So, I was asked how my Twitter and Google+ sidebar works. Nothing, much to it to be honest. But alas, here you have it along with the source that can be found on my github.
Yes, it writes out to a static file and then I load it into the sidebar. Why? Well, I have no need for it to be real time. I do not post that often that I would benefit from making a real time feed.
It’s also a speed decision. I have no desire to have a page load dependency on something I can host myself. There are some things that I don’t mind loading from third party sites (like jQuery). But, if I can keep that to a minimum, then great!
FeedMeSocialService.java, GooglePlusFeedEntry.java, and TwitterTokenFactory.java are the only files you’ll need to edit. –of course, if you want to make edits elsewhere, then fork away!
To get the Twitter information, go to dev.twitter.com and create an application.
To get the Google+ information, go to cloud.google.com/console and create a project with a service account. You will be able to download your service key as well as get the email address for the service account.