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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Keep Track of #atozchallenge via The #atozchallenge Daily!

Last April, the A to Z challenge had about 1300 participants.This year, more than 600 bloggers
 have already signed up . Who knows how long the list would grow by the third of April?
 
I have to admit I was a little lost last year--so many blogs to visit, so little time! Plus, I had my 
own posts to think of, which according to my leave-everything-till-the-last-minute personality, 
I had left unscheduled, writing each day as it came. By the time I came to the list, I was 
horrified. Which link had I visited last? Then, when I clicked on a link, it sometimes turned out
 the blogger hadn't posted in a week. Which pissed me off, of course. 

This is when I discovered the #atozchallenge tag which our host Lee helpfully added to all his
 comments. I went on Twitter and discovered fresh A-Z posts by bloggers on this hashtag. No 
worrying over whether the link was valid, and I also got to make new Twitter buddies, and 
agonize with them about the number of posts to be written or visited! (For explanation of hashtag 
for those new to Twitter go here.)

So I basically went and created Twitter newspaper, The #atozchallenge Daily, one which 
automatically collects all the links posted with the  #atozchallenge tag. Even if you're not 
on twitter, all you have to do is bookmark this newspaper. Opening it everyday is a 
great way of finding links to fresh A to Z posts. You'll also find it embedded here in 
this blog, on the sidebar to the right! Embedding it on your own blog is as easy as clicking on 
this link, clicking on the "Embed" tab to the right on the page that opens, and copying the
resultant code into your blog.

If you are on Twitter, you can follow us for updates on @AprilA2Z, and use #atozchallenge 
for any posts you make about A to Z, now, or during the challenge in April. This would make 
it very easy for us and others to find you---adding tons of exposure to your blog. Also, we can
 be twitter buddies and obsess over A to Z building up to the challenge, and also when it 
begins to make us dizzy with all the comment love and discussions!
 
Of the host team, (besides the main @AprilA2Z) you could follow these folks on Twitter :
 

Alex J. Cavanaugh :                                              @AlexJCavanaugh
Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs :            @StephenTremp
Matthew MacNish at The QQQE  :                       @MatthewMacNish
Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie:                      @iZombieJMH
DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude :                    @DL_H
Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse :         @thewarriormuse
Elizabeth Mueller :                                                @ElizbethMueller
Karen Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain : @KarenGowen
Damyanti (that is, moi) at Amlokiblogs:               @damyantig
So if you're on Twitter, follow @AprilA2Z and let us know you're participating--and spread the word via the #atozchallenge 
The more we are, the louder the noise we'll make, the more the people we'll make friends with, and the more fun we'll have. (Not to mention additional twitter and blog follows!)

If you don't like Twitter, keep your finger on the pulse by bookmarking The #atozchallenge Daily...either way, have fun and win new fans this April by participating in the A to Z Challenge!


--------------
Damyanti Biswas, co host of the #atozchallenge.

14 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

If I put that hashtag in the title of my blog post will you still find me on Twitter? My blog is syndicated to twitter, so when I post it automatically goes up.

Dani said...

This is so helpful! I will have to remember to hashtag my posts. Follow @AprilA2Z and all of you other wonderful people if I haven't already!
I'm already feeling overwelhmed! Ahhhhhh!

Copyboy said...

Twitter newspaper? Very original.

Jeremy [Retro] said...

it's been a great thing, the amount of cool stuff and support is amazing... now if i could just figure out how the twitter thing works..
:)

Jeremy

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Now if we can just get Lee on Twitter...

Arlee Bird said...

I'm sure I'll come around someday. If only I could just catch up with all of my emails!

But Damyanti is doing a great job managing the Twitter stuff.

Lee

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I know what you mean about coming to blogs that haven't posted in forever. What do we do about these? Skip and move on? That's my gut reaction. I try to stop when I get to a significant number, something I can remember. Today I got to #50. I figure my next blogging time, I'll go to #75 or #100, depending on my time.

Marta Szemik said...

This is so helpful. Now following all on twitter, though I can't seem to keep up with everyone. Next I have to learn how to bundle my lists to make following easier. I'd only heard there's something like that on twitter...

Chuck said...

Bravo! Thanks for this great idea.

klahanie said...

Gosh! Even more exciting news. You can find out about the A to Z Challenge and discover even more folks who were involved in this thrilling 'challenge' that brings further awareness of the alphabet. Good thing I was sitting comfortably when I read that! :)
Seriously, yes seriously, well, kind of seriously, all the best with the challenge and unbelievable but true, in a moment of weakness, I linked into your Twitter newspaper, cause I'm such a great guy. I state, ever so modestly.
With respect and a bonus letter 'Zed' or 'Zee', if y'all are American, your way, Gary...

Unknown said...

Thanks for the follows on twitter, guys.

Lee, twitter doesn't take as much time as emails...besides, you'll have a ready made twitter account in @AprilA2Z so you can practice your twitter skills :)

And guys, those of you who're hashtagging #atozchallenge on your challenge-related posts, you have a new fan! Me!

MISH said...

What a great idea!
A big thank you to Damyanti and the A-Z Team - you guys are doing an amazing job!
Countdown continues... 45 days left!

Empty Nest Insider said...

Great idea creating the newspaper. I'm also not on Twitter yet, but this will help so many bloggers! Julie

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thanks for all your work with Twitter, Damyanti! The newspaper was a great idea, and one I didn't know existed until you mentioned it.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z