How to Create a Custom Twitter Newspaper Using paper.li

how to:How to Create a Custom Twitter Newspaper Using paper.li

Posted by Brannon Cullum in Build Awareness , Blog for Change, Microblog
originally posted on November 16, 2010

Paper.li creates a custom newspaper based on your Twitter stream. The service gathers links shared by the Twitter users you follow and then turns them into a daily newspaper with different sections and topics. This is done by extracting all tweets from your stream that contain URLs. Paper.li then extracts the content found on those URLs and analyzes the text for a particular topic (for example, technology or human rights). It then selects the most relevant articles and constructs a newspaper using the filtered articles, videos and photos. Papers are updated every 24 hours. Right now, the service is free and allows you to create up to 10 different papers.

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Step 1.

Point your browser to http://paper.li/

Step 2.

Click “Create a Paper” in the upper right-hand corner. Sign in with your Twitter account.

Step 3.

Click “Create a Newspaper” in the upper right-hand corner.

You will first need to select what type of paper you want to create. You have three options: from a particular Twitter user and his/her followers, from a particular hashtag, or from a Twitter list. Make your selection by entering the particular information into the text field box, then click “Create.” If you want to create a custom paper, skip ahead to Step 4.

Step 4.

Alternatively, select “Create a Custom Paper.” Create a title for your paper and add contributors. Then, define the paper’s focus by entering a Twitter search query.

Select the language you want, then click Publish Paper.

It will take a few minutes for paper.li to create your paper. When it’s ready, you’ll be directed to your paper’s front page.

Step 5.

Promote your paper by clicking the “Auto-Promote” button below your paper’s title. This will send an automatic tweet to your Twitter followers about your paper.

Tip!

One of the criticisms about this service is that users who automatically promote their daily papers just add more noise to the Twitter stream. Be careful about how you promote your paper and if you want to use the auto-promote feature!