Embeddable Tweets–What, Why and How

What is an Embedded Tweet?

Did you know that you can embed live tweets directly into your website or blog? An embedded tweet links directly to Twitter, shows the conversation the tweet began, and includes a follow button. It looks like this:


A new fan can simply click on the follow button to quickly follow this person (me) on Twitter. You can also click on the reply, retweet and favorite links. As long as you’re logged in to Twitter, this functions in pretty much the same way as if you were seeing the tweet in your tweet stream.

While I’ve chosen to embed one of my own tweets in this blog, you can actually embed any tweet you find…not just your own! If you do choose to embed another user’s update, be aware that if they delete the tweet, your embedded tweet will disappear as well. So it’s always a good idea to grab a screen capture image of the tweet as well, if it’s very important.

How to Embed a Tweet

Adding live tweet to blog

Twitter has made this feature very easy to access. It’s one of the few reasons that I actually log in to native Twitter! Simply find the tweet you wish to use on Twitter.com and click on “View Summary” to open up more options.

 

 

 

 

Adding live tweet link to blog
Next you click on “Details”.
 

 

 

Adding a live tweet to a website
Then you click on “Embed This Tweet.” You with me so far? This is the easy part.
 

 

 

 

adding a live tweet to blog
Copy the html code in the window. You can highlight it and right-click copy, or use a shortcut, whichever you prefer.

 

 

 

 

 

Now the tricky part is inserting that piece of code into your website or blog. If you’re using WordPress, it’s pretty easy, just make sure you’re using the HTML view for the post or page you want to add it to. Open up your blog post in HTML view, position your cursor to where you’d like the embedded tweet to appear and if you’ve done it all right, it should look like this:

 

Ways to Use an Embedded Tweet

Of course, embedding a tweet can be very useful in illustrating blog post points, but what else can you do with embedded tweets? Consider embedding client testimonials on your website, or tweets from experts that illustrate your points. You could embed motivational-type quotes, rants, recommendations or reviews, depending on what your site is about. You can even build a blog post completely out of embedded tweets on the same topic, to follow a conversation, event or TweetChat.

Now that you know, how will you use embedded tweets on your website?

UPDATE: Wouldn’t you know, the very DAY I published this, Twitter made it easier to embed tweets! Just click on the “More” button on any tweet and one of your options will be “embed”. Great…that cuts out a couple of clicks!

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2 thoughts on “Embeddable Tweets–What, Why and How”

  1. Hey Anita,

    Great tips! I especially enjoyed your ideas on how to use embedded tweets. I’ll probably make an attempt at this technique on one of my next posts! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply

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