Top 20 Most Useful Twitter Blog Posts of 2010

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It’s that time of year where I look back at all of the changes that happened in social media and choose those best blog posts that you want to make sure you read. I’m going to start with Twitter for my 2010 best of lists, and I think you’ll be happy with the mix of resourceful blog posts that were published that cover both tips for beginners as well as business-related and insightful analytical posts for intermediate and/or experts. Of course the biggest functionality added to the realtime platform was its new user interface, so I have made sure to include blog posts that covered resourceful advice on that topic.

As with the similar blog posts I wrote last year, I used a number of factors when considering which were the best blog posts and tips to recommend to you all. Within each section I have ordered the listing in descending order by most retweets according to the Topsy search engine at the time of this blog post, which are indicated in brackets.

On a final note, I also contributed 19 Twitter-related blog posts in 2010, so I have taken the liberty to also sprinkle the below list with top suggestions with tips from my own blog posts for your reference where appropriate.

GENERAL TIPS FOR EVERYONE

50 Power Twitter Tips by Chris Brogan [5,486]

Chris Brogan crafts an extremely helpful list on what you need to do to become a power user as only Chris can. He creatively categorized his list as follows: intent, technical, business, integrated usage, and off-twitter. Classic Brogan advice.

Top 20 Sites to Improve Your Twitter Experience by Vadim Lavrusik [4,225]

Take advantage of the many sites that make your experience tweeting more efficient and effective by checking out this great list.

HOW TO: Spring Clean Your Twitter Account by Amy-Mae Elliott [2,982]

Overwhelmed by the deluge of tweets you get? Some tidying up might be in order.

26 Tips for Enhancing Your Tweets by Debbie Hemley [2,136]

If you’ve been struggling with what you should share to your followers, here are 26 talking points that should get you thinking. The post features everything from retweeting memes to dusting off old whitepapers for mass consumption.

The Complete Guide to Getting the Most Out of Twitter by Cameron Chapman [841]

An authoritative resource for both newbies and professional users, with links to tools as well as useful basic tips that cover everything from etiquette to finding followers and managing lists.

(Some of my posts from 2010 that I would recommend here include Twitter Content Strategy: 4 Reasons Why Everyone’s Content is King [109], 3 Alternative Ways to Find Great Content to Tweet [92], What Should I Tweet? 5 Ways to Find Great Content for Your Followers [64], What is a Twitter Chat and HOW TO: Easily Join One Using TweetGrid [22], and What are Your Favorite Twitter Pet Peeves? Here are My Top 10. [VIDEO] [13].)

GENERAL BUSINESS ADVICE

21 Tips for Using Twitter and Facebook for Business by Brian Solis [1,799]

Enterprises have already been embracing the micro blogging platform in their operations and not just in marketing. A few have used it for order taking, crowdsourced research and customer service. Check out this excellent list to get some ideas on how your business can utilize the realtime platform (and Facebook as well).

(I offer my own general business advice in my Social Media Etiquette: 6 Important Lessons Learned from One Japanese Company’s Major Tweeting Mistake post [69] as well as How Your Business Can Tweet Better with Hootsuite [55].)

MARKETING TIPS

10 Dos and Don’ts for Brands on Twitter by Jolie O’Dell [3,627]

Mashable gives out a few solid pointers on how to better engage using the real-time messaging platform. My personal favorite is tip #10: “Do Fish Where the Fish Are.” Read the entire blog post for some great ideas.

7 Insanely Useful Ways to Search Twitter for Marketing by John Jantsch [1,970]

Oddly enough, the best way to search for insight into tweets may be through Google. The founder of Duct Tape Marketing gives some very good tips on doing deep searches to get to know your customers better.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

(My normal process of finding authoritative and resourceful posts didn’t yield any good results on Customer Service related posts, but I did write a few on the subject that you might be interested in in case you missed them: Is Your Customer Service Ready for Social Media? The Virgin America Tweeting Campaign Case Study. [44], Twitter Should Not be a Last Resort for Your Customer Service Department [33], and HOW TO: Deal With an Angry Customer Tweeting [23].)

