Don’t you want to know when people are talking about you?

For a professional web marketer, it is essential to know when people are talking about your product. Many libraries have started using Twitter to announce their programs and events. Its important to recognize that good web conversation is not one-sided. Simply broadcasting about yourself isn’t enough, you need to listen to the people who are talking about you. That is where Twitter search comes in handy, and this blog post will offer you a tool to make it that much handier.

I used Yahoo Pipes to make the ‘badge’ below that displays (every time you refresh the page) the latest Twitter search results for the term ‘public library’. Now is a good time to make it clear that I am NOT responsible for any content that shows up in that window. The content in that window is a display of what millions of users have to say about their public library at any given moment. Think about that. That could be useful information, huh?
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The beauty of Yahoo Pipes is that it makes it easy to configure a search like this and put it anywhere convenient for you. Add it to your iGoogle. Your Netvibes. Or embed it in a blog. This can tell your library marketing professional who they ought to be following on Twitter, and it can offer real insight into what people think of your services.

Here is a step-by-step guide to how you can make a Twitter search badge or widget for your library. Have fun, and enjoy listening to what people REALLY think of your services!

Step 1 >

Create a Yahoo Pipes account (if you use flickr or another Yahoo thing you can use that ID)

Step 2 >

Visit my profile on Yahoo Pipes. You’ll see I’m totally new to this and there’s not much of anything there.

Step 3 >

Click on “Twitter Search for public library”.

Step 4 >

Click on “edit source”.

Step 5 >

In the upper left hand corner of the canvas, there is a module called “Keyword (text)”. In the “default” and “debug” boxes replace the text “public library” with the name of your library.

Step 6 >

Click “save a copy” and then click “back to my pipes”.

Step 7 >

rename it “twitter search for ______ library”, and you are done! Add it as a badge, a widget, whatever!