CC-License Your Tweets with @TweetCC

Exciting news! From the folks at Creative Commons comes an announcement that you can now CC-license your tweets via TweetCC!

It’s simple, just send one of the following tweets to @tweetcc, depending on which CC license you’d like to use (click on the link for an instant tweet):

CC Zero Waiver: @tweetcc: I dedicate my tweets to The Commons by waiving all copyrights under CC Zero Waiver http://icnhz.com/cc-0

Attribution: @tweetcc: I license tweets under CC Attribution http://icnhz.com/cc-by

Attribution Share Alike: @tweetcc: I license tweets under CC Attribution Share Alike http://icnhz.com/cc-by-sa

Attribution, No Derivatives: @tweetcc: I license tweets under CC Attribution No Derivatives http://icnhz.com/cc-by-nd

Attribution Non-Commercial: @tweetcc: I license tweets under CC Attribution Non-Commercial http://icnhz.com/cc-by-nc

Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike: @tweetcc: I license tweets under CC Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike http://icnhz.com/cc-by-nc-sa

Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives: @tweetcc: I license tweets under CC Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives http://icnhz.com/cc-by-nc-nd

Even cooler is they don’t ask for your password:

We don’t ask for your Twitter login or password as this password anti-pattern practice teaches people how to be phished. Don’t scatter your passwords around like chicken feed.

Join the founders of TweetCC – @malarkey and @briansuda – and some 1,300 other tweeters who have already licensed their tweets!

Judging a Book by It’s Cover: Your Twitter Profile

Rule #1: Give credit via Twitter name.  Examples: @SherryMain or @inculink.

Rule #2: Give credit via Twitter name.  Examples: @rww or @AdamAinbinder.

When I read an article or blog post online, I like to see Twitter links to the people who are being mentioned.  Why?  Because if I’m interested in something they’ve said once, I want to know quickly if there’s more to them.

A Twitter profile is a great way of getting a quick snapshot of someone.  In this day-in-age of information overflow, I can’t help judge a book by it’s cover.  I have 10-seconds to find out whether someone is interesting or not.  I can decide later if in fact that judgment was correct, as I get to know them via tweets.  But if you lost me in those first 10 seconds, then you’ve lost me forever.

On the other hand, if you hook me with your Twitter profile, well then you’ve probably got my attention on your blog or website… and probably even Facebook, LinkedIn, or Tumblr.

I find that I learn a lot more by reading the first two pages of a Twitter profile, than I can get out of a personal blog or website. Just yesterday, I connected with @swannny because she is a “tech-crazy, opera-loving geek girl”!

Here’s what I find helps when it comes to general Tweeting habits:

Take advantage of the 160 character profile. Be selective in your words used to describe yourself – and take advantage of the 20 extra characters!  What I’ve tried to do in my profile is to connect with others in higher education communications, entice conversations with people who share similar hobbies, and market a personal venture:

Comms Director @ UCIrvine. Business, political, technology and culinary junkie. Enjoy travel, outdoor adventures and photography. Also, co-founder of @inculink.

Diversify your tweets, often. If the entire first page of your Twitter profile are @ replies or purely about your state of mind, I can’t be convinced that I have a connection with you. But a useful business tip coupled with a personal misadventure, plus an intriguing conversation with another Twit will intrigue me enough to follow someone.

Twitter is still a very nascent tool, but its community and its power are growing exponentially.  The ways and means in which Twitter can be used could never have been predicted by it’s founders (@ev, @biz and @jack).  But online habits have changed the culture of information flow, and I think as content creators on the web, we need to be sure to provide quick links to readers and other creators alike!

The Week

I have to share this because I hadn’t heard of this magazine until recently, and it’s plain great.

The print edition of The Week is a great read for someone on the go and looking for a quick recap of current events. I need my news short and fast these days.  Any magazines I really like (New Yorker, Economist, Wired) are online or in podcast format now, so I “read” them on the go.

Why do I like The Week?  Because it feels like it’s tailored to me: my interests, at my level, short and concise.  Most articles are no more than a half page.  Most blurbs around the 250 word-count range.

