If you’re tweeting out a URL, your tweets just got a bit shorter.

Starting Wednesday, any tweet sent with a URL will be reduced to 118 characters, or 117 for https links.
First announced in December, the reduction is due to a change in Twitter’s t.co link wrapper. It extends the maximum length of t.co wrapped links from 20 to 22 characters for non-https URLs and from 21 to 23 characters for https URLs.

In short, the condensed links now take up a bit more space, leaving you with a little less space to add commentary with them. In total, the update represents a two-character drop per tweet.

Applications that use t.co wrapped lengths are required to accommodate the new lengths starting Wednesday.

Will Twitter's new t.co length reduction change how you tweet? Let us know in the comments, below.

















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Twitter sometimes feels like a spectator sport. You sit on the sidelines and watch the passing parade with bemusement, interest and often amazement.

The torrent of tweets and interactions vary from hard sell, links to valuable content and humor all the way to inspirational quotes. It is nothing more than a snapshot of humanity in 140 characters.

It is the good, the bad and the ugly.

Despite its simplicity it has nuanced  customs that people new to Twitter need to understand. Good habits always go a long way in any society and correct Twitter manners are important if you want to impress the netizens of the online equivalent of texting on steroids.

Twitter and dating

When on a date, one should have proper etiquette! Just like being on a date, when you are tweeting away on twitter, one should also have proper etiquette. TWITIQUETTE if you prefer!

So how does one have awesome Twitiquette?

Follow these simple rules and you will get more followers and better engagement.

Rule #1

Don’t start a tweet with a hashtag. Let us see your thought, idea, comment, or story first.

Rule #2

Please, please don’t use more than 3 hashtags in a tweet. If you do use three hashtags, do it sparingly. It’s just annoying.

Rule #3

This rule is going to go against what most “tweeps” believe! Don’t strive for followers. Strive for engagement. Ask people questions and engage with them! They’ll like it. In the long run, you’ll get more followers this way.

Rule #4

Some people just don’t follow back. That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t interact with you! Tweet them a question, idea, or story.

Rule #5

Even though you have a maximum of 140 characters, you don’t have to use all 140 characters. Try using around 120 characters. This will allow other tweeps the ability to retweet you.

Rule #6
Add a profile picture. Enough said. You’d be surprised at how many people don’t add a profile picture.

Rule #7

If you were selling your house, would you make it look nice for an open house or showing? Absolutely! Same applies for you twitter handle. Add a background, make it look nice.

Rule #8

Should you come across a spam account (and you will) please report them. The less spam accounts there are on twitter, the better it will be for all of us.

Rule #9

Add a description. By looking at some of your information, Tweeps who don’t know you will be able to find out what to Tweet with you about?

Rule #10

If you’re struggling on determining how long your tweet should be, what your tweet should contain, hashtags, etc. remember to K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple stupid.).

Rule #11

In the end, just be yourself. Be authentic. Create value and enrich people’s tweets with great content!
After all it’s just Twitter, it should be fun































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When I signed up to social media over four years ago you could almost count the number of tweets with a pen and a piece of paper.

.

Facebook had not even cracked 50 million users. Now it is approaching one billion users globally which is one in every seven people on the planet using the Facebook social media network.

That equates to nearly one in two internet users!

Today you almost need a supercomputer that can measure and monitor this deluge and torrent of big data that is exhibiting social at scale.

Torrent of Data

At a conference in 2010 Eric Schmidt the then CEO of Google stated.

“Every two days, we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003”

This information includes content such as emails, tweets, Facebook updates, Photos, YouTube video uploads and text messages.

Two years later we have a ferocious fire hose of content creation that is shared online with the 2012 Olympics producing a staggering 306 billion items on the open Web in just 17 days.

That is every person on the planet creating 44 pieces of information in just over 2 weeks.

So what are the social media statistics, facts and figures from the 2012 Olympics?

Statistics for Social Media Sharing

As the social web grows and permeates every facet of the online world these numbers will continue to skyrocket.

• 306 billion items shared on the World Wide Web
• 208,333 shares per second on the open web
• Facebook was the winner in terms of social sharing with 102 billion shares including photos, timeline updates and videos
• Twitter handled 5 billion tweets
• Usain Bolt ran ran the 100 metres in just 9.63 seconds and by the time he reached the finish line over 2 million items were shared
• Michael Phelps generated the most online traffic and shares at 3 million items per day.

It was also calculated that 27% of Americans watched the Olympics at work which is an estimated loss of $1.4 billion in productivity.

The reality is that the Olympics is now over and it is “back to work”.


Infographic by RadiumOne








































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