Last week we launched a new version of Twingly Channels, which more than every focuses on group communication and microblogging. We received a lot positive and encouraging feedback and got even covered on The Next Web, one of the leading tech blogs out there.
In this post we will give you an overview about the core functionality of Twingly Channels.
Before we get started, one important note: You don’t need to have a Twingly account in order to view Channels, but being logged in to Twingly will enhance your experience with Twingly since it enables you to share links or status updates, comment and like items, subscribe to existing Channels or create new ones.
In this tutorial we show you how Twingly Channel works when being logged in with your Twingly account. If you don’t have one yet, head over to this site to quickly create one.
The Channels homepage
This is the first page you see after having signed in to Twingly – the Twingly Channels homepage. It shows you a recent stream of user comments and likes across the Channels you’re subscribed to. The new version of Channels puts the user activity at the heart of the service, and this stream shows you how Twingly users in different Channels are engaging with the content that is being pulled into a particular Channel.
When you see an item that you are interested in, click on it and you will be send to a profile page for the item, showing you the source and blog reactions from across the web as well as comments and likes from Twingly users. Another option is to click on a user’s profile photo next to an item, which brings you to the user’s public page highlighting his/her latest activity on Twingly.
You can add content to any Channel you are subscribed to directly from the homepage. Simply type or copy your comment (and/or link) in the field titled “What do you want to share” and choose the Channel you would like to publish it to. Voilà!
The activity stream and the sharing feature on the homepage are great ways to discover new conversations, discussions, links, Channels and to quickly share your opinion or content. Below the activity stream on the homepage you find a list of your current subscriptions to Channels (if you are new to Twingly you won’t have any yet) as well as a couple of featured Channels that we recommend you to check out! You can click on any of those icons to access the Channel, or directly enter them through the unique link, e.g. http://www.twingly.com/ipad.
On the right to the activity stream we present you with the option to create a new Channel (here is a tutorial explaining how to do that) or to view the Top 100 most Subscribed Channels.
Now let’s say you enter a Channel of your choice:
The conversation view
Each Channel offers two different options to view it: The conversation view and the links view. When entering a new Channel, the default is the conversation view. This is one of the main features of the new Channels release. As on the Twingly Channels homepage the Channel-specific conversation view shows you posts, comments and likes by users who are subscribed to that Channel. If a conversation item is connected to an incoming piece of content clicking on it will get you to the item’s detailed profile page. Each item can be commented or liked. Comments and likes appear in realtime.
The links view
With the two tabs “Conversation” and “Links” on the top of each Channel page you can easily switch between the two different views. As in the older versions of the Channels tool, the links view allows you to either see a selection of the most popular content during the past 24 hours or a stream of the latest incoming links. Every piece of content you find in the links view is imported either through a feed or a keyword-based blog search. The admin of a Channel can add or remove feeds or search terms. Even in the link view you are able to like and comment on items – your activity is naturally also shown in the conversation view.
Give it a try!
The homepage with the activity stream as well as lots of Channels each consisting of a conversation and a link view – that’s what the new Twingly Channels is about. And at the centre of everything: Your posts, comments, conversations, links and likes. Share and discuss, like and enjoy.
Go to www.twingly.com and give the new Twingly Channels a try!
This is our most popular Channel with almost 3000 subscribers, dealing with the broad and exciting sector of web technology. The Channel imports articles from 188 blogs and news sources focusing solely on web and technology news and analysis. And as in all Channels it is up to you if you want to use the “Top stories” view that puts those pieces on top that have led to most reactions in the blogosphere and Twitter world, or if you want to see the stream of all incoming articles in chronological order. 
If you are reading the Twingly blog there is a big chance that you are interested in Social Media. In this case you should really check out Social Media News, which presents you with the latest trends and news about what’s going on in the vibrating field between media, Internet, pr and marketing. The Channel contains 30 sources, from Mashable to PR 2.0, from Social Media Today to Social Times. 
For all the Apple fanboys there is a dedicated Channel. A fine selection of 12 well-informed and Apple enthusiastic sources will help you to stay informed about rumours, product launches and Steve Jobs’ latest email replies. 
There is an (until now) unwritten rule: If you serve Apple fanboys, you also need to serve Android fanboys. Fortunately, we don’t need to break this rule because we have a dedicated Android Channel. Its being fed regularly with the latest Android coverage by 6 well-renowned sources only focusing on the increasingly popular mobile OS. Subscribe now if you love your Android smartphone! 
Yes, there are other important things besides the tech, web and mobile world: Such as sneakers. If you are a sneaker addict you definitely should take a peak at the Sneaker Channel, providing you with everything you need to know about your favourite kind of shoe, based on 8 selected sources and search term-based content from the global blogosphere. 
You might have heard about those people who like to read all the gossip about celebrities, and you might also have heard that there are dozens of blogs and news sites out there dedicated to this. Well, for them there is a Twingly Channel, and in fact it is one of our most subscribed Channels. 136 connected sources make sure that you always know what the likes of Linsday Lohan, Lady Gaga and Kanye West are up to there days! 
The entertainment and music biz is not only about glamour, parties and fashion. The Music industry is changing rapidly, trying to manage the shift to digital music, and dealing with new challenges and chances. This Channel with 30 sources included gives you an overview about the state of the discussion, both from the artists and the technology perspective. 
Computing is moving into the Server Cloud, removing the need for users to run Software locally on their machines. Cloud Computing is one of the hottest trends in IT right now and defines the direction of the web. This Channel is the one and only destination IT professionals and private users interested in Cloud Computing need. 
In a far future, we maybe will shake hands with robots when going to work or walking into a store. So it can be a good decision to start informing yourself a bit about our future colleagues and neighbours made by steel and electronic components. And yes, there is a Twingly Channel for that, importing feeds from 6 robot “fan sites ” and content from the blogosphere based on robot-related keywords. Go and check it out! 
Everybody who runs a website or blog wants to get a good search engine ranking. Some users and webmasters put a lot of effort in finding the best ways to do search engine optimization (SEO). This Twingly Channel aggregates the knowledge and best practices from 30 SEO-related news sites and blogs. If you are interested in this topic, you might want to subscribe to the Channel. 
For years, there has been talk about the death of RSS. While RSS has been the most common way for bloggers and information workers to gather and collect information from lots of sources, it has never really caught the attention of the mainstream users. There might be many reasons for that, but the rather “unsexy” name of the format, the relatively complicated way of subscribing to a RSS feed (for less experienced users) and the little efforts from publishers to market RSS (with the exception of blogs) definitely contributed to the slow adoption of RSS outside of the web geek sphere (imagine if subscribing to a RSS feed would have been as easy as “liking” something with Facebook…).
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