Getting hands dirty with Python and Twitter
Dare we dive deep into the world of Twitter and use special methods, that helps to get most of this phenomenal new media? If you are somewhat technically oriented, can do or are willing to learn some programming, then you might find next few lines interesting and helpful.
Often programmers and marketers are from different planet. They don’t share common language to communicate and they have different motives to look any media. But it’s not always the case. I have also seen, that those who start from technical background sometimes grow up to the most powerful marketers on their market. That is easy to understand, because they are not very easily tricked with monkey business and they also collect extra respect because of their experience on their niche. Good example from current Internet world is Brad Callen, that has quite good reputation as a software developer, but I’d also say he is well known and skilled marketer, probably very successful too. Anyone who has read his reports about keyword research and found links to his products from there, knows what I’m talking about. Brilliant stuff to learn in many ways.
I’m a big believer of holistic and unitive methods, so I courage everyone to learn at least basics of programming. Here I’m going to show quite generally, how to use Python to interact with your Twitter account. Specific instructions are impossible to give, because of variance of current sets of people systems.
Let’s get started
First you need a computer with Python installed. Most modern *nix based operating systems has it already, so this part is straight forward. In case you don’t have Python or you want to get the newest one, just go to http://www.python. org and select your operating system to download correct version of Python.
Second you need to download simplejson-2.0.9.tar.gz and python-twitter-0.5.tar.gz libraries. They are packed files, so you need to extract them to your computer. Often double clicking the package will do it.
Third part is to install those two packages. Latest now, you need to use console to interact with Python. For Linux and Unix users this is familiar, but not all Mac or Win users have used text based interface. On Mac you should open application called “Terminal” and on Windows, you’ll get necessary instructions, when you run Python installer for the first time.
Using $ cd command you need to find into the simplejson and python-twitter packages (their root location). For example $ cd ~/Downloads/python-twitter/ Then you need to run installer for both packages from their root location, for example $ python setup.py install. You could also run setup file from your home directory like: $ python ~/Downloads/python-twitter/setup.py install
Interact!
Now we are ready to use application interface to interact with Twitter. Basically you can do all the same actions from your Python shell, than you do from Twitter web interface and it is good to start trying those basic actions. Start up Python, import twitter library, connect to your Twitter account and call some function, that interacts with your Twitter account:
$ python >>> import twitter >>> api = twitter.Api(username='your_twitter_username', password='********') >>> api.PostUpdate('I love python-twitter!')
Want more friends?
But it wouldn’t be fun, if you can do only same things with Python you do with web interface. Here it is good to realize that actually all the hundreds of Twitter applications you see people using, are the result of programmers imagination and creativity to use similar APIs, we are using here. Programming is often used to automate and make some tasks easier. Next I’ll present one little python script and one small library, that creates relationships with a big list of people. I have generated that list in such way that those people are quite likely to follow you back, or at least they will result some of their followers to follow you. I’d recommend to use new Twitter account to experiment with this technique, then collect your own list of people for selected niche and start building your network of interesting people. I got whoppy of 500 followers in 24 hours with this method only.
