140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form

by Dom Sagolla

Book Overview

Make the most of your messages on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites The advent of Twitter and other social networking sites, as well as the popularity of text messaging, have made short-form communication an everyday reality. But expressing yourself clearly in short bursts-particularly in the 140-character limit of Twitter-takes special writing skill. In 140 Characters, Twitter co-creator Dom Sagolla covers all the basics of great...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470556137
• ISBN13: 9780470556139
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Dive in to this before getting feet wet on Twitter

Written by one of the creators of Twitter, this book speaks to the brilliance of Twitter and developing the craftsmanship to maximize both it and one's communication skills. Indeed, simplicity takes both knowledge & practice. Start with the knowledge of both what to do and what not to do. You'll wish this had been a required course before anyone opened a Twitter account.

140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form

Thought provoking, educational, truly a great read! If you are new to Twitter or Social Media in general, this book is a must read. Great use of the current environment, also provides real life examples. @dom did a GREAT job with this and you can tell thought and heart went into the writing.

Make Social Media Work for You with Style

Different mediums require different mindsets. This book will show you the mindset for the short form of writing on the web. A great guide book for writing on social networking sites. The author reviews different styles of writing which are needed for social networking websites. This book shows you what works well and what doesn't work well. Comparisons to Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell adds some nice historical context and examines how these authors organized their thoughts and how to write clearly. The book helps the writer focus on the substance and relevance of their writing and add impact to their writing. The book discusses the theory and shows the application of how to improve messages. There are some before and after examples which illustrate his points and show how the techniques work. The book talks about marketing, strategies, audience analysis and the "cultural revolution" taking place because of services like Twitter. Citizen journalism and first hand news accounts of events have helped accelerate the use of Twitter and short form communication. Many times the best news accounts are from ordinary citizens who get the story first or who provide continuous coverage of a major event 24 hours a day. There are some great resources listed in the book to get the most out of Twitter and other social networking sites. The book is broken down into five major parts. Part 1 - Lead, Describe: A brief digression to discuss journalism is warranted; Simplify: Say more with less; Avoid: Don't become a fable about too much information Part 2 - Value, Voice:Say it out loud; Reach: Understand your audience; Repeat: It worked for Shakespeare; Mention: Stamp your own currency; Dial: Search for silence, volume and frequency; Link: Deduce the nature of short messages; Words: Explore the possibilities in phraseology, poetry and invention Part 3 - Master Tame: Apply multiple technologies toward the same end; Cultivate: Meet 140 characters each with a unique story; Branch: Steady organic growth is most manageable; Part 4 - Evolve Filter: Teach the machine to think ahead; Open: Give and you shall receive; Imitate: There is nothing original except in arrangement; Iterate: Practice a sequence of tiny adjustments; Part 5 - Accelerate Increase: Do more; Fragment: Do it smaller;

A review in less than 140 characters

This book covers twitter from it's inception to how to use twitter today. Get the inside perspective from @dom. Def worth the read. #review

A Lesson in Style - Shortened

I've read the book, 140 Characters, twice now and have become a better user of social media because of it. In my generation, we grew up with Myspace and blogging and the idea of social networking is just as common as a cell phone. all of my peers use Twitter but there was something missing. I was a user but I knew there was more to this and more that could be learned to effectively broadcast my message of "what I'm doing" to nearly 4 thousand followers. Dom Sagolla helped make that happen. Sure I'm friends with Dom and may have gotten a copy of the text early but that doesn't mean I didn't learn something and now want to shout if from the rooftops. 140 Characters is for a person who is new to Twitter or who just celebrated their 3rd year of using the service. Of course, users of Facebook and Myspace aren't excluded. this book helps readers cultivate their story, engage their audience and capitalize on Twitter's impossible message limitations. I say "impossible" because that's how I felt when joining Twitter. "140 characters? How am I going to post what I'm doing in such a small space?" Well, over time, I adapted my own style and continue to improve on that. Dom's book merely took my hand and opened a few more doorways to explore. There are styles & processes that I never would have used and the only way to go beyond "using Twitter" and "mastering Twitter" is to read 140 Characters, stopping often to try what you just read. The Kindle version is cheaper, portable and works on iPhone or Kindle. It's a great way to get the book NOW. However, the layout and design of the print version is excellent as well. Get both! :P