Pipe Smoking 101 Videos – Introduction to Pipe Smoking

Here are some videos intended to help my fellow pipe smokers, especially those new to the hobby, get ahead of the considerable learning curve we face when new to pipe smoking

Subscribe now and receive emails from me no more than once or twice a week (or each time I post depending on which subscription you choose). Weekly I'll send updates to all subscribers on both lists containing the latest news on what's available at SmokingPipeTobacco.com plus, from time to time, bonus content available only to subscribers.

Why Pipe Smokers Should Use Twitter

What is Twitter?

If you haven't heard of Twitter a brief explanation is in order. Twitter allows us to communicate with short little messages (140 characters or less) called “tweets.” It is different from an instant messenger service in that a person's history of tweets are similar to posts on a blog in that they are available for anyone to browse to if the author has allowed them to be public.

This means you could go to my Twitter page, even if you only began following me today, and have a look at what I've been up to.

When you follow someone on Twitter their tweets show up for you. You decide where they show up. You have have them sent to your instant messenger, use a desktop application like “twhirl” (my choice), have them sent to your mobile phone, or just use Twitter's web page.

You can also subscribe to individual users with an RSS feed reader. Twitter lets you communicate with others instantly without being intrusive because every Twitter user has complete control over when, how, and from whom they receive updates.

What do you say?

This is where I believe they come in really handy for pipe smokers! Traditionally the answer is “what are you doing now?” For pipe smokers, change that to include “what are you smoking now?” If you have a blog about pipe smoking, you can use it to announce new posts to your friends. (Friends are also called followers on Twitter.)

Did you just see a great deal on an estate pipe listed on Ebay that other pipe collectors might be interested in? Tweet it. There are even plug-ins for web browsers that allow you to share a page like this with the click of one button. Use your imagination.

What are you waiting for?

Twitter is absolutely free. The best way to understand Twitter is giving it a try. I have to admit, when I was new to using Twitter it made no sense to me. At some point something clicked and now I won't be without it. But I need my fellow pipe smokers there with me!

Start using Twitter by creating your own free Twitter account and following me – I'll be sure to follow you back. I have an account set up just for communicating with other pipe smokers, but don't think you can only talk about pipe smoking. Update about anything. Really! Its all good.

Twitter Tools

To make the most of Twitter, you'll want to take advantage of a few tools that will help you use Twitter during the flow of whatever else you are doing.

I think twhirl is a must. It is a small program that allows you to monitor your Twitter friends' traffic.

Discussing pipe smoking with a new friend on twhirl

There are also other plug-ins that you can use with your web browser that accomplish the same thing but I've had the best luck with twhirl and is works on all operating systems.

If you are interested in giving Twitter a try, but need help, by all means please contact me. I'm happy to help however I can.