LEL on Twitter

[D0m1n1c Burford]

I've been reading various threads about riders updating Twitter during their rides, with some specifically mentioning updating Twitter during LEL.

I had a thought about this that may make this easier.  Rather than people follow individual riders, would it not be easier if a global LEL Twitter account was created, and all riders collectively updated this instead.  Then we would be able to read the updates from all riders from a single Twitter account.

The Twitter message would then take the form of:

@LELUpdates @<insert Twitter name here> <message>

(assuming the LEL Twitter account was called LELUpdates)

For example:

@LELUpdates @Fred Arrived at Gamlingay and feeling great!

What does everyone else think?

[Chris S]

Yes - something along those lines is what I think other threads have been moving towards.

Much better than everyone having to follow each other. That's madness.

[MSeries]

Does that mean we send SMS messages to our normal twitter number and the @notation causes it to go somewhere special ? Tell me what would happen if I sent

@LELUpdates @mseries Arrived at the pub

would my twitter page get updated too ?

[D0m1n1c Burford]

Does that mean we send SMS messages to our normal twitter number and the @notation causes it to go somewhere special ? Tell me what would happen if I sent

@LELUpdates @mseries Arrived at the pub

would my twitter page get updated too ?

Yes, it will appear as an @reply to LELUpdates (just as any message to another twitterer already does).  Visitors to your profile page will see you sending messages to @LELUpdates.  The only difference to the message is that all LEL updates will be preceded with @LELUpdates.

[nic]

There wouldn't be any need to reply to an LEL account.

riders can use a hashtag #LEL and all tweets relevant to LEL will be visible in the search. the search interface provides an RSS feed to a search query.

see #hashtags - What's happening right now on twitter Twitter Search

 

[RichForrest]

If you put that in though there are already people with lel on there, and it will bring up all theirs as well.
Could use the tag yacf it doesn't show anything on there at the minute.

[Salvatore]

If you put that in though there are already people with lel on there, and it will bring up all theirs as well.

2 minutes ago:

No results for #lel

Don't forget the #.

[MSeries]

Not sure I understand but i take your word for it. I'd like to see it in practice. To make it easier for us riding, lets replace @LELUpdates with something shorter, such as #LEL or @yacf 

What do the @ and # prefixes do ?

[D0m1n1c Burford]

There wouldn't be any need to reply to an LEL account.

riders can use a hashtag #LEL and all tweets relevant to LEL will be visible in the search. the search interface provides an RSS feed to a search query.

see #hashtags - What's happening right now on twitter Twitter Search

Good call, hashtags are another neat alternative to updating Twitter.  The benefit is that a new Twitter account wouldn't need to be created.  As long as all riders used the same hashtag, then you would be able to track all rider updates. 

However this is decided, can all riders be made aware of this, so if they are updating Twitter, everyone can track their progress. 

[MSeries]

There wouldn't be any need to reply to an LEL account.

riders can use a hashtag #LEL and all tweets relevant to LEL will be visible in the search. the search interface provides an RSS feed to a search query.

see #hashtags - What's happening right now on twitter Twitter Search

Good call, hashtags are another neat alternative to updating Twitter.  The benefit is that a new Twitter account wouldn't need to be created.  As long as all riders used the same hashtag, then you would be able to track all rider updates. 

However this is decided, can all riders be made aware of this, so if they are updating Twitter, everyone can track their progress. 

Just go ahead and define some rules D0m1n1c and arrange for some of us to trial it one weekend

[D0m1n1c Burford]

Not sure I understand but i take your word for it. I'd like to see it in practice. To make it easier for us riding, lets replace @LELUpdates with something shorter, such as #LEL or @yacf 

What do the @ and # prefixes do ?

When you wish to reply to someone on Twitter you use the @<username> designation e.g. @DomBurf would let you sent a tweet to me.  Sometimes you want to send a tweet to a specific person on Twitter, and you do this using the @ prefix.

You use hashtags to add infomation to a tweet.  For example, recent hashtags have been #expenses, #swineflu, #followfriday.  You can create your own hashtag too, as in #LEL.  

