Twitter Publish is a new way to re-purpose your tweets in such a way that they tell a story. In this example, we will use a real-life conference. We will illustrate how Twitter Publish allows you to take the best moments, as captured by participants, and weave them into a story.

Let’s begin by examining two tools which have been around for a while. You may know about them. For many readers, however, they will be new.

Our Example: #SMFC15

The Alabama Secondary & Middle School Principals Association Fall Conference concluded November 11th. Conference organizers assigned an official hashtag: #SMFC15 . You may click the link and view all of the tweets where participants used that hashtag. From that list of tweets, you may get a flavor of that conference. Let’s make that list more interesting…

Wall of Social

Open a new tab on your browser and go to http://wallofsocial.com. In the blank, enter the hashtag #SMFC15. Press enter. Sit back and enjoy the story which unfolds.

What you are seeing is called “Wall of Social” (formerly called “Wall of Silver”).  Enter a hashtag and the site retrieves text and pictures for tweets which use that hashtag. It combines them into an attractive display.

The best use for this tool is during an event. Are you planning an event where you will have monitors in hallways? Pull up Wall of Social, enter the hashtag, and you now have something interesting for participants to see between sessions. Likewise, Wall of Social could run on a large screen as participants are gathering for a keynote session.

Would you agree that Wall of Social provides a more interesting look that just viewing the Twitter stream? Wall of Social chooses the tweets; you have no control. Some tweets are more insightful than others. Would you like to have more control over which ones appear and in what order? If so, read on.

Storify

Click on this link: https://storify.com/DrFrankBuck/alabama-secondary-middle-school-principals-associa

What you are seeing is an example of “Storify.” It’s a free service. Create a “new story,” give it a title, choose which social media source you want to use (Twitter, in this case), and enter the hashtag. You see all of the tweets in one column. Drag and drop the ones you wish to include in your “story” in the other column.  I created the example you saw in less than a minute.

 

Storify is a great tool to use after the event. All tweets are not created equal. Storify allows you to pick the best ones. Drag them into a logical order. “Publish” your story. Then, you can publicize the link to that story. You can also embed a story into your blog or website. Many readers will already know about Storify. The new tool, Twitter Publish, takes the capabilities of Storify a step further.

Twitter Publish

Twitter Publish Start by going to https://curator.twitter.com. Log in using your Twitter account. Click the “+” sign.

In the box which appears, enter a project name and your hashtag. Click “Create Project.”

Click the “+” sign beside the words “Select a collection.” Enter a name. In the “Visibility” drop-down, decide if this project will be public or unlisted. Click “Add.”

     

In the middle of the page, you see all of the tweets. In the upper right-hand corner of each tweet is a check mark. Click the check mark to include that tweet. In the right-hand column, you see your selected tweets. Drag them up or down to get them in the desired order.

 

Click the cog. Select “Embed.”

 

A box appears with your embed code. Click on “Copy Code.”   Go to your blog or website and paste the code in the appropriate place.

Your Finished Product

A Collection on Twitter

See the difference between the result with Twitter Publish and what you saw with Storify? Storify gives you a list. Twitter Publish gives you a collage. The visual image is more appealing. It is more compact. You see more emphasis on the pictures.

Give Twitter Publish a try. If you like what you see, leave a comment and let other readers know where they can find your creation.