The free and addictive ifttt app will help you bridge the social networks, apps and online tools you use every day through basic tasks. These deceptively simple connections can create powerful tool for publishers, writers and readers to connect basic services.
The service connects a variety of channels, from Twitter to Facebook to Evernote to Google Calendar to Google Reader to Instagram (example embedded above). You can connect these services through simple “If this … Then do that” statements. The site also features a set of recipes that help you find useful connections. Below, we’ve collected six ifttt recipes that can help all GalleyCat readers.
Check it out: “Think of all the things you could do if you were able to define any task as: when something happens (this) then do something else (that) … The this part of a task is the Trigger … The that part of a task is the Action … Triggers and Actions come from Channels. Channels are the unique services and devices you use every day … When you put one channel’s trigger together with another channel’s action, that’s a task!”
1. Never lose a social network post with the Archive your tweets on Evernote recipe and Save your Facebook post to Evernote recipe–saving everything you write in a new file.
2. Tired of missing fresh content posted in book review outlets or literary sites? Use the Automatically Save Long Book Reviews recipe to save copies on Instapaper to read online or offline (illustrated here with Los Angeles Review of Books, but will work with any RSS feed).
3. Use the Download Facebook Tagged Photo recipe to download pictures from your book party or literary event, automatically.
4. Use the Greet New Twitter Follower recipe to say hello to your new readers when they join you on Twitter.
5. The Twitter Follower recipe will let you record on a Google calendar every time you add a follower on Twitter–powerful tool for tracking your daily engagement with readers.
6. Want to keep reading after you log off your social networks? Use the Twitter Favorites recipe to instantly save all links you marked as “Favorite” on Twitter to Instapaper. You can then read the files at your leisure, on or offline.
If you end up creating other useful recipes for writers, share them in the comments section for a feature next week.