Twitter

I just thought previously that this couldn't really do any more than emails could. However with mobile phones being internet linked and prices gradually coming down I can see the uses for quickly advertising something or informing customers/patrons of new features on a website, library services, overdues, etc.

Came across this intriguing new use!

Edinburgh International Book Festival News 27 November 2009 Electric Literature on Twitter Electric Literature, an American online literary magazine, will be breaking new ground next week by micro-serialising Rick Moody's new short story Some Contemporary Characters over Twitter. The story will be tweeted over the course of three days on Electric Literature's Twitter channel, @ElectricLit, from 10.00am on Monday 30 November. Moody's story is broken down into 153 sections of 140 characters or less. "It really was like writing Haiku," says Moody, who used the character limitation of Twitter as a source of inspiration. "Moody has taken something that could be seen as gimmicky - 'Twitter-fiction' - and created something transcendent," says Electric Literature's Editor, Scott Lindenbaum. Lindenbaum goes on to explain the unique challenges he faces in publishing to Twitter. "With thousands of tweets flying per second, and users logging on at unpredictable hours, it is impossible to capture a reader's uninterrupted attention. Rather than try, we are publishing in short intervals over a three-day period to ensure the maximum number of followers are exposed to the story. Rick has composed it so each tweet is strong enough to stand on its own." Sounds an intriguing project, doesn't it? I'll definitely be logging on to see how it works out. And this one: http://twitter.com/scottslastexp Cambridge University are retracing Scott's last expedition through Twitter. I think this is a really clever way of using social media to educate people about history. More info: http://www.3news.co.nz/Historic-explorer-tweets-from-beyond-the-grave-/tabid/423/articleID/131535/cat/525/Default.aspx And this : Twitter new, helpful tool for county libraries November 29th, 2009 Cumberland Times – “Interested in meeting the Allegany County Bookmobile at Hannah Plaza in Cresaptown but running late? Now you can simply log on to Twitter and see if the Bookmobile is on schedule. The Allegany County Library System is using Twitter and other social networking sites as yet another way to bring the library experience closer to patrons — wherever they may be.”

Creative commons

I have seen references to this on various blogs, especially Paul Reynolds' PEOPLEPOINTS but didn't fully understand it until now.

It does take some of the hassle out of the copyright laws.