Chirrup – ( windows tool ) Twitter client with extensive Japanese language support.
• chk - ( shorthand ) check
• cld – ( shorthand ) could
• clk – ( shorthand ) click
• Cullect - (tool) Collaborative feed reader optimized for Twitter; sign in with your Twitter id, post to twitter. Cullect also auto-expands shortened urls. More info at @cullect •
• da – ( shorthand ) the
• deets – ( shorthand ) details
• DM – ( shorthand ) direct message
• Drunktwittering – ( term ) Similar to drunk dialing
• Dweet – ( term ) Tweet sent while drunk
• Dwigger - (tool) Threaded conversations and voting for Twitter
• EM/eml – ( shorthand ) email
• EMA – ( shorthand ) email address
• F2F – ( shorthand ) face to face (as in meeting someone in person)
• fab – ( shorthand ) fabulous
• fav/fave – ( shorthand ) favorite
• Feedalizr – (tool) A free desktop application that allows you to view, rate and comment on what your friends are sharing online. Tweet, upload pics to Flickr, update your Facebook status, keep up to date with your friends’ Google Reader, Digg, Tumblr, YouTube and Last.fm posts on Friendfeed.
• fitURL - (tool) fitURL creates short URLs just like tinyURL accept it fights spam by checking for spam URLs which makes it much more reliable.
• Flotzam - (windows tool) A Mash Up of Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and blogs, completely configurable.
• Follow – (action) Choosing to sign up to receive someone's Tweets.
• Follow+UserName – (action) The instruction to keep up with a user's flow of Twitter messages.
• Followers - ( term ) People who follow your updates.
• FoodFeed - (tool) Twitter-based food log. Track what you eat by prefixing a message with @having, or direct messaging having.
• FreeTweets - (tool) Cool collections of hottest Twitter Backgrounds.
• Friendfeed – ( tool ) Puts all of our RSS content onto one page, making it easy to see from one glance (rather than going to different properties) and you can even reply from friendfeed to different tools. It’s smarter to organize around people, rather than tools.
• Friendorfollow – ( tool ) Find out who you're following that's not following you back, and who's following you that you're not following back.
• FuelFrog - (tool) Use Twitter to keep a log of your fuel and mileage. Compare your mileage with others in your area, or with the same car.
• fwd - ( shorthand ) forward
• FYI – ( shorthand ) for your information
• Geotwitter – (action) Tracks the geographical location of the most recent Tweets.
• Get+UserName - (action) A command that retrieves the most recent updated Tweet from that user.
• Google Snackr – ( tool ) Snackr is an RSS ticker that pulls random items from your feeds and scrolls them across your desktop. When you see a title that looks interesting, you can click on it to pop up the item in a window.
• GR8 – ( shorthand ) great
• Green Tweets – (tool) Tracks tweets about green & environmental topics based on semantic natural language analysis rather than keyword.
• gTwitter – ( linux tool ) GTK+ based app inspired by Twitterrific.
• Hashtag – ( term ) Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets. They're like tags or categories, only added inline to your post. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag.
• IC – ( shorthand ) I see
• IM - ( shorthand ) instant message
• IMHO – ( shorthand ) in my humble opinion
• IRL – ( shorthand ) for in real life
• iTweet – ( mobile tool ) A mobile Twitter site designed for the iPhone.
• iTwit – ( mobile tool ) Mobile version of Twitter made for the iPhone.
• itz - ( shorthand ) it is
• Jack Dorsey – (person) Widely acknowledged as the inventor of Twitter.
• Jaiku – ( tool ) A competitor of Twitter, currently owned by Google.
• Jargong - ( mobile tool ) Browse Flickr, do some social networking, but most importantly, check and publish tweets.
• JK or j/k – ( shorthand ) just kidding
• JSYK – ( shorthand ) just so you know
• jTwitter – ( mobile tool ) View timelines, enter updates, and more, all on your mobile phone.
• K – ( shorthand ) okay
• kewl – ( shorthand ) cool
• KipFolio Widget – ( windows tool ) Simple Twitter widget for KipFolio.
• L8 – ( shorthand ) late
• L8er – ( shorthand ) later
• LiveTwitting - (tool) Use LiveTwitting for your next conference, event, or meeting instead of liveblogging. Simple commands to turn recording on and off, all through Twitter.
• LMAO – ( shorthand ) laughing my ass off
• lmk – ( shorthand ) let me know
• LOL – ( shorthand ) laughing out loud
• Loudtwitter – ( tool ) Automatically transfer your Tweets directly to your blog.
• MadTwitter – ( windows tool ) A reincarnation of Twitterrific, except on Windows.
• Micro-blog - ( term ) A tiny way to blog. Twitter only allows 140 characters and classified as a micro-blog.
• mil – ( shorthand ) million
• Mistweet – ( term ) A message or 'Tweet' that was sent in error or one later regrets.
