The magazine publishes several times a month – and the line-up for 2010 is looking phenomenal. You can find me tweeting for At Length here.  Find us on Facebook here.  We’ll also be sending a monthly email to keep in touch and make note of recent content – sign up for the emails here.

Hooray!

But it’s also insightful to reflect on the patterns of our microblogging, and to see what (if anything) is illuminated by them.  So at the end of this long and mostly unplugged holiday weekend, I generated a Tweetcloud based on language analysis of my Twitter posts for this past year.  As a reflection of what I hope I’m contributing to the social universe, it’s both cheerful and motivating.

Hooray!

Here’s the link.

Here are seven super tips for tweetslingers*:

Ignore the Twitter prompt. The answer to the question “What are you doing?” is just generally not that interesting. If you’re going to tweet about something you’re doing, make sure that it’s relevant, engaging, and worth the attention of your followers.

Be authentic. This is especially important if you are tweeting on behalf of a business or organization. Don’t be a billboard or a press release! Give your tweets a real human voice.

Retweet regularly. Share (and credit!) relevant and interesting blog posts, articles and links that you or your followers will find interesting. It’s not only good Twitter karma, but it’s also a way to build credibility and your reputation in areas of interest. (Note: If you aren’t quoting someone directly, you can also use “via @username” to share his/her link while still distinguishing your words. This also results in Twitter goodness!)

Use humor abundantly. Use snark sparingly. Know the difference! Feel free to be funny and thoughtfully critical, but too much negativity can turn off followers.

Use #hashtags to make your tweets more searchable. Words that follow the # symbol in tweets are called hashtags. This is an informal way of assigning a keyword to a tweet so that others can easily find it. Hashtags are a method of connecting tweets about the same subject, making it easier for users to find tweets on the same topic. Hashtags are often used by event conference organizers as a way of streaming all tweets about the event.

Revise your tweets. Take a moment before you hit ‘Update’ to check your spelling and read for clarity. It’s always a good idea to see if you can make your tweet shorter, too. Shorter than 140 characters? You bet! If you want your tweets to be retweetable, you’ll make sure to give your followers some unused characters.

Converse. Social media is just that: social! Respond to tweets, join in conversations, and encourage your followers to talk to you!

Happy tweeting!

*Bonus: awesome alliteration!

(This post also appeared on the Design Rangers Camp Blog!)

The distinction between Twitter and Facebook is a useful one. On Facebook, your objective is to find your friends and share with them. On Twitter, you find people to “follow” and you cultivate “followers.” Facebook is primarily a social tool that focuses on reaching out to people you already know. Twitter, on the other hand, is a tool for finding and communicating with people well beyond your circle of friends. Because of that, Twitter is a very powerful tool for social networking, talking with people who share your professional or personal interests, and getting real-time news and resources.

But a lot of folks never make it past their first experience with the Twitter. Tweeting feels pointless or narcissistic — or both! Most people don’t know what to expect, what they can accomplish, or how they can use the tool.

So until there’s a new Dale Carnegie training course on how to use Twitter to win friends and influence people, I’ve decided to share three ways you can use and enjoy Twitter. It DOES require time and energy, but it can totally be worth it.

You can:

Connect with people in your field and find people who share your interests. Twitter is a dynamite way to find and follow people who share your professional or personal interests. Do a Twitter search to find people who tweet about your interests, or check out who other people are following.

Share knowledge. Twitter is great way to find tips and links to resources. You can ask your followers questions and get feedback and advice – right away. Post your own tips and links to articles, blogs and resources. This is an excellent way to position yourself as a specialist or a leader in your field, and essential for freelancers and consultants. Make sure to retweet valuable information and posts from other people! I also like to use Twitter to curate the Internet for me: I follow smart people in different fields to take advantage of their expertise and read their links.

Get real-time news. Twitter has become the first choice for many people looking for breaking news online. It’s also fueling citizen journalism. If you’re looking for eyewitness accounts of anything, check Twitter first.

Promote yourself. If you’ve got something to market, you can do it on Twitter. Just don’t go overboard! Too much self-promotion, and your followers will disappear pretty quickly. And make sure to balance your self-promotion with interesting and valuable tweets to keep and build followers.

Talk to people! Yes, have fun! This IS social networking, after all.

Above all else, think about what you’d like to get out of Twitter when you start using it. It’s not intuitive, and it’s not necessarily easy. But if you’re looking for another way to increase your network, expand your knowledge, and share good stuff with the universe, Twitter is a great tool.

(This post also appears on the Design Rangers Camp Blog!)

As media buzz builds about Twitter, more and more businesses and organizations are starting to realize that the micro-blogging site is not just a teen textfest or an outlet for discussing your breakfast cereal of choice. In fact, Twitter has evolved into a thriving professional network, a real-time news feed, and an effective way to share information and resources online. So what can your organization do with 140 characters? A lot.

Here are four powerful Twitter activities that are essential to any good social media strategy:

Listen. Twitter is a powerful tool for finding out what people know and think about an organization, a product, an issue, news, or an event. Use Twitter to find and solicit feedback and opinions. But be prepared to receive honest feedback, which means that it may be less-than-positive. It may not be what you want to hear, but it might be what you need to hear. Twitter’s search engine isn’t bad, but there are lots of robust search tools out there. Check out Twitter Search, Tweetbeep, Twazzup, Tweefind, and TweetDeck.

Reach Out and Connect. Twitter is a great way to post news, events and promotions, but don’t stop there. Post links to related information, and retweet news and resources that will be valuable to your followers. This is especially powerful for non-profit organizations, but it’s useful for businesses, too. And don’t just promote yourself! Give your followers useful resources, inform them, and entertain them — you’ll build credibility and loyalty.

Promote and Join Conversations. Talk to your followers, respond to questions, and join conversations that you discover through searches. Remember: Twitter isn’t just a communications or marketing tool. It should also be part of your customer service strategy!

Give Your Organization a Personality. Your customers don’t want to interact with a brand identity or a public relations message. The best way to create trust and relationships is to be honest, ethical, transparent and friendly. In other words: be human. Check out this great Mashable post (with examples!): 7 Secrets to Tweeting Your Corporate Culture. My favorites: reveal industry insights, profile customer successes, and be responsive.

If your organization isn’t on Twitter, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities to connect. And if you’re already using it, make sure that you’ve got a strategy to get the most out of it. When it comes to building your business or cultivating a community, every 140 characters count!