What is TinyTwit?
If you've made it this far you might be wondering what it is all about. Put simply, TinyTwit is a way of creating tiny polls that can be used within Twitter.
If you've see a strange message asking you to reply to @tnytwt then you've seen a TinyTwit poll! As such you might have a few questions:
- I have seen a strange message along the lines of:
"Will Andy Murray win Wimbledon in 2009? Reply: @tnytwt #YES-wMif, #NO-wMif or #M/B-wMif".
What does this mean? What do I have to do? - How do I create a poll?
- How can I see the results?
- Is this Spam?
- Who's behind this?
1. I have seen a strange message along the lines of "Will Andy Murray win Wimbledon in 2009? Reply: @tnytwt #YES-wMif, #NO-wMif or #M/B-wMif". What does this mean? What do I have to do?
If you've seen a message like this, then i means that someone you are following has created a Poll and tweeted it! Every TinyTwit poll can have 3 possible votes: Yes, No and Maybe. You can cast your vote by simply tweeting to @tnytwt the Yes, No or Maybe hashtag of your vote.
For example, if you think "Yes, Andy Murray will win Wimbledon" then simply tweet #YES-wMif to @tnytwt. If you think he won't, tweet #NO-wMif. If you think he might, tweet #M/B-wMif. The voting system IS cAsE seNsItiVE so be careful when voting.
Once you vote, you'll get a tweet from @tnytwt_replies thanking you for your vote, and the URL to view the results.
2. How do I create a poll?
Creating a poll couldn't be simpler. All you have to do is visit the Create A Poll page, enter your twitter name (excluding an @ sign), and enter your Poll. Don't forget, this is TinyTwit, so polls are supposed to be, er, well, tiny - no more than 70 characters please. Once you have entered your name and poll, click on the "Create a poll now" button.
The next page tells you your poll has been created, and the text that you have to tweet, plus a link to the results page.
Please note that you will have to manually copy the text and paste it into your favourite Twitter app to tweet it. I am working on OpenAuth authentication, and for the moment this stops you having to type in your password (a good thing).
3. How can I see the results?
When you vote you are sent a reply from @tnytwt_replies that thanks you for you vote and gives you a link to where you can see the results. Simply visit this link, you can book mark it to check the results later.
When you create a poll, you are given a link at the end of the process that you can use to view the results. If you bookmark this page you can check the results once people start to vote.
4. Is This Spam?
No, this is not spam. It is supposed to be a fun little application that allows you to conduct tiny polls on twitter. I don't want your email, I don't want your password I just want you to find TinyTwit fun.
5. Who is behind this?
Me! I am Rob, and I run a web development agency called ibrow but in my spare time between speaking to clients, going to meetings, writing my blog and tormenting my staff with crap jokes, I like to hack about a bit.
I've been into Twitter for a few years now and thought it would be interesting to be able to conduct polls through it (over it, on it?) so TinyTwit was born. I have loads of ideas as to how it can be extended, but like I said, I am doing this in my spare time for fun. Weird.