Okay, so you’re one of the cool kids that got yourself the spiffy new iPhone 3G S, and you probably really want to take advantage of its best new feature — video. Sure the new phone gives you a quick post to YouTube option, but did you know there’s already a few great ways that you can post your videos directly to Twitter?
We’ll show you how to quickly get your video creations from your iPhone to Twitter (
). We’ll also help you understand some of the dos and don’ts for each particular option, to make sure that your newly tweeted videos show up just as you envisioned them. Happy video recording and tweeting!
1. Use YouTube to Post to Twitter
Earlier this month we half-jokingly noted that YouTube is now the TwitPic of video. Why? Well, they finally enabled a long sought after feature: auto-posting of videos to Twitter. Given that the new iPhone now lets you post your videos straight to YouTube from the camera app, you can combine these two great new things and push your videos from your phone to Twitter in no time at all.
Here’s how: Before you share video with YouTube (
), make sure you update your autoshare settings for the site. All you need to do is connect the services you want to integrate with YouTube. In this case, it will be Twitter, but you also might want to make the connection between YouTube and Facebook () and/or Google Reader () as well. Once you’ve made the connection, you can forget about manually sharing your YouTube videos with Twitter ever again.
Now every time you record a video, just tap to post it to YouTube from your phone’s camera app, add a title, description, category, and a few tags, and hit publish. Once your video is uploaded, a tweet will be auto-generated and posted to Twitter on your behalf.
The great thing about this method for tweeting iPhone 3G S videos is that you don’t have to worry about shooting your video in widescreen/landscape or standard mode. You can film horizontally, vertically, and for longer periods of time, and YouTube will still format the video appropriately.
2. Email Your Videos to Twitter
The simplest method is just to email your videos to Twitter. The ever-evolving email-to-blog platform, Posterous () (now with blog import), has created a dead simple way to get your iPhone 3GS videos from your phone to Twitter via email.
As you would with any other content you want to post to Posterous, simply email the video to post@posterous.com. If you’ve already configured your Twitter auto-posting settings for Posterous, which you can do here, then your video will post to Posterous and automatically tweet out a link.
The Posterous advantage is that if you have cross-posting enabled for a ton of other sites — they do support quite a few — and you just want to share your video with Twitter, you can use the twitter@posterous.com email address. Also pretty nifty is that the subject line of your email becomes the title, the email body becomes the video post description, and tags can be added using the syntax ((tag: video, iphone)) in the subject line.
Posterous is perfect for recording video in widescreen/landscape mode or standard mode, and it will format your video accordingly. The only downside is that videos will need to be short in length, as any videos longer than a minute cannot be sent via email.
3. Get a Video-Friendly App
Although the deluge of video recording and posting Twitter apps has yet to happen, there are a few worthwhile apps that are already supporting posting iPhone 3G S videos to Twitter.
The unreleased TweetReel really is the TwitPic () for video, but it’s only available as an iPhone app (coming soon). This nifty app lets you shoot videos (and photos), or grab them from your library, add your Twitter text, and post it to the web. Videos are posted to your TweetReel site (tweetreel.com/twittername), and immediately shared with Twitter.
If you’re looking for something already on the market, check out Twittelator Pro 3.0 [iTunes Link]. The updated app, which costs $4.99, includes a video recording and sharing option that lets you attach videos to tweets, and upload them to the photo and video sharing site yFrog. Just remember to shoot your videos in widescreen mode if you want them to render correctly (ie. not post sideways). We’d also advise you to record videos from the camera app instead, as videos recorded in Twittelator Pro aren’t saved to your library and might disappear should you choose to tweet without a WiFi connection.
Another possibility for mobile video fans is Kyte’s updated premium iPhone app [iTunes link]. The app also comes with a $4.99 price tag and supports video record and upload, with videos uploading to your Kyte channel. To tweet your video uploads from the app, just add your Twitter login credentials to your Kyte integration settings.
Ever had one of those moments when you really wished you knew how to do something specific? If only there were someone you could ask…
Thanks to the social web, particularly niche blogs and expert-driven communities, it’s easy to find knowledge, insights and guidance direct from the pros, no matter what the topic area. In fact, online tutorials and how-to sites have been around almost as long as the web itself.
Here’s a run-down of more than 60 great how-to sites and guides covering everything from building a mashup to being more productive, creating a website and more.
Have a great how-to site that will teach us something new? Add it to the comments and tell us more about it!
General How-to
wikiHow – A huge collection of how-to guides edited by the community.
eHow – One of the largest collections of tutorials on the web. eHow is a 2008 Open Web Awards Blogger’s Choice winner.
How To Do Things.com – Find articles from experienced contributors on how to do just about anything.
WonderHowTo – A human-edited collection of video tutorials from more than 1700 websites.
Instructables – A community that creates tutorials on an enormous variety of topics, some practical, some not-so.
Expert Village – A collection of more than 130,000 video tutorials.
Howcast – Find how-to videos on a variety of topics. Howcast is the 2008 Open Web Awards Blogger’s Choice runner-up.