• MoniTwitter – ( tool ) Receive important updates about your site via Twitter.
• Njoy – ( shorthand ) enjoy
• Nudge+UserName - (action) A Twitter command used to remind a Friend to update their Twitter status
• Obvious – (company) The American company based in California that created Twitter.
• OH – ( shorthand ) overheard
• OMG – ( shorthand ) oh my god/gosh
• peeps – ( shorthand ) people
• picobuzz - (tool) Shows popular buzz words from the public timeline and who's sayin' them!
• PingTwitter - (tool) Ping your Twitter account from your blog so it auto updates when you make a new blog post.
• plz – ( shorthand ) please
• pockettweets – ( mobile tool ) A Web-based Twitter client for the Apple iPhone.
• Politweets - ( tool ) A tool for tracking Tweets relating to politics
• pple – ( shorthand ) people
• props – ( shorthand ) proper respect
• Pwytter – ( windows tool ) Cross platform Python Twitter client with Asian character support.
• Quotably – ( tool ) A ‘conversation’ tracker, it threads together the discussions that members are having by looking at the replies, interesting to see how conversations spiral into different threads. Follow the Tweets of a particular user in a threaded style.
• R – ( shorthand ) are
• ReporTwitters – ( term ) Bunch of journalists publishing 'reality style' tweets in conjunction with their articles.
• Retweetme : ( tool & action) Use Twitter to remind yourself of things you might forget. When the time comes, Twitter will message you the reminder.
• ROFL – ( shorthand ) rolling on the floor laughing
• RSS2Twitter – ( tool ) Share any RSS feed on Twitter, and have new RSS items automatically be tweeted.
• RT / Retweet – ( shorthand ) when you repeat a tweet from someone else
• RU? - ( shorthand ) are you?
• Ruby on Rails : The programming language used to create and develop Twitter.
• Saytweet – ( tool ) Create a Twitter badge that shows your updates on a picture!Upload a picture and then tag some Twitter users in that picture. Voila − that's all it takes to make a dynamic mashup like the one above. Give it a try, and then share the badge!
• Search Plugin – ( browser plugin tool ) Tweet right from the Firefox search box.
• Shareaholic – ( browser plugin tool ) Share links and webpages via Twitter right within Firefox.
• shld – ( shorthand ) should
• SnapTweet – ( mobile tool ) Snapping a mobile photo, uploading to Flickr, and using http://snaptweet.com/to post it to your Twitter stream
• Spaz – ( cross-platform tool ) Desktop client built with AIR.
• Summize: ( search tool ) For searching the content of hundreds of thousands of Tweets. As of fall 2008 it is twitter.search.com
• Snitter – (tool) lots of features with a great UI make this Twitter client stand out from the crowd. Built on AIR.
• StrawPoll - (tool) Tiny daily polls in 140 characters or less.
• Teletwitter – ( windows tool ) Experimental open source client.
• Terraminds – ( search tool ) Search for specific users or tweets.
• thx/tx – ( shorthand ) thanks
• TIA - ( shorthand ) thanks in advance
• TikiTwit – ( mac tool) Match your iChat status to your last tweet.
• TinyTwitter – ( mobile tool ) works with any Java enabled device (that's a bunch & includes the CrackBerry) and any Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone
• TopNewsTrends - (tool) Top News Trends combines google trends data with twitter search.
• TrackThis - (tool) Track your FedEx, UPS, USPS and DHL packages using Twitter direct messages
• Twappi - (tool) Daily Twitter mood
• Twautocomplete – (tool) Firefox extension to add autocomplete on Twitter.com for @-messages and d-messages
• TreoTwit – ( mobile tool ) Easily check and update your Twitter right from your Treo.
• twiggit - (tool) twiggit is an automated service that lets your friends on twitter know what articles you digg.
• TwitDir - (tool) A Twitter directory, no more. You are looking for someone, something? Just type a few words in the search engine.
• Triqqr – ( windows tool ) Submit tweets directly to Twitter and view user profiles.
• ttyl – ( shorthand ) talk to you later
• ttys - ( shorthand ) talk to you soon
• Twadd – ( term ) To add someone as a friend - mutual followers.
• Twadget – ( windows tool ) Simple gadget that lets you view and submit tweets right from Vista’s Sidebar.
• Twaffic – ( term ) Twitter traffic.
• Twaggle – ( term ) A gaggle of followers.
• Twaigslist – ( term ) To sell something via twitter. Also Twebay.
• Twaiting – ( term ) Twittering while waiting
• Twardware – ( term ) Twitter hardware.
• Twashdot – ( term ) News for twitterers. Stuff that doesn't matter.
• Twaunt – ( term ) To taunt someone over twitter.
• Twead – ( term ) To read a twitter.
• Twebay – ( term ) To offer something for sale via twitter. Also Twaigslist.
• Tweekend – ( term ) Spending your entire Saturday and Sunday reading and posting via Twitter.