Its really a remix of the major news outlets.  Brilliant!  My favorites sections include:

• The main stories… and how they were covered: Very brief recap of editorials and articles from all sides of each story.
• Controversy of the Week: Top news item of the week and excerpts from the likes of the Washington Post, NY Times, New Republic, National Review, Weekly Standard, etc.
• The World at a Glance: National and World maps illustrate the stories form around the globe.
• The Bottom Line: The summation of financial articles from Business Week, Financial Times, Bloomberg, etc. in three sentences or less.
• People: Just enough gossip to keep me afloat at happy hours!  Most recently… Joaquin Phoenix’s debut as a rapper, Jeremy Piven’s mercury poisoning from sushi, and my fashion fix with a Diane von Furstenberg feature.
• Best Columns: Article snippets from the U.S., Europe and Asia.
• Noted: Random facts pertaining to the week’s news in exactly two sentences: More than 57 million Americans are having trouble paying their medical bills, owing an average of $2,000 to doctors and hospitals.  Because of underpayment, half of all hospitals run at a loss. – The New Yorker
• Health & Science: Summary of major science (mostly medical) news.
• Review of Reviews: Stage, art and film raves and rants. Plus the Book List for book reviews.
• Television: The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching… great recommendation for when you don’t know what to watch from 500 channels.
• Food & Drink: Always a recipe and wine list. And the BEST of the best restaurants. I know when Momofuku Ko in NYC and Marché Modern in the OC are listed, they know their food.

And more… from Properties, to business, and travel. It’s got it all in under 40 pages.  Thanks to @mainone for my subscription!

My Op-Ed on Stories About Twitter, Etc.

I just read this fun op-ed from the Washington Post by Jeanne McManus.

It comedically devalues life in a Twitter world:

Which comes first? The Twitter or life itself? Are we writing about what we’re doing or are we writing about what we’re going to do or are we doing it because we need something to write about?

I enjoyed her short musing.  But now, I can’t find a link to follow her tweets anywhere on the entire op-ed page!  Nor have i been able to locate her through Twitter’s “Find People” tool. I’m bummed, as she sounds really interesting, whether these are her real tweets or not:

Jeanne has measured out her life with coffee spoons. Huh?

So I write my own public request to Ms. McManus… and to any other editor, writer, reporter who covers new and social media seriously or comically – on TV, in print or online: please share how we can follow you or become a fan on these new tools which you write about.

NPR’s Science Friday does a great job of this.  While driving from Annapolis to D.C. several weeks ago, @Padrepablo and I listened to Ira Flatow (@scifri) interviewing Tim O’Reilly (@timoreilly).  Ira repeatedly mentioned how we could follow them.  And caller Jeff Levy (@levyj413) – the EPA’s web manager – who talked about government and social media also shared how listeners could follow him. I’ve since learned a lot from following Mr. Levy.  I’d like to easily do the same from others.

Of course, privacy is a concern, so I understand if you don’t easily share your Twitter name with your article… but then could you consider separate public and private personas? When used correctly, I can only see sharing Twitter accounts as a great learning and conversation tool.

Taking my own advice, you can follow me @sherrymain.

Reporting and Marketing 2.0: Interactivites + Mashups

The New York Times and Washington Post probably do the best interactive graphics and stories. If more newspapers did original “interactivities,” I think their online readership could be sustained, or even grow.

Here’s a snapshot of Twitter Chat During the Super Bowl from the New York Times today. Click on the image to see the interactive map, and navigate the different categories in the left menu as you play the Game Timeline up top:

The Washington Post has done mash-ups of tweets, videos and photos on Google Maps, which is really, really easy to do. Here is the official Washington Post announcement that describes what they did for the 2008 Presidential Elections.

Perhaps there’s an advertisement opportunity here for papers to highlight particular buzz in unique colors for products (or brands) that are willing to pay the papers. (Of course, the anti-conglomerate, free-press side of me hopes this won’t ever happen. But the business degree side of me tells me it’s probably already in the works.)

On the flip side, another opportunity here is for market researchers to take a tweet-grid such as these and geo-locate where their products/brands are most or least popular. We’re definitely at the dawn of a new era of reporting and micro-marketing…