MONITORING TWITTER

10 Ways to track what people are saying about you on Twitter from 10,000 Words [?]

Great list of 10 clients and applications which can help you better search for and monitor tweets – for free.

TWITTER FOR MEDIA

Why Twitter matters for media organisations by Alan Rusbridger [3,212]

If you are in any way involved in media (yes, even your personal blog counts), then this piece should convince you why you should participate in tweeting, if you aren’t already. Brilliant piece of journalism from The Guardian.

INSIGHTFUL ANALYSIS

Twitter: 10 Psychological Insights from PsyBlog [2,811]

Report on fascinating psychological research which reveals who tweets, how much, what they talk about and why. Get a closer look into the vitals of tweets through this article.

Replies and Retweets on Twitter from Sysomos [2,050]

If you want to geek out on stats, this piece of research from Sysomos should satisfy you and give you the base data you need to develop your tweeting strategies.

Four Ways of Looking at Twitter by Scott Berinato [1,955]

From Venn diagrams to streamgraphs, the Harvard Business Review shares four tools that help give some visual flair to your search terms. Data visualization of tweets seems to carry a lot of promise. Read on for more details.

(I contributed a post which I hope offered insightful analysis in Think About It: Your Twitter Username is Your New Email Address [74], and 6 Proof Points that Japan is Leading the US in Tweeting [40].)

FOLLOWERS AND INFLUENCE

Followers Don’t Equal Influence by Scott Berinato [2,408]

From the article: “when it comes to non-popular or even niche topics, small businesses and opinion leaders were far more effective in engaging audience than mass media.” Well put.

Are Twitter Followers Better Than Facebook Fans? from eMarketer [2,179]

A fascinating a look at how people who tweet carry more influence and are better brand ambassadors. Backed up by data comparing those who tweet with Facebook fans and even email subscribers.

The Most Influential Consumers Online are on Twitter by Brian Solis [1,968]

More words in support on why companies should take note of their users who tweet. As Brian Solis tells us, “While money doesn’t grow on trees, it does however, grow on Tweets.” Insightful analysis from one of social media’s true thought leaders.

THE NEW USER INTERFACE

HOW TO: Customize Your Background for the New Twitter by Christina Warren [4,404]

With the new user interface you need a new custom background image. This article will show you how to create one.

The Best Subtle Things About New Twitter by MG Siegler [1,815]

Simplicity is what this service is all about so it’s no surprise that while the changes in the new user interface are nothing radical, they are nonetheless very welcome. TechCrunch provides a definitive review of all of the functionality that the new user interface brings with it.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About the New Twitter.com by Liz Gannes [1,189]

GigaOm gives us an inside look at what makes the new interface tick with facts about the direction it’s aiming for, partner deals and how the changes affect third-party apps through a collection of insider data culled from interviewing Twitter executives and staff.

JOB SEARCH

6 Ways to Score a Job Through Twitter by Erica Swallow [3,548]

Mashable compiles a list of good advice for the job search through both online, and offline, networking via the realtime platform of tweets.

(I also wrote what I hope to be a definitive resource for job seekers: Job Seekers, Forget About LinkedIn: The Ultimate Guide for Your Twitter Job Search [102] as well as HOW TO: Tweet Your Way to Finding a Job [34].)

PERSONAL BRANDING

(Similar to the Customer Service category my normal process didn’t unearth any authoritative posts on personal branding, but I did write a post that I recommend if you are interested in this subject: What Should I Tweet About? Understanding Why Personal Branding on Matters [122].)

If I missed any blog posts for 2010 regarding the realtime platform that you would also recommend to everyone, please place a link together with your comment. Thanks!

Republished with author's permission from original post.

1 COMMENT

  1. Thank you, this list is exactly what I needed. I use Twitter but my 2011 project is to go “beyond the basics” on how to use Twitter for marketing. This list will be my January reading. Thank you

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