• Tweepish – ( term ) Feeling sheepish or regretful about something you tweeted.
• Tweeple – ( term ) Twitter people, Twitter members, Twitter users
• Tweeps – ( term ) Twitterites that follow each other from one social media/network to another.
• tweeps / tweeple – ( term ) peeps / people (on Twitter)
• Tweet Pushers – ( term ) Writers (guest bloggers) whose ideas and suggestions that will be featured at The Wall Tweet Journal
• Tweet(ing) – ( term ) The act of posting to Twitter
• Tweetaholism – ( term ) The continued use of Twitter as an addiction that is difficult to control
• Tweetard – ( term ) A twitter retard.
• Tweet-back – ( term ) Bringing a previous tweet conversation or reference back into the current conversation.
• Tweetbar – ( browser plugin tool ) Put Twitter on your Firefox sidebar.
• Tweetbeep – ( tool ) an alert email service where you can filter keywords.
• Tweetburner - ( tool ) a url shortener with stats
• Tweetdeck – ( cross-platform tool ) an Adobe Air desktop application. TweetDeck enables users to split their main feed (All Tweets) into topic or group specific columns allowing a broader overview of tweets.
• Tweet-dropping – ( term ) Eavesdropping on someone’s else’s Home Page in With Friends mode.
• Tweeter – ( cross-platform tool ) Java based client with customizable UI.
• Tweeter – ( term ) A user of Twitter (compare: Twitterer).
• Tweeterboxes – ( term ) Twitterers who tweet too much
• Tweetheart – ( term ) That special someone who makes your heart skip a beat
• TweetIn - ( term) When a group of twitterers agree to get together at a set time to twitter
• Tweetlater - ( tool ) Keep your Twitter stream ticking over with new tweets even when you're not in front of your computer. Or, use it as your personal reminder system.Send automated thank you notes to new followers, and automatically follow new followers,if you choose to do so.
• Tweetr – ( cross-platform tool ) Submit tweets, upload files, urltea built in, delete messages.
• Tweets - (term) Posts on Twitter by twitterers.
• Tweetscan – ( search tool ) Search by term and username.
• Tweetsulted, Tweetsult – ( term ) insult
• Tweetup – ( shorthand ) an in-person meet up of Twitter members
• Tweetwhatyoueat - (tool) Your daily food diary. Setup your own Twitter food diary in moments.
• Tweetwhatyouspend - (tool) Cash tracking made simple through Twitter.
• TweetWheel – ( tool ) Find out which of your Twitter friends know each other!
• Twellow – ( tool ) A directory that categorize twitter users into the various categories.
• Twerminology – ( term )Twitter terminology
• Twerpscan – ( tool ) Check the number of followers of everyone on your contact list, the number of people they are following, and the ratio between those. If the person is following more than (n) people (can be customised), and has a followers-to-following ratio higher than 1:(m) (can be customised), you'll be notified by a link.
• Twessenger – ( windows tool ) Updates Live Messenger status to reflect latest tweet.
• Twexplanation – ( term ) Sending a nebulous tweet and having to explain it while offline from twitter.
• Twhepherd – ( term ) The Twitter employee that finds and restores lost followers to your twaggle.
• Twhiner – ( term ) A twitterer who only ever posts whiney, negative tweets
• Twhirl – ( tool ) A desktop client for the Twitter microblogging platform, powered by Adobe AIR. Connects to multiple Twitter , laconi.ca , Friendfeed and seesmic accounts.
• Twideo-cronicity – ( term ) When you’re watching someone’s videos and they are simultaneously leaving a comment or tweet for/at/about you.
• Twidget – ( mac tool ) Update your Twitter status within Dashboard.
• twidroid - (tool) the first full-featured twitter client for android mobile phones
• Twike – ( term ) To ride a bike with twitter.
• Twinja – ( cross-platform tool ) AIR based client which allows you to follow users on the fly.
• Twinfluence - (tool) a simple tool using the Twitter API to to measure the combined influence of twitterers and their followers, with a few social network statistics thrown in as bonus.
• TwinkedIn – ( term ) Inviting friends made on Twitter to “connect with you on LinkedIn
• Twinkle – ( mobile tool ) Contact old friends and make new ones, all with Twinkle, the location-aware network for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
• Twippera – ( browser plugin tool ) Twitter widget for Opera that can send and view tweets.
• Twis – ( term ) To dis a fellow twitterer. Bad form.
• Twist – ( tool ) See trends in twitter
• Twisticuffs – ( term ) Fighting with a fellow twitterer over twitter.
• Twit.el – ( linux tool ) Another utility that allows publishing of tweets within Emacs.
• Twit4Live – ( windows tool ) Set status message as latest tweet, send tweets from within Live Messenger, and send tweets to contacts.
• Twitbar – ( linux tool ) Post tweets from the GNOME deskbar.
