Never used Twitter? Here's How!

If you have never used Twitter before, it can be very useful!  Twitter is great for:

• following events as they are happening.  People on the scene will tweet out photos, text, and video as things happen.  This makes Twitter a great social media resource for following current events as they unfold, weather, and sports!
  
• Twitter has really established itself as the 'Professional' social media platform.  You can build your PLN (Professional Learning Network) by following people or searching hashtags (#) whose topic is education.
  
• If you remember that Twitter is about the here and now,  posts older than a few minutes or hours are no longer relevant!  This can help you mentally deal with the sheer volume of information.

Getting Started:

Navigate to https://twitter.com/ and create an account.  Click here for step by step directions.

Finding content you want to receive:

Twitter will send you tweets about topics you are interested in.  You can set this up in two ways: 

• Search Twitter by topic - you will see anyone's post that references the topic
• Follow people that post about topics that interest you.

Searching by Topic:

As you first begin using Twitter, you probably want to find topics you are interested in.  Twitter uses the #(hashtag) to denote a topic.  Topics aren't set and any #text can be added to a tweet.  However,  there are some highly used #hashtags (topics) that allow you to see all tweets that have referenced that hashtag.  You search hashtags in the search bar at the top right of your Twitter page.

Some examples of hashtags to search:

#CCHSmeteo - Theresa Ruggierio's Meteorology class
#edtech - Using Technology in the Classroom
Cybraryman list of Education related Hashtags

Click here to learn how to save a search on Twitter.

As you search topics and read tweets, you will soon discover people whose tweets you find interesting.

Finding people to follow:

Directions to find people to follow.

Twitter uses the @sign to designate people.  For example, if you would like to find Theresa Ruggiero (who uses Twitter with her students), you can search for her and follow her at @RuggCCHSmeteo.

Start with a few people whose tweets you have liked in your topic search.  Or, choose someone who has been recommended to you, or who you are familiar with outside of Twitter.  Their tweets and retweets may lead you to discover others whom you will also like.

A few local people you may want to follow:

Twitter - Mike Mastrullo @MJM_CCHS

Twitter - Brian Miller @CCHSAPMiller

Twitter - Leslie Knight @LPK_CCHS

Twitter - Laurie Hunter @cps_cchs

Of course, many people choose to use Twitter primarily from their phone.  You can decide if you would like the tweets

to notify you when they post. 

Twitter Chats:

#edtechchat

Many of the #hashtags shown in the Cybraryman list have a routine time when they hold Twitter sessions.  For example, #edtechchat is held on Tuesday evening from 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.  During this time, many people are tweeting about the topic.  Personally, I am not a fan of asynchronous conversation, and there is a lot of activity which I find overwhelming.  But, I am not everyone, so if you find a topic you really like, you can find out what time the chat is held.

Tweeting:

Once you have some experience with Twitter, share your thoughts and work!  Use the #hashtag topics to Tweet, and use the @person references to 'shout out' someone else's work/thoughts you find interesting or compelling.  Note that a Tweet is limited to 280 characters (recently raised from 140!).  When including hyperlinks in your tweets, you will likely want to use either bit.ly or goo.gl to shorten your URL's to a much more compact character size!

Use with Students:

If your course topic has some piece that involves timely information (a current event, weather, a professional conference or program that is meeting now), consider using Twitter with your students!  This provides them an opportunity to engage in real-world conversation and ask questions of experts.  In today's social media society, many journalists and professionals' performance is measured in part by the number of tweets, retweets, or clicks they receive.  They may be more willing than you think to engage with your students!