Stone Update

The best of Twitter ... without tweeting.

Don't get us wrong. We like Twitter, and we busily tweet away (@StoneUpdate) daily. We also know that it's not for everyone; it can eat up hours on end with almost endless text message in a strange, truncated English. And someone with plenty of work piled up isn't interested in the exciting ins-and-outs of, say hashtags.

Click image to enlargeSo, Stone Update is offering a way to find out what's going on about the stone industry with Twitter ... without really using Twitter. We're putting together a set of TwitterPapers that highlight the best of tweeted messages and links to Web pages. You can read the highlights right here on stoneupdate.com, or go to our TwitterPapers' own Web pages to see what's happening in the Twitterverse.

These papers (OK, webpages) are based on aggregator software that monitor Twitter accounts in the stone trade and allied industries. We select the best combination of what's available and publish it daily. Just like the morning newspaper -- yes, they're still delivering those to doorsteps -- the content changes every day.

Currently, we have two TwitterPapers: Stone Update Today, a review of what's happening in general with the industry, that's available between noon-1 p.m. Eastern Time; and Stone Products Today, featuring announcements and other information from vendors (usually at 3 p.m. Eastern Time). You can get the highlights with a smaller version of the TwitterPaper that's published on stoneupdate.com, and the summary links are at the bottom of this column; click on the titles mentioned above to see the full TwitterPapers.Click image to enlarge

You can also click a link on the bottom of each summary to see the full TwitterPaper. In any case, you'll see standalong tweeted messages of interest, along with the webpage links posted on Twitter. It's all in one-paragraph entries with headlines, and easier to read than hundreds of 140-character bursts rolling through your smartphone or computer.

We'll also remind you every time a new issue comes out. Go to the full TwitterPaper, and look for the "Subscribe" button near the top of the right-hand column. You get a daily email showing the day's top story or tweet and a link to the full page. As is our policy, we don't collect these names to sell to others. It's for us to reach you with a valuable service; you get the best of Twitter without, well, Twitter.

Of course, you'll also know about the new editions every day if you're following us on Twitter; we post tweets when we publish. Either way, you get a quick review of the day's action.