• TwitBin – ( browser plugin tool ) TwitBin is an extension for firefox that brings the power of twitter right in your browser. Send and view tweets right within it.
• TwitBox – ( windows tool ) Desktop client. View and submit tweets, see replies and direct messages, delete your own tweets, and multiple account support.
• TwitDir – ( search tool ) Allows user to search for users by name, location, or username.
• Twitgit – ( mac tool ) Read your friend’s tweets and submit your own, right in Dashboard.
• Twitkit – ( browser tool ) TwitKit is a Twitter sidebar for Firefox. TwitKit has a 6-section interface, using tabs to separate content.
• Twitosphere – ( term ) Community of twitterers
• Twitpic – ( tool ) TwitPic lets you share photos on Twitter .You can post pictures to
• TwitPic from your phone, our API , or through the site itself.
• Twitt(url)y – ( tool ) A service for tracking what URLs people are talking about as they talk about them on twitter.
• Twittastic – ( term ) Fantastic, wonderful, superb; coined by the folks at Twitterholic when referring to their robots.
• Twittcrastination - ( term ) Twittering as a form of procrastination
• Twittduit – ( term ) If you need to Tweet a friend that does not follow you, post a
• Twittduit asking your followers to pass a message.
• Twittectomy - ( term ) unfollowing friends
• Twittelator – ( mobile tool ) C omplete iPhone twitter client . Available through the App Store.
• TweetAhead – ( mac tool ) Schedule tweets to be posted ahead of time with a simple Dashboard widget.
• Twitter CLI – ( windows tool ) Post tweets via the command line.
• Twitter for Vim – ( linux tool ) Publish tweets right within Vim.
• Twitter.el – ( linux tool ) Publish tweets while in Emacs.
• Twitter100 - View 100 Tweets at a time.
• Twitterati – ( term ) The glamorous A-List twitterer's everyone wants to follow.
• Twitterbate – ( term ) To masturbate to another user's tweets.
• TwitterBerry – ( mobile tool ) Twitter built for various BlackBerry devices. Update and view timelines with ease.
• TwitterBuzz – ( tool ) Find out what domains are being most linked to on Twitter.
• Twittercal mass – ( term ) A community that has achieved a critical mass of twitterers.
• TwitterCard - (tool) Create a 125x125 Twitter business card widget to put on your blog and display bio and recent status.
• Twitterer - ( term ) A user of Twitter (compare: Tweeter).
• twitterfeed.com - (tool) "feed your blog to twitter". submit your blog's feed, and get your new blog posts twittered automatically.
• Twitterfly – ( term ) Being a social butterfly on Twitter evidenced by extreme usage of @ signs.
• TwitterFox – ( browser plugin tool ) Compact Firefox extension that can publish and view tweets. ( previously known as TwitterNotifier )
• Twittergrader – ( tool ) Twitter Grader gives you a grade based on the power of
  your Twitter profile.
• Twitterholic – ( tool ) Shows the top users and accounts on Twitter.
• Twittering – ( term ) To send a Twitter message.
• Twitterish - ( term ) Erractic behavior with short outbursts.
• Twitteritas – ( term ) Women who play with their twitters.
• Twitterject – ( term ) Interject your tweet into an existing tweet stream of conversation.
• Twitter-ku – ( term ) Those who either post on both Twitter and Jaiku or load their
• Twitterless - (tool) Twitterless will notify you when somebody stops following you and tell you who it is and your follower history is graphed out over time.
• Twitterlex – ( mac tool ) A simple Mac OS X Dashboard Widget that shows you the last 30 twitters by you and your Twitter friends, updating every 60 seconds when visible.
• Twitterlicious – ( windows tool ) Update Twitter status, easily check replies and direct messages.
• Twitter-Light Zone – ( term ) Where you are when you return to Twitter after any time away and feel disoriented and lost.
• TwitterLinkr – ( tool ) A service collecting the best links posted trough Twitter
• Twitterlocal - ( tool ) Filter finds tweets based upon a users profile location. If you’ve a local business, this could become useful. Lets you generate an RSS or XML Feed to filter out Tweets around a certain area.
• Twitterlooing - ( term ) Twittering from a bathroom.
• Twitterloop – ( term ) To be caught up with friend tweets and up on the conversation.
• Twittermaps – ( tool ) A mashup technology that lets Twitter users find each other using Google maps.
• Twittermob – ( term ) An unruly and ragtag horde of people who descend on an ill-prepared location after a provocative Twitter message.
• Twitteroo – ( windows tool ) Client with URL shortening, clickable links and tweets, customization, and both public and friend timelines.
• Twitterpated - ( term )To be overwhelmed with Twitter messages.
• Twitterphoria – ( term ) The elation you feel when the person you’ve added as a friend adds you back.
