I have only recently discovered Twitter as a tool for developing my Professional Learning Community (PLC) and my only regret is that I didn’t discover it sooner!
Once I began thinking of Twitter as a tool to help me grow professionally and not just as a social networking “toy”, a new world opened to me and it was exciting! I felt like an explorer making a new discovery. As a Twewbie, I started following others in the educational technology field, including the ed. tech. Twitterati, and immediately started reaping the benefits. I love reading about what others in my field are doing in their schools so that I can learn new things and be a better resource to my staff and students. Though many I follow do Tweet items of a personal nature, much of what I read is professional in nature. I learn of new resources and read different opinions. My horizons have been expanded! Tweets often have links to websites and blogs of others in my field and so I kept finding more people to follow. My list of those I was following was growing.
Then it happened…. someone followed me! I didn’t know what to think! Why me? Who would want to follow me? Then it hit me… I had been a lurker… I was not contributing to the Twitosphere. Having always been a firm believer in sharing, I decided to get over my shyness (and shock) and become a contributor. I thought of something I had recently learned and wanted to share, and then composed my first Tweet within the 140 character limit. (That can be a challenge and sometimes you have to get inventive with your wording and spelling!) Before pressing the ‘Update” button I carefully proofread because I don’t want to Mistweet! Now, when I find a new cool tool, I automatically think of sharing it with the Twitterverse. For me, my tweets will probably always be professional in nature since that is the purpose of my Twitter account.
One downside for me is that Twitter is blocked in our school system, so I have to wait to check Twitter when I get home in the evening. That means I end up going back about 24 hours in time and scanning a jillion Tweets making sure I haven’t missed anything. Also, I now have to learn to deal with Twittcrastination because I don’t want to do anything else until I get caught up! What’s a Tweeter Girl to do?
(Oh… I’m mnrizzo on Twitter)
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Twitter Jargon
- Mistweet: A tweet which one later regrets.
- Twewbie: Someone new to Twitter.
- Tweeple: People who use Twitter.
- Tweet: A post on Twitter.
- Twictory: To solve a problem using twitter
- Twinsight: A new insight realized via Twitter. Also: an incident in which two people post the exact same.
- Twip: A tip about using twitter (Or a tip given on twitter)
- Twittcrastination: Procrastination which is facilitated by the use of Twitter.
- Twitterati: The glamorous A-List Twitterers everyone wants to follow.
- Twittersation: A conversation conducted on Twitter.
- Twitterspeak: Using language found only in Tweets, words not typically used in normal conversation
- Twitterverse: The body of Twitter users or community, similar to “blogosphere
- Twittiquette: Twitter + Etiquette: The relatively unwritten rules of conduct while on Twitter.
- Twitosphere: The total community of Twitterers.
- Twitty: witty
- Twollower: Twitter + follower: someone that follows you. If you followed them too they would be twiends.
- Twoosh: A full 140 character Twitter.
Twitter Resource: 30 Essential Twitter Tutorials for Newbies and Experts
