Twitter isn’t exactly Apple, but since we’ve spent so much time chatting with people on Twitter I thought it would be appropriate to let you guys in on an awesome book I’ve spent some time reading lately.
140 Characters by Dom Sagolla (@dom) is easily the best book or article I’ve read on Twitter. I’ve been recommending this book to everyone who’s looking to get into twitter. There’s more insights in this book then you’ll find from most of the “expert” social media activists. The insights are probably expected, considering he helped create Twitter with Jack Dorsey, and has worked in the field for quite a while.
Is there a better way to get advice on how to use twitter than from someone who helped the web service become what it is today? Probably not. Remember those terrible style guides we were all held to in high school and college throughout our academic career, well this is a style guide for the short form, and frankly, it’s needed. The book walks you through the ins and outs of Twitter, and the reality that a tweet exists without context, standing alone in a stream of thoughts. Failing to understand this means that you could be taken out of context, and your ideals misrepresented.
Personally, I have a difficult time with manuals and books that read like a how-to guide, but I was pleasantly surprised at Dom’s approach to the book and how it reads: less like an instruction manual, and more like a novel. I know it sounds strange but the book is a delightful read, and it certainly illustrates the passion the Twitter team has for concise, well thought out, whimsical grammar.
If you’re not really into paper back books anymore then you can also pick up the copy of the guide in Apple’s AppStore for 4.99