• Twitter.PollDaddy.com - (tool) Create Polldaddy polls and post them directly to your Twitter stream.
• TwitterPost – ( mac tool ) Basic client that submits tweets, shows your current iTunes track in your feed, and more.
• Twitterrhea – ( term ) The act of sending too many Twitter messages.
• Twitterrific – ( mobile & platform tool ) Twitterrific is a fun application that lets you both read and publish posts or "tweets" to the Twitter community website.
• Twitterrific ( term ) - a really good Twitter thing
• Twittersearch – ( search tool ) Search Twitter and tweets by word.(formerly summize.com)
• Twitterstream – ( term ) the twitter timeline (public or friends)
• Twitter SPY - (tool) Twitter SPY displays the Twitter public timeline.
• TwitterSync for Yahoo – (windows tool) Syncs Twitter status with Yahoo Messenger status.
• Twittertise - (tool) Twittertise allows you to schedule in advance and track the clickthroughs on tweets. Ideal for advertisers looking to measure effectiveness.
• Twittertories – ( term ) Clusters of twittererers that follow and friend each other with little overlap with other clusters.
• Twittertude – ( term ) Bad Twitter attitude. Or a state of being, like solitude only with other people present.
• Twittervision – ( tool ) See where in the world people are submitting tweets from, real time.
• TwitterYM – ( windows tool ) Simple Yahoo Messenger status updater.
• Twittfeinated, Twigged Out, Twired – ( term ) To be so hyped up on twittering that you cannot sleep
• Twittfessional – ( term ) A confession made on Twitter
• TwitThis – ( tool ) Allow visitors to your site to easily share a page or post via Twitter.
• Twitticisms – ( term ) Witty tweets
• Twittilate – ( term ) To arouse with tweets.
• Twittish – ( term ) Too skittish to twitter.
• Twittonary – ( term ) dictionary of twitter terminology
• Twittsomnia – ( term ) Twittering due to inability to sleep, thus compounding inability to sleep.
• Twittworking – ( term ) Networking with Twitterites using Twitter
• TwittyTunes – ( browser plugin tool ) A FoxyTunes (Firefox extension) addon that posts what you’re currently listening to Twitter.
• Twitux – ( linux tool ) Twitter client for the GNOME desktop.
• Twitwall - (tool ) When its too long to tweet, but too short to blog, just TwitWall it! TwitWall is the easy-to-use, quick-to-blast-out blog companion for Twitter.
• Twitxr – ( tool ) Share pictures from your mobile phone. Automatically publish them on social networks and photosharing sites.
• Twixt and tween – ( term ) Can't decide who or what to tweet
• Twode – ( term ) To hack on the twitter API.
• Twofor – ( term ) Replying to two unrelated twitter messages with a single tweet
• TwoingTwoing – ( term ) To twitter about wonderful things.
• Twoogle – ( term ) Twitter as the human Google. Pose a question, get near-instantaneous results.
• Twoops – ( term ) When you accidentally send a private sms to Twitter
• Twoosh – ( term ) A full 140 character twitter.
• Twopsies – ( term ) When you drop things because you are twittering.
• Tword – ( term ) Words formed by appending “Tw” to the original word (like most words in this list).
• Twouche – ( term ) Someone acting like a big fat jerk via twitter.
• Twurvey – ( term ) a survey sent out over Twitter
• Twuzzer - (tool) Twitter/GoogleMaps mashup.
• Twype – ( term ) to type a twitter.
• TY – ( shorthand ) thanks
• TYT – ( shorthand ) take your time
• TYVM – ( shorthand ) thank you very much
• U – ( shorthand ) you
• u’ve – ( shorthand ) for you have
• ur – ( shorthand ) your
• Useqwitter – ( tool ) emails when a twitter stops following you after a certain post
• V2V – ( shorthand ) voice to voice (as in chatting on the phone)
• w or w/ - ( shorthand ) with
• w/e – ( shorthand ) weekend
• w00t! – ( shorthand ) an expression of joy/excitement
• wazzup?/whaddup? – ( shorthand ) what’s up?
• What’s Up? – ( windows vista tool ) Gadget that allows you to see latest tweets from your friends.
• WildSets – ( mobile tool ) Extensve Twitter app for mobile phones. Support more than 300 phones.
• wld – ( shorthand ) would
• woz – ( shorthand ) was
• wtf – ( shorthand ) what the f***
• wth – ( shorthand ) what the heck
• yammer – ( tool ) a similar mico-blogging software to Twitter but for enterprise companies and can be used as an intranet solution. This company won the Techcrunch50 award in fall of 2008.
• Yoono – (tool) Receive alerts, update your status or message your friends in your browser sidebar. No need to switch from one site to another or from your browser to a desktop app anymore. The perfect tool to become a twitter heavy user without spending hours on it. Yoono also integrates many other services : facebook, flickr, friendfeed, major IM services
• yr – ( shorthand ) your
• YVW – ( shorthand ) you’re very welcome
• YW - ( shorthand ) you’re welcome
• ZenTwitter – ( linux tool ) A GUI frontend for Twitter using zenity and curl.

