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The looming crisis: Personal syndication overload

Today, for kicks, I tried to draw a map of all the places I write content, all the places it is displayed, and all the intermediate services that re-post my content in places other than where I originally write it. It's a spaghetti of interlinked services, and it's becoming unmanageable. I think it's just dumb luck that I haven't created an infinite loop of republishing so far. Adding one more service could push things over the edge.

Although my profession is creating content and publishing it, my problem is hardly unique. I post a few times … Read more

Three Twitter tricks with Twitterfeed

There's a cool little utility, Twitterfeed, that performs a useful service: It can take almost any blog and feed it into a Twitter account, so you see new items when you're on Twitter or using any of the Twitter applications.

Twitterfeed can be used to do other cool things, too. Here's a walk-through of our top Twitterfeed projects: First, the basic blog-to-Twitter setup. Then, a trick with Twitterfeed to update Pownce and Twitter at the same time. And finally, how to use it to pump Facebook notifications into your Twitter account.

Project 1: Blog-to-Twitter

To get your favorite blog into your Twitter feed, first decide if you want to create a new feed for it or feed the blog info into an existing feed, like your personal account. I recommend the former. Create a Twitter account just for the blog. Later, you can follow it from your personal Twitter account.

You will also need an OpenID account to log in to Twitterfeed. OpenID (review) is a very different site authentication system from what people are used to, but don't freak. If you don't have an OpenID, just go to MyOpenID and sign up for an account.

When you log in to Twitterfeed you'll need your new feed's password, and your OpenID. Tell it your blog's RSS address (a link usually ending in .XML) and how often you want it to check for new items (once an hour is reasonable), and then wait for Twitterfeed to start scanning. Once the feed is getting picked up, you can "follow" the new Twitter account to get the blog in your feed. And of course, your friends can follow it too.

I've found that Twitterfeed is particular about RSS formatting, but standard blog platforms (Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad, etc.) should generate code it can handle.

… Read more