21 Tweeting on regular phones

There are Twitter applications galore but most of them work on only the smartphones. That is, those phones with complex operating systems such as the Android and iPhone.

Where does that leave the other phone users?

Well, as long as your phone can get on the Net or can SMS, there are ways to tweet on the move without a dedicated Twitter application.

If you have a data plan, you can log on to Web-based Twitter applications. There are many out there, but a good one to try is Tweete at m.tweete.net. It does not require a separate sign-on and you can just use your Twitter user ID and password. The application lets you tweet, retweet and send a direct message easily.

It is even integrated with Twitpic, so you can share pictures easily through one site.

Twitter also has its own mobile website, which is customised for the phone's small screen.

Alternatively, StarHub customers can use MobiTweet to tweet and receive updates via SMS. The service is free and treats these text messages as regular SMS, which means they will be offset against your mobile plan's bundled SMS. For more information on how to set up the service, go to www.starhub.com/mobitweet.

22 Holiday tweets

One of the chief uses of Twitter is to provide up-to-the-minute updates while on the move. But when you are travelling, roaming charges can make it expensive to let your followers know you are "awed by the pyramids in Egypt".

Here are some ways to keep tweeting costs down while overseas:

If you are using your existing phone, tweet via SMS. You can send an SMS to Twitter's number at +44-762-4801423 to update your Twitter page. You will not get any updates on what your friends are posting, though.

It will still cost you, as you will be texting a foreign number while roaming, but it should be cheaper than accessing your Twitter applications or logging on to the Web.

If you are travelling to countries where Twitter has shortcode numbers, get a prepaid SIM card from the local mobile operators with the best SMS plan.

Twitter does not charge you for text messages you send to these numbers but regular text messaging costs apply. Also, some of the shortcode numbers are not supported by all local mobile operators. Do check the list on the Twitter site before travelling, in case of changes.

US: 40404
Canada: 21212
UK: 86444 (Vodafone and O2 customers)
India: 53000 (Bharti Airtel customers)
Indonesia: 89887 (Axis customers)
New Zealand: 8987 (Vodafone and Telecom NZ customers)

23 SMS with Twitter

Twitter lets you post 140 character messages and friends who are "following" you on it can read your updates.

You can also send personal messages to these friends and contacts, who can reply. Such messages are private and cannot be read by anyone else.

Install a Twitter app like Tweetie for the iPhone and Ubertwitter for the BlackBerry. These apps will display a notification on your phone whenever a personal message is received. If both parties have a smartphone and the app installed, it can turn into a surrogate SMS service.

Your phone will light up when a message is received and the other party's phone will do the same when you send a reply over.

As all data is sent via normal data traffic, messages can be exchanged without incurring high costs even when texting overseas.

Granted, you have a 140 letter limit versus the 160 in an SMS, but it is free and unlimited.

24 Expand your Twitter network

Hummingbird (hummingbirdtwitter.com) and Bird Feeder (pacesyssoftware.com/ bird-feeder) automatically increase the number of people you follow - and maybe they will follow you in return.

You can load the dice by selecting Twitter accounts whose followers suit your target demographic. This also avoids irrelevant tweets from them to you.

If you have a similar network on other social media sites, try using HelloTxt (hellotxt.com), Ping.fm (ping.fm) or the home-grown MobJet (mobjet.com).

All three are centralised services that propagate your status update to all your social networks at one go.

25 I scratch your back

Social media is new, crowded and chaotic, with everyone rushing to use it for his own ends. It is not just more blessed to give than receive but absolutely necessary to give first.

Use news aggregators like Streamy (streamy.com) and Netvibes (netvibes.com) or take advantage of Twitter news accounts that automatically distribute content (twitter.com/singapore_news) as the basis for useful blog posts, insightful tweets and meaningful Facebook updates. That may prompt others to respond.

You can also reference content from other social media denizens in your own posts, write an insightful comment on someone else's content and add a link back to yourself. Someone will return the favour, sooner rather than later.

26 Establish a Net rep

Know yourself and know what you want to be known for.

Bloggers like mrbrown who is as famous for his political satire as Xiaxue is for her acid wit maintain the same personality across separate social networks.

Keep your online persona consistent by using the same avatar image, name and pitch on every platform you inhabit.

In this way, a quick Google search will reveal all your social networking profiles on the first two pages, reinforcing your own personal brand.

Cross-pollinate your followers by inviting them to your other social networks. If they like your blog, chances are they will follow you on Twitter and Facebook as well.

27 Create your own social networking hub

If your social networking is spinning out of control, get organised so you can manage and respond to multiple incoming streams of data in real-time to your computer and mobile phone.

Timely responses keep people engaged and loyal. Desktop applications such as TweetDeck (tweetdeck.com) or Orsiso (orsiso.com), which converge and sort all your social network accounts and activities in one place, can help.

Orsiso's learning curve is steep but the payoff is a central hub to manage your social network. TweetDeck is available for the iPhone.

Newer phones running the Android OS such as the HTC Hero and the upcoming Motorola Cliq have interfaces that blend your social network with your phone's contact list.

28 Analyse, analyse, analyse

Measuring returns from a social media campaign is tough.

For businesses, it is hard to show how consumer attitude shifts or behavioural changes are directly linked to any particular social media drive.

But for a short-term gauge, such as the viral chain effect of your messaging, it is possible to use a mix of tools like URL shortening service bit.ly.

This tracks links that are part of your messaging and listening tools, such as Technorati (technorati.com), Google Alerts (google.com/alerts) and Twendz (twendz. waggeneredstrom.com) to suss out the chatter about your campaign on blogs, news sites and Twitter.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.