In this day and age where nearly everyone is hooked on Facebook, one can't help but wonder what the benefit of having another social networking account which is ostensibly made up of a collection of status updates. I suppose the purpose is determined by what the "tweeter" is "tweeting"; at this point it can range from the mundane "so and so is walking to class" to an effective news or communication tool. I believe that the fear of the former is responsible for the common hate on Twitter. Maybe by the end of this class we will all be converted "Twitter-teachers".
I personally have had twitter for a year or so, but I mainly used it to follow things that were happening in Victoria, politicians, and a few friends who are hooked. I guess the term "lurker" applies, though that just makes me feel creepy! I never tweeted because I figure if I'm doing something so important that my friends NEED to know, I'll just update my facebook status (or, heaven forbid, call them!). I guess in the end I'm open to the idea of Twitter, I just never had a real purpose to use it until now.
As far as using Twitter in the classroom goes (presumably for students who can't make it to class), I feel like it might become more of a nuisance or distraction than a useful tool; however, I am open to having my mind changed. Who knew that email would become the old fashioned way of communicating so soon!
I really like the image you found for this post! Very cute. (On an aside, I wonder what happened to the fail whale from Twitter? He was pretty popular for a while and has kind of just, disappeared).
ReplyDeleteI laughed a little when you wrote that we all might be turned into "Twitter Teachers". In my cross curricular methods course our professor played this clip for us. I think you'll like it.
http://www.cbc.ca/thisisthat/blog/2010/07/13/teacher-educates-only-using-twitter/
That's funny! Scary to think that could soon be a reality, no? :)
ReplyDeleteI hear that this is that on the radio. Drove me a bit nuts when I heard it.
ReplyDeleteAlso really like the cartoon. Like your cautious open mind on the issue. I think social media has its place, but perhaps not Twitter in a highschool...and perhaps not during class time.
I definitely think that Twitter is useful for some people, but maybe just not myself. I also find myself to be "creepy" or a "lurker" when I am reading the tweets by my fellow twitterbirds (can I call us that?) Just like you said, I think Twitter is great for getting news out there, or sharing information, but when it comes to personal statements, I think I'll leave that for to status updates on Facebook.
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