RobWestbrook.com

If you've read this blog over the last two months, you know I've really been excited about Twitter. You see my last five twitters at the top of my blog's main page. You can click "Rob's Twitter" at the top and see a page with my last 25 twits. So what exactly is Twitter? How can I get in on this twitter action? Glad you asked. The official description of Twitter, taken from Twitter's home page says this: "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?" Here's a quick look at an example of you using Twitter. Twitter gives you 140 characters or less to write an update of what you're doing or what's on your mind. So, say you're headed out the door to go to that meeting at the church. You twit "Headed to church for 7pm meeting." You can send this update by typing it up on your Twitter home page or you can update from your mobile phone by SMS text message or a Twitter app on your phone if you have a data plan. No computer needed. You update and "Headed to church for 7pm meeting" is now the latest update to your Twitter timeline, a chronological listing of your updates. It's out there for people to know you're headed to the 7pm church meeting. But who actually knows that's what you're doing? The people who follow you on Twitter. This is where the communication Twitter promises actually happens. With Twitter, people can follow you, and in turn, you can follow others. When someone is following you, it means they are receiving your updates. If five people are following you, when you send your "Headed to church for 7pm meeting" they get that message. They know your plans. Now, maybe someone who is following you knows the meeting has been rescheduled for tomorrow. He updates his twitter, "That meeting is rescheduled for tomorrow." If you're following him, you get his update and save $25 in gas! Thanks, Twitter. That's just one example of a practical use for Twitter. Within a church context, the communications possibilities are endless. With the entire church staff following each other, the communication loop will always be open. Church members can instantly communicate plans, questions, meetings, events, or anything else quickly and easily, with just one message. How do you get started with Twitter? Easy. Go to Twitter's Home Page and click the green box, "Get Started - Join". You'll be presented a form to sign up. The first box is "username." Use something that people can readily identify you with later when they want to follow you. For instance, my twitter username is "robwestbrook." When someone wants to follow me, they search for my name and I'm easily recognizable in their search. Complete the rest of the form and you're now twittering. You'll be taken to your Twitter page with a text box ready for your first twit. There's a search box at the top where you can type in a person's name you want to follow. You'll get a list of search results. Find the person you want to follow, click "follow" and that's it, you're following them. Their updates will automatically be sent to you. People can do the same and follow you. One of the things I like about Twitter is the ability to update from your mobile phone. You can use your mobile phone in several different ways to update Twitter. For those who don't have a data package, you can simply send a SMS text message to Twitter's number. The text message is added to your timeline. If you have a data plan, you can point your phone's browser to http://m.twitter.com and update. And, there are other third-party applications you can also use. I have a Blackberry Curve and I use a program called Twitterberry. I almost exclusively use Twitterberry for all my Twitter needs. I know this is a really rudimentary look at Twitter but maybe it will tweak your interest enough to give it a try. It really is a nice communication tool. And, if you become a Twitter user, let me know. You can follow me by clicking here. Happy twittering!

