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Twitter4Skype: IM meets micro-blogging
Wednesday, 6 June 2007 — by Wayne Smallman
Me, I usually get technology news second-hand. I’m not among the industry movers & shakers. I stand on the sidelines and watch the major players throw each other around and I look to the ground and make a best guess about where they’re likely to land. That’s technology trends for you.
So taking that analogy a little further, I get to wash the shirts afterwards.
But I’ll tell you one thing, when I’m finished, this technology news doesn’t half scrub up well!
“But what would happen if we made Skype a Twitter client?”
I can imagine the thought right now, though not in the native Japanese tongue, of course. And that’s the language that invoked this idea and made it real, according to Robert Sanzalone of Pacific IT, the guy frontin’ Twitter4Skype.
You see, Twitter4Skype is as good a Twitter client as you’re going to find.
I’ve tried Twitterific from the excellent Icon Factory, a Twitter client for the Mac, but I just didn’t take to it.
I’ve also used the Twitter widget for Netvibes, the personal web page portal, which is good, but it’s yet another window to switch to.
So dropping on Twitter4Skype was and is a boon for me, it really is.
A lot of my business correspondence goes through Skype, the broadband telephony and Instant Messaging client, so combining the two .. well, delightful!
Anyway, having run a quickie article last night on Twitter4Skype, Robert was kind enough to add me to Twitter, and I’m pretty sure it’s from there that I saw an invite to a public chat on Skype regarding Twitter4Skype.
And there I was, not on the sidelines anymore.
I’m reminded of a quote from the character Chas, played by Shia LaBeouf, in the horror / thriller / fantasy Constantine, staring Keanu Reeves and the utterly delectable Rachel Weisz: “There’s no point being on the bench if you’re not gonna play, right?” Or something like that.
Well I was busy stitching socks, darn it!
Sure, there’s issues with regards to scalability of Twitter4Skype, as was pointed out by Julian Bond of Ecademy fame (sorry, that’s me, by the way and not Julian. I’m just whoring another one of my various virtual presences) but I have faith, if nothing else.
And in answer to one rather prosaic question: “So, what next?” I had to answer along the lines of: “Talk of going IPO and then the inevitable buy-out.”
Apparently, and according to Dan York I believe, when posting links through Skype into Twitter, they are resolved into TinyURL links on t’other side, just as they would through Twitter proper. Which is a relief.
So if this is all totally wrong, blame Dan, OK?
Additionally, another topic raised in the melee of the collective Q&A, was of the ‘Alpha Geek’ short-hand convention “@username:” for addressing someone on a ‘blog or in a chat session
It’s not only used quite often on Twitter, but it’s also grafted in as an ad hoc messaging system, recognized by Twitter itself.
My suggestion was, if this is an accepted, natural part of the messaging process, why then not subtract that from the 140 character quota? So you can type on and be sure that the “@username:” isn’t impinging on the character limit.
A suggestion that seemed to be warmly received, which was a relief.
So there you go, me at the pointy end of technology.
Imagine that?
Which reminds me, I need to get out to some seminars some time. Ye know? Press flesh, smile like an idiot…
Recommended reading
« Search to get a social Sproose up? — Wardriving coming to a Wi-Fi hub near you! »
Run us through the steps to get twitter4skype working, would ya, I just get blank stares from the program when I try it…
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