Microsoft Teams and Products on Twitter

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I’ve been enjoying Twitter for awhile, watching the participation grow along with the value from time spent there.

Recently I noticed a tweet from someone asking @Scobleizer if the @MSWindows account was real or not.  Thinking that would be interesting if it was from the product team, I sent a few emails which resulted in the confirmation that it was a real account from the Windows Outreach Team.

I’ve always been interested in tracking Microsoft’s participation as a whole on Twitter, but this was a new area of focus.  This was a product team using a twitter account as a somewhat official line of communication.

One of my first experiments on Twitter was to create @MSTweeters, an account which would follow any confirmed Microsoft Employee Twitter account.  I thought this was interesting back in the old days when Twitter had the “with_friends” feature.  Anyone could quickly see what was buzzing amongst those who held blue badges.

This quickly became very time-intensive once MS Twitter accounts increased rapidly and the removal of the “with_friends” feature which I meant I would have to take the pulse of the MSTweeters and republish it.

This experiment, or bit of research, is simpler.

Which product teams or groups have Twitter accounts?

The interesting part is the prevalence of Twitter Squatting. Many brand name or technology aliases have already been grabbed, including silverlight, aspnet, wpf, microsoft, xbox, xboxlive, zune, aspnetmvc, oslo, visitmix, visualstudio, ie8.  Hopefully though this list may be useful to you as a Twitter user and the teams publishing news via this medium.

	A Website Named Desire @SiteNamedDesire – Want a copy of A Website Named Desire? This li’l birdie will tell you how. Wait for the tweets.
	Accessibility Team @MicrsftTech4All – News from Microsoft Accessibility team, which strives for technology to be usable by everyone & complements our physical & cognitive abilities.
	Channel 8 @ch8 – Microsoft’s community for students
	Channel 9 @ch9 – listen to the cockpit, help us fly the plane
	Channel 10 @ch10 – Channel 10 is Microsoft’s online community for the technology enthusiast
	CodePlex @codeplex – Microsoft’s open source project hosting site
	Live Framework @liveframework – liveframework
	Live Mesh @livemesh – Sync, share, and access the information you care about—wherever you happen to be.
	Live Search @Live_Search – The Official Home of Live Search on Twitter—yes there are real people here. If you’re interested in who is posting: http://cli.gs/vrZQrm
	Microsoft adCenter @adCenterBlog – News, Tips, Tricks & Best Practices From The Guys At Microsoft adCenter
	Microsoft BizSpark @bizspark – Microsoft BizSpark – Software, Support, Visibility
	Microsoft Expression @MSExpression – Microsoft Expression Community Site
	Microsoft Office Labs @officelabs – A merry band of innovators.
	Microsoft Office Resource Kit @MSOfficeResKit – Microsoft Office Resource Kit Team. Information and tools for planning, deploying, and managing Microsoft Office.
	Microsoft SharePoint @SharePoint – The official tweetstream of the SharePoint product group – managed by @LLiu
	Microsoft Store @MicrosoftStore – Buy and Download direct from Microsoft!
	Microsoft Tag @microsofttag – Microsoft Tag
	Microsoft Unlimited Potential @MicrosoftUP – Microsoft Unlimited Potential is the company’s commitment to bring the social and economic benefits of technology to people around the world.
	MIX Online @mixonline – Come check us out at http://www.visitmix.com
	MIX09 Conference @MIX09 – The Next Web Now
	MSDN @MSDN – Updates from the MSDN site team.
	MVP Award Program @MVPAwardProgram – Independent Experts. Real World Answers. Spreading Awareness of Microsoft MVPs
	TechNet – UK @AskTechNetUK – Have a question for the TechNet team? or just fancy a chat about TechNet, Microsoft or life in general?
	Windows @MSWindows – Announcing Windows 7
	Windows Live @WindowsLive – Official Twitter account of Microsoft Windows Live
	Windows Live Messenger @wlmessenger – Connect instantly to the people who matter to you most — chat in text, hear their voices on a PC call, or see each other in video.
	Windows Mobile @wmdev
	XNA Creators Club @XNACommunity – The official twitter of the XNA Community Team!
	Zune Marketplace @zunemarketplace – Zune Marketplace is a store for the way you love music, with brand-new releases every week and a huge selection of music in every style imaginable

If you know of more Microsoft Product Group/Team accounts, send them my way. I’d be happy to add them to the list.

Going along with the accounts above are few that I run as information channels for different projects I work on.

	The Continuum Show @ContinuumShow – Exploring the world of the Microsoft Client Continuum
	Project Rosetta @projectrosetta – Chronicling the trail from Flash to Silverlight
	Silverlight News @SilverlightNews – Populated by the tireless Dave Campbell
	XAML Events @XAMLEvents – Silverlight and WPF events

Twitter is like world-wide telepathy allowing you to listen as casually or as focused as you wish.  Tweet the words Silverlight or WPF and I’ll read your tweet.