C using RSS feed

The original story is below, while details about the updates can be found at the bottom.

Update 2011-06-06: Option 2 – How to create an RSS feed from your Twitter lists
Update 2011-05-31: Why you want your Twitter feed and blog comments as RSS feed
Update 2011-05-22: How to create an RSS feed from your Twitter favorites
Update 2011-05-19: Option 1 – How to create an RSS feed from your Twitter lists

This page is part of the ComMetrics University – FAQ section of our services, which includes:

the FAQ about Xing SM Monitoring group,
A choosing the most appropriate forum,
B effective searching,
C using RSS feed (you are here,
D using Twitter and Facebook, and the
FAQ about webinars.

Article source:  How to use RSS with Twitter lists and blog comments

What is an RSS?

An RSS feed is Really Simple Syndication that works with most e-mail programs.

Thanks for the RSS feed we have on SM Monitoring search engines can index  the group’s content and make it available to the general public.

The RSS feed can be obtained from the RSS button in the group but for convenience’s sake it is also copied below:

Getting the SM monitoring group‘s RSS feed

===> http://www.xing.com/generated/rss/en-net8454-rssfeed2.0.xml

Also, most blogs have an RSS feed. For instance, you can add this blogs RSS feed:

===> http://university.commetrics.com/feed

If you also want the comments from this blog or any other blog for that matter, just the following format:

===> http://university.commetrics.com/comments/feed/

To get our  podcasts we have another RSS code that will make sure you get it first:

===> http://university.commetrics.com/?feed=podcast

or get it on iTunes

===> http://itunes.apple.com/kz/podcast/commetrics-university-social/id380271936

If you want to know a few more tricks about how to find or make up the RSS feed for a particular category of posts from a blog only (i.e. only if the blog post is in this category do you get the feed) this is explained here:

Daimler, Becks, Heineken, Ford, Nova Scotia Bank and Starbucks

The above code(s) must than be added to one’s favorite e-mail program.  Below you can get the instructions to do this, nice and easy, step-by-step instructions (takes 2 minutes max to copy and paste above codes into e-mail program):

Microsoft Outlook – how to add ComMetrics, Xing SM Monitoring or any RSS feeds

Office Outlook English instructions    Office Outlook German instructions

Mozilla Thunderbird Mail – how to add ComMetrics Xing SM Monitoring or any RSS feeds

Mozilla Tunderbird English instructions Mozilla Tunderbird German instructions

Original post:   FAQ xing group SM Monitoring – using RSS feed

UPDATES

Update 2011-05-19: How to follow any Twitter list in an RSS reader or your favorite email program such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook.

1. To create a list you look in the right right column of your Twitter account and click “New list.” Then follow the instructions.
2.  You can also access an existing list on another Twitter account – if the list is public – such as ComMetrics – socialmedia-tips.

3. You visit http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=4ec8636d5c1f5402fc49807215675b72 and enter the name of the Twitter account – ComMetrics, then go ahead and add
- the name of the list socialmedia-tips
4. Thereafter, click on the RSS button or any of the others highlighted above and you get the code needed to:

- Add RSS feed for Twitter list from ComMetrics – socialmedia-tips  to- Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook
- Add Twitter list from ComMetrics – socialmedia-tips to YOUR Google home page OR Google Reader
- Add Twitter list from ComMetrics – socialmedia-tips to YOUR myYahoo!

To read multiple lists just repeat the process.

Happy reading!

Update 2011-05-22:  Option 1 – How to get an RSS feed from a person’s Twitter Favorites. If you visit anyone’s profile on twitter.com, you can click a link marked “Favorites,” but you most likely do not have any.  I did my last one in 2010, so I do not use this feature much.

I outlined this in a post on our Social Media Monitoring group on Xing – How to use Twitter lists – Twitter Favorites

Nevertheless, if you want to get an RSS feed from it, just use

http://Twitter.com/favorites/username.rss

An example is http://twitter.com/favorites/ComMetrics.rss. Just mousing over a tweet brings up a small star in its the top right corner. By clicking on it Twitter adds this tweet to your Favorites. By clicking again you remove the tweet from your Favorites. Most if not all third-party Twitter apps support favorites as well.

Update 2011-05-31: Why you want your Twitter feed and Twitter groups as an RSS feed.
The great advantage for using RSS via your Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook e-mail program is twofold:

1 – the tweets you downloaded to your e-mail program using the RSS feed will be backed up whenever your employer backs up your e-mail or PC hard-drive. This makes you compliant with the data retention policy and laws (i.e. if need be, those tweets can be shown again restoring them from a backup device).
2. By having an RSS feed for your Twitter activities, you can search the tweets to find links you posted using the search facility your Thunderbird Mozilla offers. The same applies if you use a web-based program such as Google Reader or Yahoo Pipes, using their search options. It also makes it easy to search and find this great comment again that somebody left on a blog whose content and comment RSS feed you follow.
In turn, one can find important links one tweeted or a very interesting comment from one’s favorite blog easily even if it was months ago. And no, neither search.Twitter.com nor Google allow you to search and find your tweets that you shared months ago.
Update 2011-06-06:  Option 2 – How to get an RSS feed from a person’s Twitter List.
You can generate an RSS feed from your Twitter lists just by tweaking things a bit.

Generally you get a standardised URL from Twitter namely:

1 – http://api.twitter.com/1/AUTHOR/lists/TWITTER-LIST/statuses.atom
2 – now change the above for ComMetrics and get the following list http://twitter.com/ComMetrics/eu-best-sm-metrics to: http://api.twitter.com/1/commetrics/lists/eu-best-sm-metrics/statuses.atom

You can subscribe to this RSS feed using your favourite RSS reader, such as Firefox or Google Reader or use your e-mail program Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook (for explanations how to do it see above).

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