My Sources:

• search.twitter.com
• Google.ca
• http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Twitter+Glossary
• http://warner-carter.com/blog/popular-twitter-terms-would-these-be-tweeterms
• http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Twictionary-of-Twitter-Terms---Part-1&id=1261044
• http://whyfacebook.com/2008/09/11/twitter-lingo-demystified/ (from Mari Smith the Facebook expert and super nice lady! twitter: @marismith )
• http://mashable.com/2007/09/29/twitter-toolbox/
• http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/04/05/my-essential-twitter-tools/
• http://www.toprankblog.com/2008/05/five-new-twitter-tools-you-should-know/
• http://wtips.blogspot.com/2007/04/twitter-tools.html
• And my twitter friends that shared: @Seoadvice @ wiselywoven @ MyPreciousKid @ bcarroll7 @ gahlord dltabor @ steph_woods

Did I miss any terms, shorthand or twitter tools? Feel free to comment on the post and add to the list - I am sure there are still lot's more - share away!

Twitter Tips – Do's and Don`ts

A few weeks ago I attended BlogWord Expo in Vegas. It was jammed packed with tons of social media sessions. One session I attended was: "Twitter: Building the Connections that Drive Traffic". The panel included Stowe Boyd (www.stoweboyd.com/), Laura Fitton (www.pistachioconsulting.com/), Tony Hiesh (http://www.zappos.com/), Lucretia Pruitt (www.geekmommy.net/) and Erin Kotecki Vest (www.queenofspainblog.com/)

They all brought different perspectives to the table on how micro-blogging (IE twitter) can benefit building connections with customers, markets, and other social media users and to drive traffic to your website.

This post includes general do's and don’ts for those trying to figure out how to get into the conversation stream and use it as an effective communication tool. Examples of Twitter users who are setting the standard for their industries – what they do that others don’t. Crafting your personal brand on Twitter and other micro publishing platforms and avoiding the most common pitfalls.

1. Do use twitter to build in-person connections – Start or attend a tweetup in your area. A tweetup is a real world meeting between two or more people who know each other through Twitter.
2. Do use twitter to build personal relationships - Tony, one of the panel members first started on twitter to find out where the parties were - he did it for personal relationships with friends. Then Zappos (his company) adopted it. Twitter was used for company culture and introduced employees to each other. Check out their twitter.zappos.com – they have an aggregate feed and trained their employees (over 400) on twitter too.
3. Do use twitter to give away products and get your brand out- You can use twitter as an internal tool or as a customer acquisition and brand awareness tool. Give-aways are always a good way to get an user base to follow you!
4. Don't just post your blog urls - Most common errors is to twitter your posts only. You need to first build relationships and trust. Also mix it up and show your personality - get to know each other and participate. You have to click on and comment on others tweets too.
5. Do use Google Snackr (http://snackr.net/) Snackr is an RSS ticker that pulls random items from your feeds and scrolls them across your desktop. When you see a title that looks interesting, you can click on it to pop up the item in a window.
6. Do Retweet– repeating someone elses tweet is ok. The art of “retweeting” is best described as taking a twitter message someone else has posted, and rebroadcasting that same message to your followers. You can also read more about "The Art and Science of Retweeting for Twitteraholics" at: http://bloggingbits.com/the-art-and-science-of-retweeting-for-twitteraholics/
7. Don't tweet for linkbait - Not trying to write link bait but stuff you really want to share. The term “linkbait is used to describe content on a website which is designed to generate incoming links from other sites".
8. Do tweet for help when it is important - Tweeting for help can actually get retweets for the same call for help. Ask for good causes or genuine help and not to get business and sales - which may leave a bitter taste with your followers. A good example is to ask for introductions to someone or recommendations for a product or service. People love helping each other!
9. Do shorten urls– use tweetburner or tinyurl to create a short urls. If you open up an account with Tweetburner you can track your clicks - you should check it out - I love it.
10. Don't abuse twitter - Follows those you wish to follow and don't abuse or spam them. If you abuse relationships, you will have less followers. Also twitter will disable accounts that have spam-like behaviors!
11. Do mix personality and business – It's definitely an individual preference but you should mix it up. It's healthy to show who you are even if you are a company.
12. Do filtering - Set up a filter of your name, and set alerts of tweets that you want to filter out (those important to you). I recently checked out Tweetbeep.com - check it out.
13. Do follow – some people follow all and some people only follow a percentage of their followers. If you don’t follow people, they cannot direct twitter you and others can't find you through other networks. Most tweets will follow you back if you take the time to follow them (except spammers).
14. Do check your direct messages - Respond to your direct messages. You can also send a direct message with the @ and not with the replies tab.
15. Do use twitter for a reputation management tool – go to search.twitter.com (formerly summize.com) use it to track your company and product name and at replies for your handle (for example: "@shannonyelland" is mine).
16. Do use twitter for feedback - Basic rule of thumb to follow: If you are asking for straight data and facts use Google, but if you are asking for opinion - twitter it. If you cannot find technical questions on Google it is still ok to Twitter it though.
17. Don't try to be a twitter hero – just interact, be honest and helpful - then you will become a successful tweeter and the tweople will like you!

