I was asked by a customer during the week if you could post pictures to twitter.  Twitter is text based but it is possible to link to a picture externally.  By using a link shortener you can post a link to the photograph on Flickr, Pix.ie, Photobucket etc.

Even simpler are the web based applications that synchronise with your twitter account allowing  you to tweet a picture and caption for you.  These services also give you an email address that automatically tweets photographs to your twitter stream.

I trialed two of the many applications available for doing this are Twitpic and Twitflog. Both work well.  Twitpic is probaby the most common twitter photo service, it’s easy to use, the upload time is short and it is simple to view comments on your photos.

On Twitflog the interface is nicer, once you have synced your accounts the home page mimics your twitter page.  I found the upload time to be slower.

Both services are very user friendly and easy to use. On upload time alone I think I prefer Twitpic so here’s a quick rundown of how it works:

• Log into Twitpic using your Twitter username and password.

• Click ‘Upload Photo’ on the top right hand side.

• Click ‘Choose File’ and find the photo you wish to upload on your computer.
• Add the tweet that you would like to accompany your picture.

• Click ‘upload’ and your message will be tweeted.

Here’s one I made earlier:

To email a picture from your phone or email app you will need to make a note of your unique email address. Click the ‘settings’ menu on the top right hand side of your screen to find out what it is. Attach the photograph to your email and add your tweet into the subject line.

Remember to let us know your social media questions no matter how big or small. Leave a comment below with your question.

Have you been on Twitter and wandered what all those short links are and where they came from?  Have you tried to post a link yourself but found that it has consumed almost all of your 140 characters?

What are short links?

Short links can be created on a variety of services, they not only help fit long url’s into tweets but can also be tracked.  This means that you can see how many people have clicked the link you have posted.  It is particularly useful because a large number of Twitter users are using third party software to access their accounts which means that it can prove impossible to measure how many click thru’s you are getting from your tweets.

So how do you create short links yourself?

There are many link shortening sites out there but my two favorites are: short.ie and bit.ly.  Both allow you to create an account so that you can view the stats on your links.

Creating a link is simple.  Copy the link from the address bar of page you want to post.  Paste it into the space provided on short.ie or bit.ly.  Click the ‘shorten’ button and it will provide you with a tweet sized link.

For example, the link for this blog post would normally be:

http://spiderworking.com/blog/2009/11/27/how-to-make-short-links-for-twitter

Using short.ie it becomes:  http://short.ie/tzi7ga

Using bit.ly it becomes:  http://bit.ly/72NfW4