Wednesday, April 16, 2008

How to create an automatically-updating Twitter account for your newspaper

I encourage you to work with your staffers on finding ways to interact on Twitter, but since most staffs don't have much time for social networking, starting with this auto account is a good way to get your feet wet with social content syndication.

Here's how to start :

  1. Get yourself an email address, which you'll need to create a Twitter account. You can register a free one with Gmail .
  2. Create a Twitter account at Twitter.com .
  3. Fill in the profile of your news org's account, upload a photo and change the background. Make sure on the profile information you've provided a link back to the appropriate URL for your content.
  4. Get yourself an OpenID. You can use your Yahoo! username or get an OpenID from ClaimID or MyOpenID .
  5. Find an RSS feed from your news org that you want to syndicate.
  6. Login to Twitterfeed with your OpenID.
  7. Create a new Twitterfeed and fill in your Twitter account details and RSS feed.
  8. Start enjoying a Twitter account on auto-pilot!

Thanks for checking out this quick guide on creating an auto Twitter account. If you're bit by the Twitter bug and want to learn more, check out my ultimate guide to Twitter tools and resources for journalists !

Are using Twitter for your news org? Point me at it! Here's a couple lists of news orgs using Twitter: Graphic Designr and Red66.

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