Did I miss a twitter tip that you want to share? Feel free to comment on this post!

Oh ya Rafeal, reminded me in a post below - my twitter is http://www.twitter.com/shannonyellandif you'd like to follow me!

How Twitter Can Help Online Marketing and Tips

Twitter has been around and popular in the U.S. for more than a year with millions of users. The iPhone is coming to Canada in a few weeks and I am sure Twitter will become more mainstream and adopted in Canada. Why? Because the iPhone can host the already popular Twitter application, it can be integrated with your Facebook and your blog, and it is very accessible to input your tweets anywhere, anytime.

More than a year ago, I went to a conference in San Jose and was introduced to Twitter. I was initially not sold on it, nor did I understand why someone would use it. I wasn’t convinced because I didn’t see the relationship and benefits with other social media spheres myself. Recently I integrated it with my Facebook , iPhone and Seed the Web blog and I discovered that it is a great way to get the word out about yourself, company or blog. It is a good medium for expressing yourself and networking with others with common interests. I now see how beneficial it is, if Twitter is fully integrated with other mediums, you can see better results in a whole (synergy).

How I have my Twitter set up:

So what is Twitter?

• It’s a micro blog that allows you to send updates (aka “tweets”) to the Twitter website, similar to the Facebook status (with a limit of 140 character input). People want to tell the world what their likes and dislikes are and what they are doing “right now.”
• It helps you find people with similar interests. You can follow them, and others can follow you.
• It’s an instant-messaging-meets-social-media-networking tool.
• Twitter is one of the most popular applications on the iPhone.

What Twitter can be used for:

• Pull marketing tactic vs. push.
• Quick answers to random questions – you can throw a question out and anyone can answer you.
• Telling others about breaking news within the industry.
• Promoting your company’s name, sharing your blog posts or news.
• Saying weird stuff (with your company’s name mentioned for a subtle plug of course!).

Samples of real-life opportunities:

From my experience so far at Sitemasher, we’ve had potential customers contact us and tell us that they found out about Sitemasher via Twitter. Others have given us feedback that they found us on Facebook, saw the tweets about Sitemasher on our status and clicked through on our blog links to find out more about our website builder/content management platform (CMS). Sitemasher has also seen increases in its blog traffic, Twitter followers and friends requests in Facebook. In the end, it increased the communities that we’re involved with, which can also increase new customer leads as we’re tapping into a larger audience with the same likes.

10 key takeaways to integrate Twitter with other tactics to get better results.

1. Show full transparency and authenticity. Open an account at Twitter.com with a real name – use your name and not an alias, so people can search and follow you. Also, when you use a real name and picture, people will trust you more.
2. Lurk and learn before you leap. Watch how others interact, post links, and ask questions – learn from them.
3. Interact and give value. You can be funny, educational, on-the-know and down-to-earth.


Sample tweets:



4. Have a library of tweets. Make sure you have a bunch of tweets before you really start to find followers, so others can view your tweets and know your personality and the value of your feeds – they’ll make that decision to follow you back or not.
5. Try to follow those who you ultimately want to follow you back. Anytime you “follow” (which is like becoming a friend on other social networks like MySpace, Facebook, or Digg), it sends a notification to that user. And they may follow you.
6. Track and search tweets for key words that you’re interested in. I will go to Google Custom Search (in Beta) or summize.com and search for tweets on topics that I’m interested to or related to my business and start to follow those people. The people I look for are the ones with the same likes/dislikes as mine and those who give great links to tips, new technology services and who also do updates on a continual basis. This is a good way to keep up on your reputation management to see who is twittering about your company, and if it is positive or negative. Also gives you a chance to react and fix situations that may be negative.
   
   
   Sample search on Summize.com:
   
   
   
7. Integrate with other tactics. I discovered that if I integrated Twitter with other social media realms, my reach increases and I save time. I have my Twitter feed automatically update my Facebook status (you need to download the application in Facebook to your profile). I posted my feed on my blog to show visitors what I’m doing or saying at the moment, and I downloaded the Twitter application on my phone, so I can tweet on-the-go.


Sample Twitter feed on blog:




8. Subtly promote your company. Don’t do all business speak – not a hard sell – take your suit off! Start casual conversations with the people you like or have something in common with. Don’t sell them – make acquaintances only. Get familiar with inappropriate spam.
9. Make a commitment. At first you may feel like you’re talking to no one, but you’ll gain followers in no time – don’t get disheartened – nothing good is easy!
10. Advertise your Twitter feed and let people know you are Twitter friendly. They also may find you through Facebook, blog, search results or other advertising medium (business cards, e-mail signature). Insert it on your e-mail signature or even write it on the back of your business cards.
    
    Sample email signature:
    

Additional Twitter reading: Guidance, Tools and Resources at Website Magazine.