#!/usr/bin/python # file: create_friends.py # use this like: $ python create_friends.py import twitter api = twitter.Api(username='your_twitter_username', password='********') # Top xxx Twitter Users Who Will Follow You Back: http://socialnewswatch.com/top-twitter-users/ # Plus people that responded to that post and want to follow you back. Generated 11/04/2009. # Other list of people to start with: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2231777543&topic=5541&start=3600&hash=91d544cb81bb2a49d6eba177d7bf7212#topic_top friends = ["barackobama", "downingstreet", "theonion", "guykawasaki", "starbucks", "scobleizer", "bigrichb", "astronautics", "caseywright", "perrybelcher", "alohaarleen", "nansen", "thebusybrain", "robmcnealy", "michaemillman", "zaibatsu", "wbaustin", "jonathan360", "hashtags", "thedigitallife", "andrew303", "espn", "mrsocial", "chrispirillo", "stejules", "davemalby", "eleesha", "craigteich", "stephenkruiser", "jerell", "bradhoward", "foodimentary", "scotmckay", "edstivala", "rockingjude", "shannonseek", "radioblogger", "mikeklingler", "ronniewilson", "dantanner", "mikepfs", "techxav", "socialmediaclub", "flwbooks", "kamper", "andrewwindham", "oliver_turner", "_samjones", "kmesiab", "mark33", "stanleytang", "barefoot_exec", "jackbastide", "nichetitans", "marketingzap", "praguebob", "twitter_tips", "twitpic", "00joe", "jeanettejoy", "ohhdlinfo", "mariaandros", "jeanlucr", "tmaduri", "twitlive", "imogenheap", "newmediajim", "markdavidson", "openzine", "bryantsmith", "tysonthequick", "drjeffersnboggs", "jayoatway", "upicks", "gemstars", "michddot", "sethsimonds", "jessenewhart", "zefrank", "richcurrie", "karlrove", "sitepointdotcom", "ipodiums", "alexkaris", "holeinhiseye", "pistachio", "oudiantebi", "dsmpublishing", "petersantilli", "orrin_woodward", "queenoftheclick", "stocktwits", "marketingprofs", "marismith", "marcwarnke", "debbas", "steveweber", "tuaw", "kikivaldes", "waynemansfield", "usbargains", "rex7", "coffeetweet", "larrylanier", "julieroy", "jamesrivers", "mikefilsaime", "montaignejns", "seanmalarkey", "webaddict", "larrybrauner", "leplan", "aaronmartirano", "jeffpulver", "teedubya", "dcrblogs", "shawnrobinson", "konaendurance", "tradinggoddess", "johnreese", "infadelsarecool", "techhie", "nabbit", "diyanaalcheva", "unmarketing", "meteorit", "trafficgen", "staffinseconds", "peterdrew", "littlequiz", "teddyshabba", "dawudmiracle", "rightwingnews", "outsidemybrain", "dollars5", "mediabistro", "adnagam", "coasis", "nicholaspatten", "alexisneely", "everywheretrip", "e_stampede", "christianfea", "mojojuju", "emom", "rizzotees", "anexemines", "americanelement", "travisgreenlee", "rickysantos", "pawluxury", "kriscolvin", "pinkelephantpun", "jasonfinch", "lonniehodge", "jansimpson", "stickham", "davelawrence", "calideals", "jamesbyers", "jeffherring", "linc4justice", "gspowart", "howardbienstock", "peter_r_casey", "bettydraper", "michaelemlong", "dexin", "the_gman", "bobcallahan", "trendtracker", "tylertorment", "garinkilpatrick", "jim_turner", "ann_sieg", "ken_cosgrove", "frostfire", "pat_lorna", "winetwits", "bradfallon", "timjensen", "photocanvas", "jasonmitchener", "bill_romanos", "mikemayhew", "hawaiirealty", "9miles", "sotero_garcia", "loyalty360", "weirdchina", "markrmatthews