There are plenty of sites that extend the functionality of Twitter.
TwitBlock and TwitterCounter are just two.
These sites require you to log-in to Twitter to use ‘em. But instead of asking for your username and password, they use something called OAUTH.
Think of OAUTH as the valet key to your car. It can start the car, sure, but you can’t get into the glove box or trunk without the real key.
Sites that use OAUTH have no ability to change your username, your password, or your e-mail address… things that hackers would love to do (so they could pose as you, for example). OAUTH also can’t be duplicated, the permission you give is unique to that individual site.
Most sites say “Authenticate (or Log-In) with OAUTH” and a window will pop up that looks something like the picture above.
Giving out your username and password potentially gives unscrupulous people access to change any of those details – whenever you give out your username and password, you hand random strangers the real key to your car. A bad site could sell your username and password or pass it off to someone who wanted to do bad things.
OAUTH permission can be revoked at any time (or you can check to see which sites you’ve given access to) by logging in to Twitter and going to: http://twitter.com/account/connections. You can’t get back your username and password once you’ve given it out. Your only recourse would be to change your password, and by the time you realize something’s wrong, the damage is likely already done.
The best way to keep your Twitter account safe is to:
- Choose a strong password – with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one symbol. Avoid whole words, the names of your pets, or things someone who reads your Tweets might easily be able to guess.
- Use OAUTH instead of giving out your username and password. If a site doesn’t use OAUTH, you shouldn’t be giving ‘em your info – trust me, I make websites… it’s not hard to build OAUTH into a site.
Twitter Wants You On Twitter.com – Lists and RT Changes
If you’ve been on Twitter.com recently and lucky enough to be included as part of their “BETA” group, you’ve noticed the addition of two new features. Twitter Lists and Retweet changes.
You don’t need to be following someone to put them on a list. Creating a list aggregates the tweets all of the people on that list, in essence creating a new “stream” for you to watch, whether you follow those people or not.
Everybody else you wouldn’t follow; you add them to a list. You can then check that list as a new stream. Lists appear on your sidebar under search.
Each time you’re added to a list, your “listed” count (on your profile page) goes up. Lists are a good indicator of street cred. The more exclusive the list and the more lists you’re on, the more cred you have (in theory).
Lists can be public or private. Public lists can be followed by other users (that is, they “follow” the list you created to see all the tweets from those users, without having to follow each of those users). Private lists can only be seen by you and don’t count toward the “listed” count.
Want to hook someone up to a network? Share a list. It’s also an easy way to damage other people’s reps. The “Idiots” list, for example – “people I’d never listen to but want to keep tabs on”.
As far as I know, there’s no way to remove yourself from a list. The owner of the list has to do that.
Here’s the downside: it’s very easy to make duplicate lists. If Joe and Jimmy both know Web Developers in Fort Collins, and both make lists, then which list is better? Which list do you follow? How do you know if Joe’s list is more recent than Jimmy’s?
We’ll see! But lists are definitely a cool feature with a lot of potential.
A few users noticed this new feature message on Twitter.com today.
Now when you hover your mouse over a Tweet on Twitter.com, you can Retweet in addition to Reply.
When you click on the Retweet link, you have to confirm you’d meant to RT it. When you do, in your stream (and on list streams) that Tweet appears… but not from you. From the original author.
@Zaibatsu is not a member of the IgniteFC-Presenters list. But underneath the tweet, it says “Retweeted by you”. The same thing happens on your profile page. Except that instead of their avatar, a new RT icon appears.
Tweets Retweeted in this manner do not appear in TweetDeck or any other 3rd party tool.
Combine this with Twitter Lists and you have two new unique features you just can’t get outside of Twitter.com.