MindBites – Watch how-to videos or create your own to earn money.
VideoJug – How to videos for just about everything in life.
SuTree – A collection of how-to videos covering everything from beauty & fashion to language.
Technology How-To
Wired How-To Wiki – Get information on how to do technology-related things from linkbaiting your blog to surviving a nuclear blast.
The Java Tutorials – A collection of Java tutorials from Sun on using various components.
the How-To Geek – A collection of computer tutorials covering everything from protecting your children online to using different wallpapers on dual monitors.
How to Make Your Own Web Mashup – A short tutorial outlining the steps necessary to build a mashup.
How to Podcast – A complete, free tutorial that teaches you how to set up your own podcast.
HowtoForge – A huge collection of user-friendly Linux () tutorials.
PCWorld – A huge collection of tutorials for PC users.
HowToJoomla.net – A collection of Joomla () tutorials.
Screencasting: How To Start, Tools and Guidelines – A guide outlining why you should screencast and how to do it.
How to get traffic for your blog – A huge list of things to do to get traffic for your blog from marketing guru Seth Godin.
How to design a website layout in Photoshop – A complete tutorial showing you how to create your website layout in Photoshop.
Tutorialized – A collection of tutorials and how-to guides on a variety of tech-related topics.
How to design a website – A comprehensive tutorial on how to design using HTML and CSS.
How to Design a Website – A web design guide from About.com.
Good-Tutorials – A large collection of web-design tutorials covering Java, HTML, CSS, PHP (), Ruby, and more.
Video-Tutes.com – Free video tutorials for a variety of software programs including Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and MS Word.
A Beginner’s Guide on How to Install Linux Software – A basic guide to installing Ubuntu ().
PSDTuts – A huge collection of Photoshop tutorials and other resources.
PhotoshopStar – How to Photoshop articles and tutorials on a variety of different techniques.
Gimp-tutorials.net – A collection of tutorials on everything from photo manipulation to text effects in GIMP ().
Tutorial Blog – A blog filled with how-to guides and tutorials on design topics.
Blog Tutorials – A blog offering how-to advice for blogging.
Noupe Tutorials – A blog that focuses on web design and development and offers a large repository of great tutorials.
CBT Cafe – The Computer Based Training Cafe offers free tutorials and how-to guides on Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and more.
Niche Blogging Tutorials – How-to blog posts from DoshDosh covering niche blogging techniques.
Productivity and Efficiency How-To
How to be More Productive – A guide from the Blog Herald that focuses mostly on how to be a more productive blogger.
How to GTD – A small collection of blog posts covering how to get started with Getting Things Done.
How to Start with GTD – A basic 10-step guide to starting out with GTD.
How To Be More Productive – A very complete guide to becoming more productive, covering everything from technology to dietary changes.
Business and Career How-To
Inc. How To Guides – A collection of business guides for just about every topic.
How To Write A Resume.org – A complete resource for writing resumes and cover letters.
How to Blog Your Way to Small-Business Success – A short guide on using blogging to promote your business.
Startup How-To Guides – A collection of business how-to articles from Entrepreneur.com.
Score – Find how-to articles on a variety of business topics from advertising to management to starting a business.
How to Market in a Recession – A how-to guide from Harvard Business school.
How to Twitter your way to marketing success – A guide to using Twitter () as a marketing platform.
Mashable How-Tos
HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter – Build a loyal following and engage those followers.
HOW TO: Market to Bloggers According to Timothy Ferriss – Techniques for marketing to bloggers from the New York Times bestselling author.
How to Track 500 Business Blogs in 10 Minutes a Day – A great guide for all of us who need to keep up with tons of incoming information.
How to Manage Your Social Profiles and Create Virtual Business Cards – A must-have guide for anyone who uses multiple social media sites.
How to Build Your Online Brand – Covers how to use social media and Web 2.0 tools to create a name for yourself online.
How to Know if You Should Fire Your Social Media Consultant – A guide to some tell-tale signs that your social media consultant isn’t all they’re cracked up to be.
How to Develop a Social Media Plan for Your Business in 5 Steps – A simple guide to creating an effective social media marketing campaign.
How to Live Blog a Conference – A guide to live blogging preparation and execution.
Miscellaneous How-To
How To Meditate – A complete online guide to teach you how to meditate in the Buddhist tradition.
How to Draw Manga – Manga University has a great collection of how-to articles on drawing different elements of manga characters.
Sushi Eating HOW TO – A complete guide outlining how to eat sushi and sushi bar etiquette.
How to Go Green – A collection of guides to green your life on topics ranging from investing and hybrid cars to workouts and weddings.
The Storque How-To – The how-to section of Etsy’s blog covers all sorts of topics from cooking to selling on Etsy.
How to Clean Stuff – Tutorials for cleaning everything from old photos to ballet flats.
Lowe’s How-To Library – A huge collection of home improvement how-tos.
PopPhoto HowTo Archive – A collection of photography how-to articles covering image editing, composition, lighting, and more.
How to Photograph… – A series of tutorials on photographing a variety of situations and subjects from weddings to urban landscapes to zoos.