Comments on: Twitter For Dummies

By: Christopher Abraham

Christopher Abraham — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:12:17 +0000

Twitter For Dummies should be called Twitter for Everyone. I may be considered a pretty heavy Twitter user and was #herebeforeoprah but even I really enjoyed getting into the heads of Laura @pistachio Fitton, Michael @gruen Gruen, and Leslie @geechee_girl Poston.

If I were to boil Twitter for Dummies down, I would say that you can't dumb down Laura, Michael, or Leslie -- they're leaders in Twitterville and you really cannot be disappointed if you grab the book.

For me, the entire book only took me the length of a Hollywood movie to read because I am pretty advanced; however, I must say that I they threw in kitchen sink in this book, extending into lesser-used features such as the Public Timeline and really geeky command-line access to Twitter such as "d chrisabraham" or "follow chrisabraham," etc.

In fact, there's a whole chapter on rocking Twitter via SMS text-messaging, something that may be less relevant to the Twitterati but is very important to 75% of all cell phone users (and yes, I did make up that nuber, I think it is closer to 90%) who don't rock smartphones -- just be sure to make sure you get the unlimited texts plan if you plan to go with SMS or you'll be screwed.

Of course, everything is covered and covered again and you really need to be a moron if you can't sort yourself out with Twitter by the end of Part III -- but this is Twitter for Dummies and not Twitter for Morons (and, publishers, I am super interested in writing that book -- also, Twitter for Effen Morons) so there you go -- it is what it is. (Strangely enough, however, is that there isn't one mention of my beloved Android G1 phone! There's mentions of the iPhone, the Blackberry, and even Javascript phones but where the hell's my G1! OK, I am done.)

Well, at the start of this review, I said this was all about Laura Fitton, Michael Gruen, and Leslie Poston, and it is, but there's not a whole lot of them in I-III chapters. Part IV is when all the good stuff comes a-pouring through. Who else but the best of the best would engage issues like "Finding Your Tweet Voice," "Twitter for Business," "The Social Side of Twitter," and "Changing the World, One Tweet at a Time."

This is the kind of stuff that makes me want to rename this book from "Twitter for Dummies" to "Twitter for Everyone: From Total Newbie to Total Rockstar." Rating: 5 / 5

By: Kevin Kim

Kevin Kim — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:11:05 +0000

I think it’s a well structured, richly informative, impressively approachable, and very practical guide for Twitter. It’s written in plain language for easier digestion, equipping with a wealth of tips, how-to’s, resources, anecdotes, direct linkages to the Web, and precautions. Although it feels like a little bit too long for a guide, particularly for the 140-character-limited texting social media (I’m only half serious).
Rating: 5 / 5

By: Mike Williams

Mike Williams — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:34:37 +0000

Knowing nothing about Twitter before opening this book, I needed it to get me up and running quickly and painlessly. Allowing for the quips and tangents that seem a part of all Dummies books, the instructions were clear, concise and helpful – it told me what I needed to know. Just as useful were tips on etiquette and procedures that it is difficult to find out in any other way. The authors are users but not employees of Twitter and this helped give a more balanced view – even allowing an odd criticism to be aired. The acid test is did it get me up and running. Look me up at @Mikesvoice and see for yourself. I used nothing but the book to guide me.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: iqhope

iqhope — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:34:34 +0000

FULL of wonderful insights and URL’s on how and when to use Twitter; didn’t have quite as many anecdotes and ‘ah-hah’ moments as Twitterville, but still worth the discounted prices from Barnes & Noble (with added membership discount!).

Follow me: #Dawn_Boyer
Rating: 5 / 5

By: bjorn madsen

bjorn madsen — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:03:36 +0000

I have perused the “tweets” of people in my social circle as well as those of the famous and leaders of our society, and have come to the realization that twitter is perpetuated not by young hip technology-literate gurus but by the media and those who read Newsweek and want to feel younger by being relevant and hip to the new jive. The reality of twitter is that it is for the most point vapid and pointless, just another medium with fifteen seconds of content for the ADHD citizenship of the western world.

As for books about twitter: If you need to read a book about twitter, you probably don’t have any good reason to be using it.
Rating: 2 / 5

By: Loan Smart

Loan Smart — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:06:08 +0000

[...] on June 28, 2010 by ciprianpt I just post Twitter For Dummies on http://www.softwarepeer.com/computers-and-technology/twitter-for-dummies/ This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. ← Previous Post [...]