There are millions of blogs on the web today, with thousands more popping up each day. If you've surf the web for very long, it's highly likely you've been on blogs. You're here, so you've been to at least this blog! A blog can be part of a large company's website, or it can be more personal, such as this one. The blog may appear to just be one long page of articles (also called posts) to read and that's it. Well, you definitely can read all those posts, but blogs are unique from other web pages, because you get to interact with the author. How can you interact on blogs? I hope to show you how, or at least, give you a few pointers on making your blog experience more than just reading. In this how-to, I'll use my blog as an example on how you can interact with a blog. Start With the Menu This is a screenshot of the top of my blog page. You'll notice a menu on the bar, under the title. Different blogs have different menus, but this is how mine is laid out. There's the "Home" button, which will always take you to the initial blog "home" page. I have an "About Rob" button that, when clicked, will take you to a page that tells a little bit about me. The "Contact Rob" button will take you to a page with a form. Fill out this form, send it, and I'll get an email with your message. "Rob's Twitter" button goes to a page that displays my last 25 twits. Twitter is an exciting little web app that I plan on writing a how-to about soon. You can find out a little more here. The last button I have is "Rob's Photos." These are pictures I've taken that are on my Facebook page, another how-to for the future. A Blog is More than One Page There's much more to a blog than just the one page where you read the posts. Let's dig a little deeper. This screenshot is what you typically see on the home page of a blog. The date it was posted is shown and the title is on top, in bold print. The actual post is below, the stuff you read. There's a few other things to notice. Underneath the title of this post, you see a folder and "how-tos." This is the category for the post. All the posts here are filed under all types of different categories. This category is clickable. In this example, click "how-tos" and you'll be taken to that category's page, where every post in that category is listed, all for you to read. Another link you'll find under the title is "click here to make a comment." Click that link and you'll be taken to a page that only has this post listed and a comment form. (You also are taken to a single post page by clicking the title). Here's where the interaction comes in. The Single Post Page By clicking on a post's title, or by clicking on the "make a comment" link, you're taken to the single post page. Clicking the title takes you to the top of the single post page and clicking the "make a comment" link takes you to the comment section of the single post page. The single post page is just what it's name is, a page with a single post. Let's take a look at some of the elements of a single post page. This screenshot now shows the top of the same post as we looked at on the home page, but we're now on the single post page. You see the date, the title, the category, and the add comments, as well as the post itself. A few other things to notice. Above the title, on the left you see an arrow and "Big Weekend Planned." On the right you see an arrow and "A Church called LifePointe." These are links to other posts. Click the one on the left and you'll go to the post written just previous to the one you're now on. Click the one on the right and you're taken to the post written next after the one you're reading. These are called navigation links. At the bottom of the post, you'll see what we have in this screenshot. You won't find these on all blogs but quite a few now have them. These are called social links. I have links to del.icio.us, Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Clicking any one of these links will send the post to that site if you have an account set up. For instance, if you have a Facebook account, clicking the Facebook icon will add the post as a note to your profile. Pretty neat, huh? Click it and instantly you can share the post will all your Facebook friends. There's also two other icons in the social links. The envelope is an email button. Click it and you can email the post to anyone you want. Think someone might be interested? Email it to them and let them check it out. The other icon is the print button. Yep, click it and you've got a hard copy of the post. Getting Interactive The comments section is the place where blog interaction best takes place. In this screenshot, you see the comment form found at the bottom of every single post page. Agree with the post? Let the author, and everyone else, know here. Have some additional information related to the post? The comments is how you share that information with everyone else. Somebody sees your comment and wants to join in. So they follow up with a comment. Before you know it, there's a conversation going on. Blog interaction. How to Comment So how can you get into this blog conversation? Simple. Fill out the comment form. On my blog, I require a name and valid email. I like to know who I'm talking to and I find that identifying yourself makes for calmer, more on-topic conversation. In other words, it helps keep down spam! So, enter your name and email address. If you have a website or blog, enter it, too, so that, when your comment is posted, your name will link to it. In the big box, type in your comments. When you're done, click the "Submit Comment" button and your comment is published. Stay in the Conversation Once you post a comment, it's always good to check back on that post often. Someone may read your comment and add more. You wouldn't want to miss what they had to say, would you? Most comments will take place in the first few days after posting or until a new post goes online. But it's always good to follow the conversation. Not following the conversation is like walking off when someone's talking to you! Keep up with the conversation. That's all part of blog interaction. Conclusion For many of you this post is old news. But for some of you, I hope it's helped introduce you to a much broader world of blogs that the one page reading. More how-tos are in the pipes. Check back for more. And now, let's practice. Click the title, find the comment form, and let's interact!

Ya'll know by now I'm really loving Twitter. I'm planning on writing a Twitter how-to for you. I think it's a potentially strong church communication tool. Here's a video to give you an overview of what Twitter is all about.

In the near future I hope to write a few articles that might help you get more into the internet Christian social scene. I'm planning on writing how-to's on getting started blogging, interacting with blogs such as mine, and getting started with Twitter. I'll also cover more LifePointe specific how-to's, especially how to use our church community builder. If there are other things you see me doing either here or on the church website let me know and I'll do some how-to's on those, too. Just leave me a comment below on what you'd like to know how to do.