Since Twitter changed to 100% OAuth support you are now required to have a Twitter Application to post to Twitter. This can be seen with how a lot of the WordPress plugins work, which now require you to setup an application and save your OAuth keys so that they can post to Twitter.

You can do the same thing in a stand alone application and add functionality specific to your needs.

There are several benefits including but not limited to, having your link and name appear at the bottom of each Tweet as seen below.

You can also write custom routines to help you issue better Tweets.

I did this on my own Twitter App page with my Follow Friday Tweets.

I always hated the FollowFriday Tweets that are just several links to other people with no explanation of why I would want to follow them. So I built a routine where I can input the persons Twitter name, a reason to follow them and the result will always be the same formatted Tweet.

Each Tweet has the #FollowFriday hashtag followed by the referenced account and an explanation as to why I recommend them, and finally the #ff hastag to end the Tweet.

I also included several other features to make Twitter easier. I have a regular post box where I can write a Tweet and I created a Javascript bookmark for auto posting.

When I am on any web page I click Auto Post, and a Tweet is created and sent that has the Title of the page as the body of the Tweet, and a shortened link is included to the page. And of course they are branded with my link for each Tweet.

If you have a little time and programming help, I would highly recommend using a custom branded Twitter strategy.

Think outside the box!

Every little bit of exposure and linking helps !

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miio is a new Social Network with a rapidly growing community of people. It’s a lot easier on miio to find people with the same interest as you, and the WordPress Group is a great place to talk about any WordPress issues you may have.

For more information on miio I would recommend The Next Web miio review by Brad McCarty and / or the miio blog.

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While doing my morning reading on Saturday, Brad McCarty’s post at TNW grabbed my attention. Before I knew it I had spent several hours on miio. Yes I tend to be an early adopter, but I think miio will quickly move to the masses.

Read Brad’s post for a more in depth review, but take my advice and stop by miio and give it a test drive.

Pronounced meee oh, according to Richard Lusk CEO of miio

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It will be interesting to see how this changes the data flow in and out of Twitter. See Twitter Blog: Switching to OAuth

Until recently I was still seeing a lot of Tweets being posted “from API”. Based on everything I have read these calls will quit working on June 30th.

I know from experience that making a call with the Basic Authentication from the API was a lot easier than connecting via OAuth. There are probably a lot of people that could make the API work but will struggle with the OAuth functionality. However, a lot of other Social Networking applications are now using OAuth and learning that technology will be very beneficial across the Social Graph.

So if you have not made the change yet, you only have 2 weeks left to get it done without interrupting your Twitter data flow.

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Any Admin can now delete another Admin and any Admin can delete the entire page. Wow, this could get ugly.

I have been in situations where a customer has hired me to manage their Facebook page, and we had no way to remove the previous Admin, so this change is good in that aspect.  It also helps in cases where 3rd parties can create the page and hand it off to the business owner with the security that they can add or delete Admins as needed.

However, there should be some form of verification needed to delete an admin or page.

For all the wonderful things about Facebook, they do seem to lack an understanding of security and how it affects businesses in the real world.

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The one thing I can not grasp is why Google is choosing to keep the control so tight. After all these years the one thing you could count on with Google was some options. And we all know, if it can be done, Google can do it.

Suggestions:

• Google Buzz in the inbox. Give us some options. Start with, yes or no, and branch out from there. If yes, let us set the update interval to some extent. Buzz in Gmail is not the issue, just the inbox flow.
• Google Buzz and Google Reader integration. Once again, yes or no would be nice. My Reader was just about perfect for me, now, it is a mess.
• Bump interval. Why not let us set this to a number of comments before a post is bumped? Maybe a combination, either X number of comments, or an elapsed time will bump it.
• Mute fade. I just don’t think the Web 2.0 feature is worth the delay. I know I muted it, just let it go. Of course, an option here would be nice for those who like it.
• Contacts. Wow, what a mess this is. Google Buzz has made trash out of my contacts. I have not investigated this much, but I know I was shocked when I realized Buzz was doing a number on my nice clean list.
• How about a favorites button or some mechanism to flag something for later review? You are the ones who got us used to this in Gmail and Reader!

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Google is making another run at Social Networking and using Gmail to do it this time. After their previous attempts this is probably their final shot at getting some traction with social networking, if they miss here, they should just forget about it. At first glance it appears that they acknowledge Twitter and Flickr but they are not going to help anyone lean towards Facebook.

Google Wave did not get it done, Orkut, Zingku, or how about Dodgeball?

As usual they are diving in with API support at Google Code.

I will not pass judgement until I have some real time to invest in Google Buzz, but looking over the API, it looks like they realize the importance of connectivity to other systems and keeping the system as open as possible.

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By default Facebook gives you an address such as http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1234456789.

As I have discussed before, once you have 25 friends or 25 fans you can change this default to something more meaningful, such as my Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/CyberCoded.

Here is another tip. The Facebook Vanity URL is not case sensitive and ignores characters such as the period (.) and the hyphen (-). You can use this to your advantage when showing your URL in print or telling someone the address.

Examples:

• My personal Facebook account I made the Vanity URL, facebook.com/david.cooley, I did this because I think it looks better in the address bar. However, when I tell someone my address I can tell them it is just facebook.com/davidcooley and it will take them to my page. Easier to say “Facebook dot com davidcooley” than to say “facebook dot com david dot cooley”.

• My Business Fan Page is facebook.com/cybercoded, however, I can change the capitalization so it is easier to read, such as facebook.com/CyberCoded

• facebook.com/Cyber-Coded
• facebook.com/Cyber.Coded
• facebook.com/david.cooley
• facebook.com/David-Cooley

As you can see there are several ways to modify the address in print or online to make it easier to read, and yet they all resolve to the same page.

To change your Facebook Address use the Facebook Username page.

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WordPress can be used in so many ways. Whether you need a standard blog platform or an easy way to do an old fashioned website, WordPress can deliver. Between the wealth of WordPress Themes, Plugins and Widgets available you can mix and match the tools to quickly create a website or blog. It is also a great way to Park a domain while you are developing the site, you can setup a home page, with enough information to get indexed in the search engines so that when the site goes live it is already indexed for the main topic.

And to clarify, I am talking about self hosted WordPress, not hosting on WordPress.com. Using WordPress.com to host a blog is certainly an easy way to get started. Personally I just can not see giving away an opportunity to build your own site and credibility in the search engines and social networks. Yes, that means there is a cost, but the cost is so low these days, if you are gonna step out and create something, make it yours.

Here a few links to tutorials and information on How To Use WordPress.

WordPress Tutorial – How to Install and Manage WordPress http://bit.ly/6qPO58 – Source http://www.siteground.com

Getting Started with WordPress « WordPress Codex http://bit.ly/5EZhRR – Source http://codex.wordpress.org

How to use WordPress as a Truly Customized CMS http://bit.ly/81U26Y – Source http://www.idesignstudios.com

Convert Static HTML Site to WordPress Easily http://bit.ly/8RKj34 – Source http://www.cybercoded.net

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After reviewing the sites and applications I use most in conjunction with Twitter, I discovered it was more than I thought. I use the Twitter Home page,  HootSuite,  Tweetie,  Bit.ly, Facebook,  Twitter API, and probably a couple more every now and then. I then reviewed how and why I used each one and this process helped me considerably.

Each one of these systems has a place in my work and comfort zones and there is no reason for me to change what works well for me.

I think too many people try to force themselves to use one system, use what works the best for you!

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