CWI Media, LLC

By Gary Cope

Here at CWI Media & Marketing, we have preached the benefits and advantages of using social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you run a business, hopefully you’ve taken the initiative to set up these accounts. But, did you know that you can take those social networking sites on the road with your cell phone? At the very least, all you need is cell phone that can send and receive text messages.

In part one of our series on “Connecting your cell phone to your social networking sites” we begin with Twitter - specifically sending and receiving Tweets via text messaging. Let’s begin…

1. Login to your Twitter account at www.twitter.com.
2. Once you are logged in, click on “Settings” near the top right of the page.
3. Then click on the “Devices” tab.
4. Enter your phone number preceded by a plus sign (ex. +12125551212) and click “Save.” (Make sure you check the box below that gives Twitter permission to send text messages to your phone!)
5. The next screen will provide you with a random code that you must text to Twitter to verify your cell phone number. Send a text to 404-04 with the code as the message. Assuming you do this correctly, you should receive a text message confirming that your cell phone number is linked to your Twitter account.
   
   

Now, keep in mind that you can only have one cell phone linked to one Twitter account. So, if you have multiple Twitter accounts, you can only have one of them linked to your cell phone. But, if you have a personal cell and a business cell phone, then your problem is solved!

One last thing - and this is very important for your sanity - go back to the “Devices” tab from the “Settings” page and customize when and under what circumstances you wish to receive text messages. Twitter defaults your account to send a text every time one of the people you are following posts a Tweet. If you follow a lot of people, this could be maddening and expensive if you don’t have an unlimited texting plan. So, I suggest customizing it. Personally, I only want to receive a text when someone sends me a direct tweet, so I changed my setting to “Direct Messages.”

You can also customize your mobile device updates for each person you are following. To do this, go back to your “Home” page on Twitter and then click on “Following.” Here you will see an option called “Device Updates” for each of the people you follow. If you follow a lot of people, this can be tedious and difficult to manage, but you can do it, we have confidence in you!

Moving on… To post a Tweet to your Twitter account via text messsage, send a text to 404-04 along with your message (less than 140 characters) and a Tweet will appear on your account. Twitter displays what platform you use to post your Tweets. For example, if you send a tweet via text message, Twitter will display “from txt” at the end of your message following the date and time). The same is true for other Twitter platforms like Tweetdeck, Twhirl, Twitterific, etc.

Mobile Web Access If you have Web access on your cell phone, you can visit m.facebook.com for Facebook’s mobile site and m.twitter.com for Twitter’s mobile site. In case you hadn’t guessed, the “m” that takes the place of the traditional “www” stands for “mobile.” Ingenius, don’t you think? Anyhow, these mobile versions of the sites are scaled down so that they can load faster on your mobile device. Of course, if you have the iPhone or BlackBerry, there are applications you can download that will give you fuller, richer versions of popular social networking sites.

That’s all for today! If you have questions about Twitter, specifically how to get the most out of it for your business, send an e-mail to gary@cwimedia.com.