", "steveouch", "socrates_soc", "comcastcares", "chrismoreschi", "coffeecupnews", "williecrawford", "louiebaur", "coolsi", "nicolane", "nixthenews", "ezinearticles", "hubpages", "chrisspagnuolo", "fredamooncotch", "sheritingle", "justinglover", "shortawards", "flap", "suggestionbox", "jimdemint", "tweetstats", "thebilly", "thapaparazza", "writinghannah", "0boy", "thinkgeek", "lancescoular", "mayhemstudios", "traderadvice", "dana_willhoit", "jimmysmithtrain", "joeldrapper", "kidscash", "kellyshibari", "stevegarfield", "jasontryfon", "danschawbel", "lookcook", "judyrey", "mjberry", "edwardmoore", "blackbottoms", "dough", "crumcake", "prosperitygal", "lotay", "judyrey", "judyrey", "dougslinks", "wordslingah", "amarsrivastava", "lochnar", "neticule", "mrintech", "skashliwal", "copsucker", "kdelin", "lauralovesart", "nepalsites", "apocketofcoins", "apocketofcoins", "jianart", "yarnmerchandise", "nicoledean", "anonyguy", "aliciabankhofer", "fitdelicious", "heatherinbc", "flomeimberg", "billyjackson", "goodpasture", "browncrownmedia", "murraynewlands", "somethinspecial", "kubalek", "bubbo", "elrobe", "openhippo", "starmars", "rickyrod1385", "hawaiidave", "creepypasta", "dylanfogle", "frankparker", "rickyrod1385", "rickyrod1385", "pilonbignell", "brianwong", "joshsuth", "timandren", "degreeshub", "yogeshgautam", "harrisonpainter", "gannotti", "maheshkukreja", "narayananh", "aceworld", "williamward79", "wmellaart", "whall", "revenuerobot", "susanimate", "mrintech", "jmwilliams", "marcome", "edjamesno1", "dfalco", "jg_nuke", "probateblogger", "seoatlanta", "gamingpcweb", "laffertyjohnson", "yogesh007", "quotes24", "lyceum", "502ms", "safetymatters", "blood_pressure", "gerrigee", "facesinplaces", "youngurban", "timothyblack", "gerrigee", "marcnorris", "jborman", "miklamf", "ericbarbaric", "celebclubber", "iceburner", "smokeydonuts", "nabeel88", "www_azmat_com", "jgillardi", "thehomecounselr", "narayananh", "lauraleeguthrie", "tweetplate", "my10000dollars", "overlandparker", "just_us_j", "carlarose", "nerdizen", "cxxg", "mike_brenner", "brennerbeer", "familyforest", "juic3boxx", "jerlenek", "scottprock", "askanalyst", "s7acker", "mannycortez", "team07", "bmsatierf", "cedricaubry", "ahhphotography", "mr_krypton", "wordslingah", "charcurley", "how2tips", "fortunekookie", "tom_siwik", "fortunekookie", "pramitjnathan", "jamesfk", "cardiffliving", "websiteexpress", "tcotta", "urdomesticbliss", "interney", "matthewmadotcom", "safetymatters", "dansalles", "monalizaamid", "erikg1", "istupidx", "sameer_khan", "sameer_khan", "prichmond14", "paulschwend", "gerrigee", "outcyde", "ireland_oneteam", "cashflowcindy", "cashflowcindy", "successwalls", "jodigirl", "coachingguru", "robinbarr", "traderstudent", "rabieslegacy", "advnery", "2_0", "belfast_news", "cacobart", "sydnesummer", "otalo", "seo_v", "celebclubber", "manup4", "smartcanuck", "chillami"] for friend in friends: try: api.CreateFriendship(friend) except Exception: print "Error %s" % friend
Because code base is so large, it is good idea to make it to a separate script file and run it from terminal. In this case create a new text file, copy and paste above code to it, save the file with name like: create_friends.py and then run script with command: python create_friends.py.