Do you have a specific question about online marketing? Send an e-mail to shannon@sitemasher.com , and we'll try to post a blog on the topic in the future (and possibly do the research for you, if we don't know.) If you want to share similar experiences on this topic, I encourage you to leave a comment!

How Social Media Can Help With Your Online Marketing Strategies

What is social media?

Looking back to the ‘70s or before, some marketers recognize that hanging around the water cooler at work, talking about happenings and experiences was a form of social media. So, technically, we can say that social media has really been around for decades!

Wikipedia equates social media as the newer age interaction with regards to technology and the Internet:

"Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning, as people share their stories, and understandings."

Recently, I attended a British Columbia Association of Integrated Marketers (BCAIM) luncheon seminar and wanted to share useful insights when considering social media for corporate goals and implementations. The topic was "The Many-Armed Starfish: Social Media Marketing 101 with Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo of Capulet Communications.

So why is there such a buzz with social media with marketers?

• Because it really works.
• Many online marketers have found that they can leverage social media to get the word out about their company, product or services at a larger scale.
• If executed right, it can have a great return on investment and be an integral part of growing a business online.
• Social media has much more impact and can scale up easier than traditional advertising tactics.
• Social media has lower costs than traditional marketing tactics – with barely any technological setup or subscription costs attributed to it. Beware though, a major misconception is that social media is 100 percent free. That is totally incorrect, social media needs the human factor to massage, tweak, and invest time in. It is an ongoing project that will need love and attention, which in return can be employee salaries or outsourcing costs to manage such campaigns. If you really think it is magic and it’s only a matter of setting up a Facebook or blog account and walking away from it – you’re mistaken!
• More people are participating and hanging around social media because the tools are more assessable for the average person (cheaper laptops, cameras and camcorders) as well as the free or cheap delivery forms available (blogs, wikis, forums, podcasts, video and image-sharing portals, micro-blogs [like twitter], social networks like Facebook and MySpace).
• These social mediums allow users to communicate with the masses and more important with silo communities (people with the same likes and dislikes as you). And these silos may not be obtainable within your physical community, so the online availability just snowballs and allows you to reach audiences you never had before.

Julie and Darren shared with us that social media can help your company with:

• Media relations
• Customer engagement
• Market research
• Advertising
• Competitor intelligence
• Word-of-mouth
• Public relations

How social media helps with your corporate goals may depend on what mix of forms you choose to participate in. These forms are changing and new ones will always be introduced. Keeping that in mind, you may need to adapt to the protocols for each medium.

If you follow some of the basic tips (some are from the seminar I attended and some are also from my own experiences and other readings); you should be able to reap the benefits of social media:

• Be authentic and transparent - Don't try to hide behind anything or a customer persona (like a fake happy customer). You'll always be found out and it will harm you. If you don’t agree, read more about the Wal-mart fake blogs; also known as “Flogs” .
• Listen before you leap - Understand how and why others use the medium. Feel comfortable first before jumping in. Lurk and check out how others are using the medium. Once, I was pressured by my boss to jump in and comment on the blog sphere and I sort of spammed it (didn’t know the rules yet). I was called on it right away by another comment and they were appalled. That is a great sample of what not to do! I realized that I had to learn more on how to better interact in the blog sphere.
• Monitor the web - Keep track of who is talking about you and what they are saying. Use tools that help for your company’s reputation management. I use Blogpulse and Google Alerts, they are both free tools. If you are a larger company global company you may consider a reputation management service that is more robust and a subscription service (like Meltwater News or Sentiment Metrics).
• Participate in the conversation - Jump in and get involved, especially when it is negative. If you don’t participate or own up to negative comments, it will not leave a good impression and you cannot rectify and turn the situation around. In the social sphere, negative comments can be embedded everywhere. If you show some sincerity and honesty when responding to a negative comment, you will be respected – everyone knows you are human. Don’t ignore negative situations or it will snowball. Kryptonite Lock did exactly what not to do, read more about it here on how it harmed them.
• Try different forms of social media and integrate them - Try at least two to three different forms of social media tactics and cross-promote each of them. For example, have a Facebook group and cross-promote your company blog. Twitter about your new blog posts. Connect your twitter to your blog and Facebook status Feed.
• Commit to social media and be realistic - It takes more than just opening an account with a tool and waiting for people to come find you. This is the hard part, only commit to ones that you can really nurture and spend time with. Book time every day or week to participate, massage and learn from it. Make a true commitment.

I really think Social Media should be a part of your online marketing strategy, read my blog on “Multi-dimensional Online Marketing.” At Sitemasher, I have found some effective tactics with Facebook, blogging, social tagging and micro-blogging. I still have lots to learn as this is such an evolving medium, so I may also pick up Barefoot's new book to learn more from an expert, once it’s published (probably early 2009).

Do you have a specific question about online marketing? Send an e-mail to shannon@sitemasher.com , and we'll try to post a blog on the topic in the future (and possibly do the research for you, if we don't know.)

If you want to share similar experiences on this topic, I encourage you to leave a comment!