Birds on a Wire – Reviewing Twitter Books

August 30, 2009 · Comments

I’m going to get right down to it. I looked at SIX different books about Twitter all in a big pop. Here’s a quick list of the book titles, then the video, and then a link to pick up the books if you want to know more:

The Twitter Books I Reviewed

thinktweet

twitter for dummies

the world according to twitter

twitter for business : twitter for friends

all a twitter

twitterville

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  • Hey Chris, still at a loss which one you'd recommend for some real Twitter insights?
  • For the THOUGHTFUL book, go Twitterville.

    For how-to, go All a Twitter and/or Twitter for Dummies.

    For some interesting insights, get the others.
  • Hey Chris,

    Just did an Amazon search and there are a ton more Twitter books. Just curious if you didn't review the others because they aren't worth it...or what. On paper, some of them look decent. Any thoughts on any of these others?
    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-al...
  • I review books that people send me, most times, so no. Don't presume that I'm out there analyzing the best of breed. In the 6 books above, 5 are from friends of varying degrees.

    So I'm sure those books might also be good. I reviewed O'Reilly's "The Twitter Book" a few months back.
  • Thanks, Chris! Appreciate all your hard work and wisdom.
  • I can't agree more.
  • Love your reviews! Oh, yeah, you knew that already. ;-) Still carefully going through Trust Agents. Really an excellent book Chris. Will not be timid about introducing myself in ATL on the 25th of Sept.
  • Maybe you reviewed Joel Comm's "Twitter Power" before but that's a very good one.
  • Chris, you are like a Twitter professor. Thanks for the book reviews. I look forward to learning from your posts and newsletters.
  • beley
    Great post! I'm with you, too many Twitter books. I'm surprised you didn't also throw in Joel Comm's "Twitter Power" too... that seems to be a big title in the "Twitter" genre. I've wanted to read it (along with Shel's Twitterville) for a while.

    Anyway, great review -- love the condensed style and getting multiple reviews in one video!
  • Thanks for reading, Chris :)
  • A thought and a question, Chris:

    First, the thought: I heard you describe more than one book as "interesting." Whenever I hear people use the words "nice" or "interesting" as adjectives, I recollect my 12th grade high school English teacher who warned us never to use those words as they describe everything and nothing simultaneously. My take is modifiers like "useful," "engaging," even "disappointing" are more accurate than "interesting." Soapbox off.

    Second, I recall hearing you wrote or were profiled in a chapter of Twitterville. I don't know your involvement in the other books. It would be helpful if you could edit the above text to include a disclosure of such.

    Great summary, otherwise. Thanks!
  • I would only disclose if I had some reason to benefit from the output of my review. Recusing one's self in a legal setting is much more stringent. I'm not going to point out that Shel talks about me, because it doesn't impact my take on the book.

    I also wrote the foreword of Tee's book and I also have had
    drinks with 5 of the six authors.

    Won't be editing for you, Ari. You and the rest of my community don't need "contents are hot" hand-holding.
  • 6(!) books about Twitter!? Probably more coming. Feels like cashing in on trendy apps to me. Do people really need entire books to understand Twitter? Really? :)
  • Agreed. People just riding the wave and trying to cash in while it's still hot.

    And Chris, I second Ari's question. If you had involvement in these 6 books (or at least one of them), you should at least mention that since that's probably the reason you chose to review them (or people chose to send them to you as opposed to anybody else).

    Aren't you on IZEA's board, the poster boys of "full disclosure"? ;)
  • I've been on Twitter for ~6 months .. but, in reading Twitter: Tips, Tricks and Tweets - Paul McFedries, I was surprised at how much more there is! Eye opener ...
  • I've read two Twitter books recently and highly recommend both.

    1) Twitterville: I agree that Twitterville is an extremely thoughtful book written by a compelling story-teller in Shel (just reviewed Twitterville in detail on my blog and for MarketingProfs). It's packed with excellent case studies spanning government, business and education, a really good read.

    2) TwitterPower: You didn't mention,TwitterPower but it's also a great book..perhaps the best written as far at tactics, strategies, etc.. I'm very deep in Twitter and teach workshops to b2b companies, but found myself reading some of these sections 2 or 3 times, loving these tips. Both of these are a must read for Twitter followers.

    Thanks for sharing chris.
  • I might get the Think Tweet bc it seems more up my alley. I know how and the whys of Twitter, maybe get Twitterville based on your recommendation. Maybe get Twitter for Dummies and pass it out to every single peron who asks me what Twitter is

    thanks for the reviews and insights.
  • Awesome Chris. Thanks for the reviews.
  • Are any of these books worth buying if you are a big reader of the Twitter case studies, news and stories that have been happening for the past 12 months?

    I guess everyone wants to make money off of Twitter, but the space changes so rapidly that books are out of date by the time they are published.

    Chris you should just tell everybody to use Twitter and they will discover the best uses. Trust Agents + Here Comes Everybody + Groundswell = A real social media education.
  • jackpop
    Has anyone coined the phrase 'Twitterature' yet when it comes to books about said micro-blogging service? - because i really think they should :-)
  • susan01
    I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Margaret

    http://businesseshome.net
  • susan01
    I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Margaret

    http://businesseshome.net
  • Twitter for dummies, 250 pages. Incredible. Twitter is already for dummies, that's the beauty of it.
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