Unlock Twitter's Hidden Powers & Uses

True ninjas make Twitter tackle extra duties! Indeed, it turns out that firing off a quick tweet is a great way to use a variety of online services without logging in to their websites. Even better, you can tweet from any cell phone that can send text messages.

Cell-Phone Ninja

To use these services from your cell phone, first you need to pair your phone and your Twitter account. Log in to Twitter.com, then click Settings, and add your phone number under the Devices tab. Then you can text-message any tweet to 40404, and it’ll be posted to your account. A lot of the services mentioned here reply to you via direct message, so it’s helpful to have Twitter send those to your phone too--under the dropdown for Device Updates, select Direct Messages.

Tell Twitter your phone number.

Keep Yourself Motivated

The state of Florida set up a service called Qwitter to help citizens quit smoking, and you can interact with it via its Twitter account @iquit. You post updates containing @iquit and the number of cigarettes you just smoked. (If you protect your Twitter updates, you have to follow @iquit first, so it can follow you back and see your tweets.) All the numbers you tweet to @iquit are added up, and your daily total is graphed at qwitter.tobaccofreeflorida.com/qwitters/Twitter-name, where Twitter-name is your own Twitter user name. Anything else you tweet to @iquit--like “Wow, this is hard”--is added to the same page for an automatic “Qwitter journal” that will hopefully motivate you to stick with it.

Graphing our Diet Coke habit...we're trying to stop, we swear!

Pro tip: You don’t have to be quitting cigarettes to use this service. Smokeless tobacco, Diet Cokes, donuts, using the F word…everyone’s got a bad habit to shake.

Get Your Flight Status

This is a godsend on cell phones with no Web access. You have to be following @myflightinfo (just type follow myflightinfo as a tweet to do this from any client, or cell phone). The account will automatically follow you back, and now you can direct-message (DM or just d) each other. Type d myflightinfo, the word status, and the flight number (sw 208 for Southwest flight 208, for example), and the service will direct-message you back with the flight’s on-time status and other details.

This direct message was also texted to our phone.

Track Your Spending

TweetWhatYouSpend.com is an easy place to keep a spending journal powered by Twitter. Just follow @twys (type follow twys), which will auto-follow you back. Then send a direct message with where you dropped cash and how much you spent, for example: d twys Taco Bell $9.44. The listing is added to your journal and time-stamped automatically. When you’re back at your computer, just log in to TweetWhatYouSpend.com, where you can categorize your entries, add new ones, and export the list as a comma-separated file (CSV) for using with other financial software.

You journal, built via tweets, is kept at TweetWhatYouSpend.com.

Get a Quick Reminder

No timer on that clunky cell phone of yours? No problem. Follow @timer on Twitter and it’ll follow you back. Then direct-message it a number of minutes (minimum 5) and a reminder message, for example d timer 30 Feed the parking meter. It’ll direct-message you the reminder when the time is up. In our tests, it was never to the second--don’t use this to time a soft-boiled egg!--but always hit us back within 2 minutes of our requested time.

Update Your To-Do List

Popular to-do services Remember the Milk (see our review here) and Toodledo both let you update them via Twitter. Pro or free Remember the Milk users can log on to RemembertheMilk.com and connect a Twitter account. Then follow @rtm and you can direct-message the service a number of commands. For a new task, simply type d rtm Pick up the milk, but you can also get a list of tasks due, delegate tasks to other Twitter/RTM users, and more. The full list of commands is at rememberthemilk.com/services/twitter.

Toodledo's symbols give you lots of control when adding new to-dos.

If you use Toodledo, you can connect it to your Twitter account by logging in at Toodledo.com, then clicking Import/Export/Sync in the sidebar and clicking Twitter. (Or go to www.toodledo.com/connect_twitter.php.) Follow @toodledo on Twitter, and you can DM it new tasks, fetch tasks, and set up reminders, with a robust system of codes to denote your to-do list’s folders, contexts, due dates, priorities, and tags. A simple tweet like d toodledo Pick up the milk adds the task with normal priority and no context, due date, or tags, to your Inbox folder. But a tweet like d toodledo Pick up birthday cake !! #tomorrow =6pm *Party @Car would add the high-priority (!!) task to your Party folder (*Party) with a due date of tomorrow at 6pm (# for date and = for time) with the context of Car (@Car). Find a full list of commands at www.toodledo.com/info/help_twitter.php.

Track a Package

TrackThis (www.usetrackthis.com) lets you enter your package’s tracking number and get updates by email, SMS, or RSS. But you can also use the service with Twitter. Follow @trackthis and it’ll follow you back. Then direct-message it a UPS, FedEx, DHL, or USPS tracking number and a nickname for the package, for example: d trackthis 1ZFAKE440351490210 Celia’s gift. You’ll get a direct message back every time the package changes locations.

We had Twitter send TrackThis's messages to our phone as SMS texts.

Update Facebook

If more of your friends use Facebook than Twitter, it’s easy to keep everyone updated at once. We prefer using a Facebook app called Selective Twitter Status, because sending all your Twitter updates to Facebook (retweets and replies and all) can be annoying. Search Facebook for Selective Twitter Status, install the app to your Facebook page, tell it your Twitter name, and you’re all set. Then just end any tweet with #fb to send it to Facebook as well as Twitter. (The #fb part doesn’t show up on Facebook, by the way.)

End a tweet with #fb and Selective Twitter Status will update your Facebook page too.

Take a Note, Evernote

If you’re retweeting a link, it’s because you like it. Might as well send it to note-taking wonder service Evernote, too. (See “Digitize Your Mental Notes with Evernote,” Jul/09) You’ll need a free or Pro account at Evernote.com, then follow @myen on Twitter. It’ll follow you back and direct-message you a link. Click it and log in to Evernote to link the two accounts. Then you can add @myen to any tweet you want to send to Evernote. Or direct-message (d myen) the service any notes you want to keep private.

Adding @myen to a tweet sends a copy to evernote.

NEXT: Ninja Stars: Quick Tips