Helper library
You need to realize here, that Twitter has an API call limits. That means that you need to be both careful and clever, if you want to go beyond those limits. But so far, I think you’ll get a good understanding, what you can do if you experience a little bit with programming approach to Twitter. Another useful script is to batch process follower and followed list and unfollow all people, that has not followed you in certain time period. You could do it with a library of python functions / procedures like these:
#!/usr/bin/python251 # file: twitterhelper.py # use example: $ python # >>> import twitterhelper as th # >>> th.unfollow_unfollowers() # requires latest python-twitter dev version!!! # $ svn checkout http://python-twitter.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ python-twitter import twitter api = twitter.Api(username='your_twitter_username', password='********') # next variables are collected once in runtime. This method is used, because of twitter # API call limits. All specific functions should use these variables if they are populated. # all the users, that are followed followed = None # all the users, that follows followers = None # all the people, that you follow, but who do no follow you unfollowers = None # all the people, that follow you, but you are not following them unfollowed = None # it is good idea to follow people, that follows you until you are a famous person, # which has proper authority def follow_unfollowed(): r = 0 for user in get_all_unfollowed(): screen_name = user.screen_name r = r + 1 try: api.CreateFriendship(screen_name) print "#%s %s" % (r, screen_name) except Exception: print "#%s could not create relationship with: %s" % (r, screen_name) # after some days of following, its good idea to purge your list and keep the # number of followers and followed in a margin of 10% # there is no 100 call limit on unfollow procedure as there is on follow! I did # unfollow 900 people on one shot, maybe there is a limit of 1000... def unfollow_unfollowers(): r = 0 for user in get_all_unfollowers(): screen_name = user.screen_name r = r + 1 try: api.DestroyFriendship(screen_name) print "#%s %s" % (r, screen_name) except Exception: print "#%s could not delete relationship with: %s" % (r, screen_name) # you can get only 100 users / call so get_all_followed and get_all_followers # must make a lot of API calls to get all users # because of hourly API limit of 100 calls, it is possible, that this method does # not work but max 5k followers and followed people def get_all_followed(user = None): global followed if followed != None: return followed users, counter = [], 1 while not len(users) % 100: if user: users += api.GetFriends(user, page=counter) else: users += api.GetFriends(page=counter) counter += 1 followed = users return users def get_all_followers(user = None): global followers if followers != None: return followers users, counter = [], 1 while not len(users) % 100: if user: users += api.GetFollowers(user, page=counter) else: users += api.GetFollowers(page=counter) counter += 1 followers = users return users def get_all_unfollowers(): global unfollowers if unfollowers != None: return unfollowers users = [] followers = get_all_followers() followed = get_all_followed() for f in followed: if f not in followers: users.append(f) unfollowers = users return users # it is good idea to follow all people, that follow you. its all about equality and interaction. def get_all_unfollowed(): global unfollowed if unfollowed != None: return unfollowed users = [] followers = get_all_followers() followed = get_all_followed() for follower in followers: if follower not in followed: users.append(follower) unfollowed = users return users # max 1000 / d def send_direct_message_to_followers(msg): r = 0 for user in get_all_followers(): screen_name = user.screen_name r = r + 1 try: api.PostDirectMessage(screen_name, msg) print "#%s %s" % (r, screen_name) except Exception: print "#%s could not send message to: %s" % (r, screen_name)
To use this script you need the latest dev version of python-twitter because some of the functions uses a page parameter to get all followers from your account. Get details from python-twitter Google code project. Then create a new file, lets call it twitterhelper.py and follow next steps to unfollow all unfollowers:
$ python >>> import twitterhelper as th >>> th.unfollow_unfollowers()
If you have a large follower base, it can take minute or two to finnish the script.
Remember to run Python and scripts from the same directory that you have saved the scripts. Also remember, that Python uses indented code, so all whitespace needs to be on file as it is presented here. Read Python manual carefully, if you are new to Python programming.
Happy coding
I hope this helps to get started with Python to Twitter interaction. Just be sure you follow the rules and limits of Twitter and also with netiquette, because there is no benefit of getting angry or frustrated people if you mess up with tools like these.
I also want to say that because of quite general nature of these instruction, you may counter some extra work and steps, that has to be done to get everything working from Python installation to running given scripts, but don’t give up. You can do it, not because I have done it, but because it IS doable 
.
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Small mac oriented screencast to help you start over: http://screencast.com/t/F9yO5HfSEFG
There is a list of people (over 3000) willing to follow, which is constructed from above mentioned Facebook page. You can use it in combination with socialnewswatch list. I tested it few days ago and results were 500 followers in 12 hours on totally new profile. It could be even better. So people on those lists are quite active and there are second layer connections, who will follow you as well.
Download files in favor of copy & paste:
twitterhelper.py
create_friends.py
Have you found an updated twitter client? Python-twitter 0.6 has some problems. There’s now a good api call that can get up to 5000 follower IDs per call, would be cool to use. I’ve found some patches to python-twitter but no complete package.
Regards,
Nicke