Twitter: Go From Bench Sitter to Base Hitter

If you’re brand new to the social media game, chances are you haven’t gotten to first base with Twitter. Blame it on Ashton Kutcher or grammatical insecurity (“Remind me if I tweet Twitters or Twitter tweets…”) but of all the popular social media, opening a Twitter account really seems to be the dividing line that separates the recreational players from the pros. It doesn’t have to be so black and white.

I found a shade of gray the other night when my husband wanted to access some information on Twitter but didn’t want to make the full-on commitment of opening up an account. To him there was absolutely nothing fun about what he perceived as the pressure of having to tweet his thoughts--or worse, his breakfast choices--to the world on a regular basis.

We solved his problem by using one of my accounts (yes, I have several) to tap into the Twitter feed he was looking for, but it got me to thinking: For people who just want to be spectators, either temporarily or permanently, there are several ways to access Twitter feeds without even logging onto the site itself.

From the Google search homepage, enter your topic (for example BP oil spill) and click on Google Search. After the search results page loads, click on the blue link for News at the top of the page. After that page loads, you will see a number of links on the left hand side. Click on Updates, which is sixth from the top. The page that loads will be a streaming Twitter feed of worldwide comments about BP and the oil spill, updated in real time.

Bing works in much the same way. Enter your topic in the search box and click on the magnifying glass to the right. When the search results page loads, there will be a menu bar on the left-hand side of the page that will contain items relevant to that particular search. Somewhere on that menu bar, sometimes at the top, sometimes middle, sometimes near the bottom, will be a link labeled “related tweets.” Sometimes there will even be two links, one saying “most recent tweets” and the other saying “ most relevant.” That way you can pick which listing you want or toggle between.

Yahoo is the easiest of all. Simply go to the Yahoo homepage, search on your topic of choice and click on Twitter on the left hand side menu. The search and Twitter feed will happen simultaneously.

Finally, there is the Twitter site itself. Simply by logging onto the Twitter homepage, you’ll have a front row seat to both Top Tweets and Trending Topics, two Twitter features that attempt to capture the zeitgeist of what is happening right at that exact moment. It’s a great way to put a finger on the pulse of the world’s heartbeat, especially during a disaster such as an earthquake or oil spill.

So, spend a little time on the sidelines of Twitter and chances are you'll want to join in on the game.  Watch for a later post about picking a Twitter name and joining the microblogging revolution!