Blogs are to dinner conversation as Twitter is to….
I’ve had some great conversations about the merits of the blogosphere with some folks who are loath to admit the benefits of the web. I’m convinced, as they are not, that blogs are a great, fresh way of uncovering new ideas and are just one of the spokes that can help drive innovation. My RSS reader welcomes me into conversations about connectivism, student engagement, new tech gadgets, personal-learning-environments and so much more. Despite living in a small town in south west New Hampshire I am invited to read, learn, and participate in discussions on any given topic with people who are passionate about their area of interest. It’s like an invitation to a rich dinner conversation without having to crack a cookbook.
Then there is Twitter.
Twitter is a microblogging tool that lets you post brief updates about your everyday thoughts and activities to the web, cell phone, or instant messenger. The messages are limited to 140 characters, so they lean toward pithy, haiku-like utterances. The fringe appeal is now becoming mainstream and is being adopted by both business and education. So what’s being discussed and what’s the appeal of a 140 character post?
I clicked my way over to Twitter and read a litany of *tweets including: “just 8 a gyro for the 1st time - yum”, “Considering moving to Europe”, “Just kicked off the NH bus tour in Hanover. Great crowd!” (this one was from former candidate John Edwards). When read individually the posts can teeter on the banal but the real power comes when you find people of like interests to follow. It’s the social benefits that allow you to network with like minded people. Imagine being able to follow what people like Howard Rheingold are thinking and doing. I was curious so I sifted through some of the lite tweets and found a few gems that captured my interest:
“Any student savvy enough to check my blogs can find out. I’ll use Twitter in class later in the semester/quarter.”
” First time I used Twitter in a class, it sent them into shock. When they need to perform coherently some multitaskers aren’t so adept.”
” Students used projected twitter as parallel channel during class discussion — through this class for a loop. Maybe not others?”
And finally I uncovered the biggest pearl of all :
“syllabus: http://tinyurl.com/yuyrzg“
Rheingold had added a link to his Comm 217: “Digital Journalism” syllabus. Not only was I able to get a glimpse of what his thoughts were as he introduced Twitter to his students but I was able to understand the context in which he was using social networking tools as a means to introduce digital age Journalism.
“…By the end of the course, you should have a clear sense of the various ways journalists have taken up digital media and a sense of how you might use those media yourself. You should also gain a broad understanding of the ways in which recent social and economic developments have changed both the practices of journalists and the nature of the publics with whom they communicate. The role of the journalist in the public sphere is emphasized — journalism is unique among the professions in its responsibility to provide the information and context necessary for free people to govern themselves. You will actively blog, wiki, RSS, tag, Twitter, flickr, create mashups and podcasts….”
Rheingold certainly isn’t the first professor to try Twitter in the classroom. In fact the 1/28/08 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education had an interesting article about David Parry of UT Dallas and his use of Twitter. More revealing however were the number of comments left by enthusiastic adopters and the cynics.
So to complete the metaphor: Blogs are to dinner conversation as Twitter is to a rowdy party: great entertainment, nuggets of thought provoking conversation and lots of comments that have you scratching your head.
Jenny
*(a response to “what are you doing?”; Twitter’s perpetual question)