ubstory: a Twitter experiment

Join the Experiment!

ubstory kicked off on the National Day on Writing and will continue as long as it stays alive. Since none other than Edgar Allan Poe graces our beloved campus, we'll start the story like this:

       It was a dark and stormy night on Gordon Plaza...

The Plan

We're celebrating writing at UB by playing an old game with a new twist. The entire UB community is invited to tell a story, together, each person adding to what a previous person has written.

The Game

This is a version of the old game in which people went around a circle telling a story, adding a sentence or two that carried forward the plot. There were no rules, but:

• You had to pick up where the last person left off.
• Other players would throw rotten vegetables if you killed off characters inappropriately.
• Mother would take a switch to your backside if you used uncouth language.

The New Twist

We're going to post to Twitter to tell our story, the UB Story. A Twitter post is called a "tweet", and each tweet will be an addition to the UB Story. Tweets are limited to 140 characters, so that is the most the each player can add to the story at any one time.

• Read and continue the story; don't go off on a completely unrelated tangent.
• Tweet often, but don't be a Tweethog.
• Have fun! Keep coming back. Tell your friends. Let's see where our words take us!

To read and contribute to the UB Story, follow these directions.

1. Log into your Twitter account at http://www.twitter.com. If you don't have an account, create one; it only takes a minute.
2. On the right-hand side, in the search bar, type #ubstory.
3. The search results will provide you with the ubstory; reading bottom to top, you can see what people have added to the story.
4. Compose a tweet to continue the story, starting your tweet with #ubstory. It may take a minute or two to appear in the feed.
5. If the infamous Twitter Fail Whale appears, be patient and refresh your browser.
6. Come back as often as the urge to tweet hits! Let's grow this story into something wonderful.

NOTES

• YOUR TWEET MUST START WITH #ubstory or it won't get added to the feed.
• Don't use @ubstory, as this won't appear with the #ubstory search results.
• You don't need to "follow" ubstory; that user account won't be adding to the story.
• You can use this link to follow the feed without searching -- but you can't post from it.