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College Survival Guide: Barb Abney on Twitter in the Twin Cities

Posted at 3:29 PM on September 5, 2011 by The Current (1 Comments)

Welcome to the Twin Cities! I'm Barb Abney (@BarbAbney). I do the mid-day shift at 89.3 The Current (@TheCurrent), and I am a little obsessed with Twitter. By now you've purchased all of those recommended school supplies, and you're ready to break in that unlimited data plan!

If you're a seasoned veteran of Twitter, think of this list as an expansion. If you're new to Twitter and/or the Twin Cities, I think this list will be very beneficial to you getting settled in. Five years ago, I was an outsider to both Minnesota AND Twitter. I was jokingly told that the state bird was the mosquito. Don't believe it — the state bird is actually the common loon.

Keep that in mind and add in these nuggets: The symbol for Twitter is a bird, people who actively use Twitter are often called Tweeters, Prince is originally from here and the song "Funkytown" was recorded here. In fact, you might say this list is Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter! (I had to tie all that together somehow!)

Sometimes, the biggest challenge about this city can be getting from point A to point B. Throw in a few inches of snow and you can easily be thrown into a panic. No worries. If you follow @MinneapolisSnow and @stpaulpublicw, you will know if there's a snow emergency in your city and if so, on which side of the road you should be parked. Follow @MetroTransitMN to keep up with any bus or light rail emergencies.

Time to give it up for a couple of the famous people that choose to live here...

@neilhimself — Award-winning author Neil Gaiman is fun to follow just to see his pictures. White dogs frolicking in the snow? Yes! A cute, candid shot of his beautiful wife, Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls)? Yes, Yes! And watching conversations he carries on with people who you and I can only see on the big screen are also well worth the follow!

@andrewzimmern — Andrew Zimmern is known for the art of eating. He hosts a show on the travel channel called Bizarre Foods. But you might bump into him out at the State Fair (@MinnStateFair ) or dining from a food truck.

Speaking of food trucks, my favorite is Chef Shack! I encourage you to try their pulled pork tacos NOM! Follow @chefshack1 for their menu and daily location.

Wanna get your culture on?

Follow the Walker Art Center (@walkerartcenter) for news about the art world as well as upcoming events, exhibitions and installations.

Following @hennepintheatre is like following three concert and live theater venues at once! You'll have an inside view of show announcements and ticket specials for State, Orpheum and Pantages theaters.

@gimme_noise is your one-stop local music blog. If you want to know about shows coming to town or the latest in music news, this is your destination.

Follow @vita_mn for chances to win some tasty event tickets.

Let's say your friend has tickets to see a local band's gig and wants you to go with them. But you don't know if you'd really be into the band. Following @MPLSTV is the place to turn to watch a video of the band before you commit to the show.

Now let's talk about musicians. I've found that the most entertaining group of musical Tweeters are all collected under the @DOOMTREE umbrella. Whether they're talking about upcoming shows or releases or a tour blog with daily links posted via Twitter, these cats know how to use Twitter as an entertaining vehicle for promotion! Here's a list of the entire crew for you to follow: @MIKEMICTLAN, @CECILOTTER13, @YEAHRIGHTPOS, @SIMSdoomtree, @papertigerDTR, @_LAZERBEAK_ and the BAbney-award winning Tweeter, @dessadarling. But wait, there's more. If you're new to the area, you might truly enjoy following the newest member of the crew, @astronautalis, as he gets settled into his new hometown.

You know that one guy who you see at EVERY show you go to? You always think you should be friends because you see him at every show you attend, but you might be too shy to introduce yourself. That guy is Kyle Matteson. I swear he knows when a band is coming to town before the band does! Following him (@solace) will make you seem smarter about the music scene around you. After all, it works for me.

If there's one person from MPR you should follow, it's Bob Collins. He's the author of the News Cut blog and you can catch him live for news updates on 89.3 The Current each weekday at 4:20. Bob's humor is witty and dry, and his Tweets reflect that in often hysterical ways. If you want your news delivered with a little attitude, look no further than @NewsCut.

There's your primer, folks. Now it's time for you to get to following and expressing yourself in just 140 characters. Yo''ll wanna leave a little more room for re-tweeting, but we'll go over that in our next session, Twitter version 2.0: "To Re-Tweet or not to Re-Tweet."

Comments (1)

You can follow me, too. @cinatyte

Posted by Mac Wilson | September 19, 2011 5:51 PM

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