[Advisory] Twitter
Neil Adam
neil@beaconict.co.uk
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:14:26 +0000
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Hi Ray
To be honest (as a prolific user!) Twitter isn't to everyone's taste, or
style of working. It isn't for every communication either. In essence it is
"chat" based and ephemeral, but that does not mean you cannot move beyond
trivia or or look back over past comments ("tweets") or see what someone yo=
u
value has said. You don't have to be constantly on line (depending how you
use it).
What it is good for
- quick information, help or response
- quick debates, cut and thrust in your own community
- sharing interesting snippets, such as links to things you have read
- disseminating key thoughts from conferences etc
- oh, and a bit of social chit-chat too ("keeps" me sane)
What it is not good for
- thoughtful, reflective writing (better on blogs)
- responses (beyond quick reactions) to other people's writing (better as
comments on blog posts or own blog)
- deeper debate (perhaps better on mailing lists) - as you said
Quick thoughts/tips
- Follow people you know
- Look at the lists those people have made and follow that list. (If
individuals on list interesting, follow them too)
- See who the people you follow are retweeting ("forwarding") or commenting
on - follow those people too if of interest
- Select the people that will also challenge your position - as you say
- Use a client if possible (rather than Twitter website) for both desktop
and mobile - more features are available to control reading. (eg. Tweetdeck
for desktop)
- Put people you like to read into lists (or groups on clients). That way
you can scan back over what they have said over last day or so
- Search on hashtags (eg. #naace) for conferences, themes etc. Clients like
Tweetdeck put these in their own column (if you click a hashtag) and then
keep updating that column live (so long as the main Twitter website hasn't
fallen over)
- "favourite" things for follow up or future reference
- don't (in my view) feel duty-bound to follow back everyone who follows yo=
u
- I think it becomes a burden and you'll eventually ignore those you are no=
t
interested in soon enough anyway
- don't worry about spam "followers" - you'll get quite a few
- block people who actively send you spam messages (I get very few of those=
)
- prune those you follow, lists etc over time to keep workload to what you
want to deal with
- "protect" your tweets if you are concerned about privacy (eg. students
seeing what you say) but beware that a. protected tweets don't show up in
searches, lists, hashtag searches etc and b. if people retweet a protected
update what you say does then become public
- be happy to let the stream just pass you by for an hour or two (or even
several days) - you can always look back over tweets from specific
individuals/lists when you next feel you have time
I think Twitter is an environment in which you need to be actively involved
(certainly by watching), although not all day. Some people are just in the
"'verse" for an hour or so early in the evening and their friends know they
are there then. Things of value can be taken on for further reflection and
debate in your own blog or in mailing lists etc. But actively using Twitter
would take quite a number of "have you seen xx" messages off the main
members mailing lists, for which quite a few members would be glad.
In the end, you have to prove your worth to other people on Twitter for the=
m
to actively follow you, but that puts you as a valuable member of a
community, rather than someone to whom others must "listen" like it or not.
If you are confident you have things to say (as Theo suggests) then you
should have no fear that Twitter won't give you a suitable audience.
I am sure others can add to the above with uses and abuses, hints and tips
for Twitter - especially blog posts which add detail or suggested
educational uses.
Take care all, enjoy the New Year celebrations and I trust your "next" year
will be happy and fulfilling
Neil
2009/12/29 Ray Tolley <rjt@maximise-ict.co.uk>
> Thanks Theo, Flattery gets you everywhere! Or were you hinting that I
> should get off the line?
>
>
>
> Yes, I am signed up to Twitter but have not yet really got the hang of it=
=96
> I don=92t even understand if I have to keep Twitter open all day just in =
case
> someone shouts =96 or should I get a pop-up each time? One is advised to
> start by following a few people. But that=92s just the issue, I want to
> follow everybody whatever their interests or bias so that I can get a bet=
ter
> understanding of even those with whom I disagree.
>
>
>
> Secondly, if I were to use Twitter, how do I know that I am targeting the
> people who are really important to me? I know that there are thousands o=
f
> lurkers out there, many of whom may readily press the delete key as soon =
as
> they see my name. But many others, often unknown to me will respond
> off-list, and this I really appreciate.
>
>
>
> But thirdly, my world is not about chat, but about getting a better insig=
ht
> from colleagues. Over the years I have provoked many sometimes heated
> arguments. For instance I refer back to my original question on Virtual
> Learning 2. I value the erudite responses (and the time taken to respond=
)
> by such respected colleagues as Peter.T and Paul.V =96 These responses co=
uld
> hardly be compressed into a Tweet.
