Brian J. Kopp said
If your new to Twitter or have only been using it casually, check the book out. They go through hashtags, @mentions, D messages, RT, and adding your own comments to RTs.
The most beneficial aspect of the book, besides the comprehensive lists of Twitter related resources, was the last chapter.
In the final chapter, The Twitter Book goes into great detail of how to use Twitter for businesses. Everything from how to run a Twitter account with multiple authors to best follow practices. This information has been extremely valuable for me since I've been working recently with one of out business units to set a new communications strategy that leverages Twitter.
In fact, since reading the book, I've passed it onto to several people within my organization, explaining that the book is a great read, quick, but most importantly, for them to read the last chapter.
I highly recommend The Twitter Book, it went above and beyond even Twitter's own 101 for Business web site and with Twitter expected to roll out commercial accounts later this year, we should all brush up on our Twitter skills.
Blase A. Ciabaton said
I was deciding between this book and "The Twitter Technique" so I sent out a Tweet to get feedback and was impressed when co-author, Sarah Milstein, actually sent me back a tweet reply. That won me over, and I immediately downloaded "The Twitter Book" onto my Kindle 2. I use Twitter for business and found that this book really covered all the major details needed to not just get started, but also to develop a strategy to use Twitter to network and develop business. Some of the most useful tips involve the list of companion websites that support Twitter users doing things like shortening URLs and viewing & managing messages from a stream of followers. Not only were the sites listed, but the authors took care to identify if any special downloads or software were required to run the applications, and then explained where you could find them.
The authors did a very good job of explaining what sort of practices to avoid and to adopt in order to maximize your followers. They also provided many examples of Tweets to support the topics they were covering. In addition, the table of contents is laid out in such a way that it is quick & easy to find answers to a specific questions or to research a particular topic.
Hash tags were another great source of mystery for me. The book clearly explains how to use them to locate others on Twitter who share similar interests; this could be peers in your industry, industry experts or potential clients. I used this information to build a list of people to follow, and in turn, some of the people I was following ultimately followed me. The end result of this for me was that in my first week on Twitter, I was able to write a guest blog entry on another peer's blog!
If you're even thinking about Twittering, you should buy this book and read it. Although, I use Twitter for business, this book is structured in such a way that it applies to just about anyone who wants to use Twitter.
Final thought: if you've not yet signed up on Twitter, then you should purchase this book first because they also offer advice on selecting your Twitter username.
Jerry Saperstein said
Like many people - probably millions of them - I've looked at Twitter, toyed with it, tried to figure out what the excitement is about and ignored it.
After reading this 230 page book on Twitter, I can't wait to get back to it.
Like Facebook, Twitter appears simple. But co-authors O'Reilly and Milstein explore all the features of Twitter, including a host of third-party resources that lend it tremendous power. It is truly amazing to see how potent Twitter is. O'Reilly and Milstein don't leave any stones unturned. They teach you how to find people who share your interests, how to choose those Tweeters you will follow, how to get attention and followers for your Tweets and so on. Each tip and technique is laid out on two pages: the left-hand side carries clear illustrations of the subject and the right carries the discussion. (In fact, the only thing I don't like about the book is its odd-size, but there's choice other than living with it.)
I tried some of the tools they explain in the early chapters and was floored to see just how diverse Twitter is. I typed in some reasonably esoteric terms, like Perl and regex, and was amazed at the number of people discussing those subjects.
O'Reilly and Milstein introduce tools that help you tune in to trends on Twitter and how to use them to introduce yourself to new people.
Twitter, as it turns out, is very, very cool. But without O'Reilly and Milstein taking me by the hand, I probably would never have learned just how cool Twitter is. A great tech book.
Jerry
Ashley M. Mott said
The Twitter Book is a solid reference manual to the Twitter universe. It contains tips, tricks, and insights into Twitter that both an average user and a "power user" can find helpful and informative.
I really appreciated that the book contained numerous full color, generously sized, illustrations to complement the text. Almost every explanation in the book contains a corresponding photo, including explanations of third party twitter applications.
I, myself, was not unfamiliar with Twitter when I started this book. I had an account; I used the service; but I occasionally would wonder what a symbol meant, how this worked, and where other people got some of the various tools I thought they must use to manage their Twitter universe.
This book cleared up all of those questions for me. I now know the name of several third-party Twitter managers that I can use to grow my twitter brand and have a basic understanding of how to use them in conjunction with the main site.
The Twitter book has a good section that provides some suggestions on using Twitter for your company or business, and how to make the most of the atmosphere of community within Twitter.
It is a great resource for anyone, but I highly recommend it for any holdouts who keep debating about whether or not they really want to Twitter.
William Grey said
Quick note to say that this is such an easy read for newbies or busy people without much time. Very simple and attractive graphic design make this a real winner. Each spread covers one feature, showing examples-in-use on the left and a short but complete explanation with experienced advice on the right. It makes sense that those interested in "tweeting" in 140 character bursts are not interested in reading an encyclopedic format of dense copy. Fortunately the authors have understood this.
The book includes granular advice on Twitter etiquette including retweeting techniques and how to write interesting posts. It also mentions a bunch of third party resources for managing multiple followers, tracking the popularity of your posts and finding followers by topic or locale.
The Twitter Book is not only a quick and interesting orientation to Twitter... but also an accessible ongoing reference, as well, with an index (thank God!).
I highly recommend this book and have already bought extra copies for social media clients.
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