Challenge: 7 Days of ONLY Tweeting via SMS

The original idea around Twitter was “to have a dispatch service that connects us on our phones using text.” (140 Characters by @Dom Sagolla) Before API, thats applications programming interface, you could tweet directly through the website or by sending a text message. Now that we ALL have smartphones, we use apps like @TweetDeck and @Echofon – or the desktop clients. Or we tweet from one of the other thousands of 3rd-party applications available. 

But for a short while back when texting meant T9, SMS was the way to tweet. I decided that for one week I would give up tweeting from Twitter.com, Echofon for iPhone, and the TweetDeck desktop client; I was going to tweet via SMS for an entire week. 

Anyone can update their timeline through text message (update Settings > Mobile). And everything you need to know about effectively tweeting via SMS is here. But could it actually be done for 1 week? My daily log is as follows:

Day 1: This is hard. I’m getting a butt load of texts. “Stats” is a nice feature. I hate that I can’t view @replies.

Day 2: Aside from the nearly 50 texts (timeline updates) before 9am (mtn time), this has finally come in handy. I can easily turn “OFF” my notifications and work on my paper.

Day 3: iPhone’s don’t count characters but I’m finally getting a feel for what 100 to 120 characters looks like. It was nice being able to focus on my paper without being distracted every 2 seconds with a text. 

Day 3 (later): I cheated. In retaliation against my paper, I logged onto Twitter.com. #c8fail

Day 4: Still had notifications turned off. Didn’t tweet much today.

Day 5: I KNOW I’M MISSING OUT. Am I addicted to my timeline? Tried RTing more today – you can only RT somebody’s most recent tweet – meh. Having notifications on prevented me from napping.

Day 6: Realizing that I’m not tweeting as much and of value. Missing the inspiration from my timeline?

Day 7: N/A

I cheated on the evening of Day 6. And by cheated, I mean, I gave in. I don’t think this says anything about my dedication in general, but rather, my dedication to Twitter – and that’s a good thing, right? 

Note: There are a few points I’d like to make, whether you determine these as positives or negatives of SMS tweeting, is up to you.

1. SMS tweeting results in a smaller timeline. You have to individually and manually turn on the users that you want notifications from. Pro: staying up-to-date with fewer, and more meaningful, users. Con: missing out on potentially valuable information in your timeline.
2. No trending topics and hashtags. Pro: TT’s – “out of sight, out of mind.” Con: #hashtags can be tweeted but not viewed.
3. No @replies. This really drives me crazy. Pro: less distractions – the only way a user can contact you is through DM. Con: it makes responding to users and conversing with users nearly impossible.

The quote in this article is from 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form by Dom Sagolla, co-creator of Twitter. (@Dom and @thebook)

3 Needed Tech & Media Updates

I try not to complain (too much) but recently, I can’t help but wonder why developers didn’t include the following (and obvious, in my opinion) features:

1. @replies via SMS: Over the past seven days, I have been experimenting with the original SMS method of tweeting. After a solid week of SMS tweeting, I feel that I have become somewhat proficient. However, there is one flaw: I can not view my @replies and it is driving me nuts! The only way to view @replies is if you chose to follow a user in your SMS timeline and you see that that user has tweeted at you. Other than that, DM is the only way to contact a SMS tweeter. And seriously, who DMs somebody unless you’re into #twitterafterdark. 

2. Exporting Facebook photo albums: So to make up for my lack of time spent on Twitter, Echofon, and TweetDeck this past week, I decided to update my privacy settings on Facebook. Out of my 67 photo albums (when did I get so many??), I chose to keep my travel albums viewable by everyone. Essentially, I’m using Facebook as a storage unit for the other 4,000 pictures from college. So, my frustration is this: I can’t export my Facebook photo albums onto my computer. I’m sure it could be done… one photo at a time. But that’d be a pain in the you-know-where.

3. Automatic sourcing from iBooks to iWork: I didn’t order an iPad because my 2nd generation MacBook still runs perfectly fine. But after playing with it for an hour (I know, I’m a hog) at the Apple store last weekend, I so want one. As a Communications student, I write a lot and I could see the iWork software combined with the iBooks app as being extremely useful. As I was playing around with iBooks, I had an idea: there needs to be automatic sourcing from iBooks to iWork. What I mean is, if I copy a phrase from a book or textbook in iBooks and I paste the selection into my document on iWork, I want my iPad to automatically source the reference in the correct MLA/APA format. Computers do everything else, why can’t they source my papers, too?

Why haven’t the developers addressed these issues? If you know ANY way around these problems, please comment!

@caithaha

I changed my Twitter username to @caithaha. No disrespect to @thefiveone but it’s time to leave @GREYfiveone behind so that I can continue to work on my personal brand.

Pick a color and join the Revalulion at Deuce Day World.

GREY FOREVER

Fetch is King

I haven’t posted in a LONG time. This is because of three things:

1. I am in the process of completing my move to Colorado. This process involves job interviews and driving (my car, stuff, etc) across the country.
2. I have been working on my thesis about the relationship between Twitter and marketing. It’s due tomorrow. This post is a manifestation of my procrastination.
3. Although I probably should have waited this one out, I adopted a dog. He’s a Dachshund/mix (we’re not sure what he’s mixed with so I’ll post some pictures and please comment if you have any ideas), his name is Petey, and he lives to fetch.

 

Petey!

 

Nap time for Petey!

 

Expect more posts soon though. I’m currently experimenting but I won’t tell you about what. OK, Twitter and SMS are involved. THAT’S IT. I need to finish my paper, NOW.

By the way, I’m currently reading Search Engine Optimization For Dummies by Peter Kent right now. If anyone knows any other good links or books about SEO, please comment!

I am a GREYMELEON

Sooner or later I’m going to write a tribute to this social networking site because thanks to Twitter, today I came across Tumblr. You can check out my Tumblr page here. Tumblr is micro blogging without the Facebook status qualities of Twitter and looks more like normal blogging. You can easily post text, pictures, quotes, inks, chats, audio, and video and the iPhone application is so simple, easy, and fast. I’ve been playing around with Tumblr all night. 

I’m going to continue to explore this and then update this post accordingly. My eyes hurt from staring at the computer all night so I’m going to finish this post mañana. I’m going to postpone the lucid dreaming post for a while and probably substitute with a post on my weakness: Twitter.

I’ve added some new links. Adios