>
>
--=20
Neil Adam
Beacon ICT
Twitter: @NeilAdam
www.beaconict.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
122 Beacon Road, Broadstairs, Kent CT10 3DQ
Mobile 07720 288540
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please note: This email and any attachments are intended only for those in
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Hi Ray<br><br>To be honest (as a prolific user!) Twitter isn't to every=
one's taste, or style of working. It isn't for every communication =
either. In essence it is "chat" based and ephemeral, but that doe=
s not mean you cannot move beyond trivia or or look back over past comments=
("tweets") or see what someone you value has said. You don't=
have to be constantly on line (depending how you use it).<br>
<br>What it is good for<br>- quick information, help or response<br>- quick=
debates, cut and thrust in your own community<br>- sharing interesting sni=
ppets, such as links to things you have read<br>- disseminating key thought=
s from conferences etc<br>
- oh, and a bit of social chit-chat too ("keeps" me sane)<br><br>=
What it is not good for<br>- thoughtful, reflective writing (better on blog=
s)<br>- responses (beyond quick reactions) to other people's writing (b=
etter as comments on blog posts or own blog)<br>
- deeper debate (perhaps better on mailing lists) - as you said<br><br>Quic=
k thoughts/tips<br>- Follow people you know<br>- Look at the lists those pe=
ople have made and follow that list. (If individuals on list interesting, f=
ollow them too)<br>
- See who the people you follow are retweeting ("forwarding") or =
commenting on - follow those people too if of interest<br>- Select the peop=
le that will also challenge your position - as you say<br>- Use a client if=
possible (rather than Twitter website) for both desktop and mobile - more =
features are available to control reading. (eg. Tweetdeck for desktop)<br>
- Put people you like to read into lists (or groups on clients). That way y=
ou can scan back over what they have said over last day or so<br>- Search o=
n hashtags (eg. #naace) for conferences, themes etc. Clients like Tweetdeck=
put these in their own column (if you click a hashtag) and then keep updat=
ing that column live (so long as the main Twitter website hasn't fallen=
over)<br>
- "favourite" things for follow up or future reference<br>- don&#=
39;t (in my view) feel duty-bound to follow back everyone who follows you -=
I think it becomes a burden and you'll eventually ignore those you are=
not interested in soon enough anyway<br>
- don't worry about spam "followers" - you'll get quite a=
few<br>- block people who actively send you spam messages (I get very few =
of those)<br>- prune those you follow, lists etc over time to keep workload=
to what you want to deal with<br>
- "protect" your tweets if you are concerned about privacy (eg. s=
tudents seeing what you say) but beware that a. protected tweets don't =
show up in searches, lists, hashtag searches etc and b. if people retweet a=
protected update what you say does then become public<br>
- be happy to let the stream just pass you by for an hour or two (or even s=
everal days) - you can always look back over tweets from specific individua=
ls/lists when you next feel you have time<br><br>I think Twitter is an envi=
ronment in which you need to be actively involved (certainly by watching), =
although not all day. Some people are just in the "'verse" fo=
r an hour or so early in the evening and their friends know they are there =
then. Things of value can be taken on for further reflection and debate in =
your own blog or in mailing lists etc. But actively using Twitter would tak=
e quite a number of "have you seen xx" messages off the main memb=
ers mailing lists, for which quite a few members would be glad.<br>
<br>In the end, you have to prove your worth to other people on Twitter for=
them to actively follow you, but that puts you as a valuable member of a c=
ommunity, rather than someone to whom others must "listen" like i=
t or not. If you are confident you have things to say (as Theo suggests) th=
en you should have no fear that Twitter won't give you a suitable audie=
nce.<br>
<br>I am sure others can add to the above with uses and abuses, hints and t=
ips for Twitter - especially blog posts which add detail or suggested educa=
tional uses.<br><br>Take care all, enjoy the New Year celebrations and I tr=
ust your "next" year will be happy and fulfilling<br>
<br>Neil<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">2009/12/29 Ray Tolley <span dir=
=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:rjt@maximise-ict.co.uk">rjt@maximise-ict.co.=
uk</a>></span><br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"border-left=
: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1e=
x;">
<div link=3D"blue" vlink=3D"purple" lang=3D"EN-GB">
<div>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 1=
25);">Thanks Theo, Flattery gets you everywhere!=A0 Or were you
hinting that I should get off the line?</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 1=
25);">=A0</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 1=
25);">Yes, I am signed up to Twitter but have not yet really got the
hang of it =96 I don=92t even understand if I have to keep Twitter open
all day just in case someone shouts =96 or should I get a pop-up each
time?=A0 One is advised to start by following a few people.=A0 But
that=92s just the issue, I want to follow everybody whatever their
interests or bias so that I can get a better understanding of even those wi=
th
whom I disagree.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 1=
25);">=A0</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 1=
25);">Secondly, if I were to use Twitter, how do I know that I am
targeting the people who are really important to me?=A0 I know that there
are thousands of lurkers out there, many of whom may readily press the dele=
te
key as soon as they see my name.=A0 But many others, often unknown to me
will respond off-list, and this I really appreciate.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 1=
25);">=A0</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 1=
25);">But thirdly, my world is not about chat, but about getting a
better insight from colleagues.=A0 Over the years I have provoked many
sometimes heated arguments.=A0 For instance I refer back to my original
question on Virtual Learning 2.=A0 I value the erudite responses (and the
time taken to respond) by such respected colleagues as Peter.T and Paul.V
=96 These responses could hardly be compressed into a Tweet.</span></p><br =
clear=3D"all"></div></div></blockquote></div><br>-- <br><br>Neil Adam<br>Be=
acon ICT<br>Twitter: @NeilAdam<br><a href=3D"http://www.beaconict.co.uk">ww=
w.beaconict.co.uk</a> <br>
<br>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br>122=
Beacon Road, Broadstairs, Kent CT10 3DQ<br>Mobile 07720 288540<br>~~~~~~~~=
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br><br>Please note=
: =A0This email and any attachments are intended only for those in the addr=
ess list above. If it has come to you by mistake, please let me know, delet=
e the message and any attachments, and please do not forward the material t=
o anyone else.<br>
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