[D0m1n1c Burford]

There wouldn't be any need to reply to an LEL account.

riders can use a hashtag #LEL and all tweets relevant to LEL will be visible in the search. the search interface provides an RSS feed to a search query.

see #hashtags - What's happening right now on twitter Twitter Search

Good call, hashtags are another neat alternative to updating Twitter.  The benefit is that a new Twitter account wouldn't need to be created.  As long as all riders used the same hashtag, then you would be able to track all rider updates. 

However this is decided, can all riders be made aware of this, so if they are updating Twitter, everyone can track their progress. 

Just go ahead and define some rules D0m1n1c and arrange for some of us to trial it one weekend

To trial this, let's define a new hashtag, say #LELTrial.  On your next ride, update your twitter account in exactly the same way as normal, and just add the #LELTrial hashtag to every tweet.  It doesn't matter it if it's at the start or end of the message.  During your ride, we'll track your progress by searching for the #LELTrial hashtag on Twitter.

If this all works out fine, then we can use the #LEL hashtag for the real event. 

[Chris S]

A request pls - no upper case, so can we make these tags #leltrial and #lel ?

[MSeries]

A request pls - no upper case, so can we make these tags #leltrial and #lel ?

seconded

[Salvatore]

A request pls - no upper case, so can we make these tags #leltrial and #lel ?

seconded

I don't think it matters in practice.

Searches for #GIRO and #giro both returned the same set of tweets, which had hashtags of #Giro and #giro.

[Chris S]

It matters when typing it into a mobile, when you've got cold wet hands, and the shivers

[Chris N]

It matters when typing it into a mobile, when you've got cold wet hands, and the shivers

Which is why a yacf account following the LELers is a good idea.

[Greenbank]

It matters when typing it into a mobile, when you've got cold wet hands, and the shivers

Err, no, that's the point, if it (server side and searching) is case insensitive then it doesn't matter how you enter it at o'dark thirty in the middle of nowhere.

[D0m1n1c Burford]

A request pls - no upper case, so can we make these tags #leltrial and #lel ?

seconded

I don't think it matters in practice.

Searches for #GIRO and #giro both returned the same set of tweets, which had hashtags of #Giro and #giro.

Indeed, it doesn't matter what case they are.  The search will return them regardless.

[D0m1n1c Burford]

It matters when typing it into a mobile, when you've got cold wet hands, and the shivers

Type it in lowercase then, the search will still return it.  That's the point 

[Chris S]

Cool

[D0m1n1c Burford]

BTW if you intend to update Twitter with your progress for others to see - do not set your account to protected!  Nobody will be able to see your updates if you do this. 

As an aside, I've never understood why people on Twitter do this.  I never follow anyone who has protected updates. If you don't want people reading what you have to say, then don't go on Twitter in the first place.

[Chris S]

As an aside, I've never understood why people on Twitter do this.  I never follow anyone who has protected updates. If you don't want people reading what you have to say, then don't go on Twitter in the first place.

I disagree. There's a difference between "people" reading what I have to say and "everyone". I protected my account because I only wanted my followers to see my tweets. I see nothing wrong with this - but obviously I'd need to lift that if I wanted to use that account for update purposes.

[D0m1n1c Burford]

As an aside, I've never understood why people on Twitter do this.  I never follow anyone who has protected updates. If you don't want people reading what you have to say, then don't go on Twitter in the first place.

I disagree. There's a difference between "people" reading what I have to say and "everyone". I protected my account because I only wanted my followers to see my tweets. I see nothing wrong with this - but obviously I'd need to lift that if I wanted to use that account for update purposes.

I have a Twitter widget on both my blog and my web site, and couldn't care less who read them. In fact, the more the merrier!

Without wishing to get into a long debate on this, people who have their Twitter accounts protected miss out on many opportunities to interact with other people, which is what Twitter is all about.

FWIW I didn't realise you had your account protected, and was just making a general point for those people who wish to ride LEL and update their progress on Twitter.

[Manotea]

I only wanted my followers to see my tweets.

You are L. Ron Hubbard and ICMFP.