Using Twitter to Help You Remember Things

Twitter’s direct message capabilities have spawned several bots that reply with requested information. The latest, timer, lets you set reminders for yourself. For example, ‘d timer 45 call mom‘ reminds you to phone the lady who brought you into this world, in 45 minutes.  Here’s how it works:

  1. If you’re not already a Twitter user, register for a free account.
  2. Add timer as your friend.
  3. Send a direct message to timer with the following format:

    d timer [# of minutes until reminder] [your message]

    Example: d timer 60 check parking meter (will remind you to drop a quarter in 60 minutes)

    Note: 5 minutes is the minimum amount of time that you can set. In addition, if you forget to put a time, that’s what you’ll get by default.

  4. Timer will then tweet you back after the specified number of minutes has passed. Please note, though, that it is not an accurate timer; many factors, including email, SMS, and Twitter delays may slow delivery. That said, it’s usually not off by much more than a minute. Keep this in mind when you’re using timer to cook macaroni (please don’t hold us responsible for soggy noodles).

17 May at 8:04am by Scott Robbin | 1 Person Dropped Some Commental Knowledge