Twitter is what is called a micro blog. A micro blog consists of short 140 character updates. Micro blog may not be a very successful name, because the exchange of information on Twitter is more reminiscent of chatting and instant messaging than actual blogging. Twitter is the most popular of the micro blogs, but Qaiku and Yammer among others are very similar.
On Twitter, you first have to register to use the service, open an account and start sending messages. Some tweeters clearly have their favourite subjects – e.g. news, learning, social media – which they comment or share links to. Others use Twitter as a discussion board, where they exchange thoughts on everyday topics. Communities are often happy to stick to discussing only their own activities, but this kind of one-way communication is frowned upon in the Twitter community.
It’s All About Whom You Follow and Who Follows You
A Twitter page is public, but your messages will primarily be read by the people who follow you: that is, those who have clicked the Follow-button under your profile. Similarly, your own page (after the registration) will show messages from those people you’ve decided to follow. I personally have a couple of accounts: the Rsuominen username is mostly for following experts in online teaching and communication. The people I follow here are primarily from outside Finland, so the language I use on this page is English. My firm, Yksityinen kielitoimisto, has another username – Kielipoliisi– which only follows Finns, and I only use Finnish to discuss issues concerning that language and communication. If you own more than one account on Twitter, it’s handy to follow them by using theTweetDeck or HootSuite utility programs.
It’s easy to learn how to use Twitter by trying the service yourself or by watching a video. There’s a message box at the top of the page, where you can write messages the same way as on Facebook. The message can be your own, or you can retweet somebody else’s message: click the Retweet link or copy the message and write RT (=retweet) next to the username of the original sender, for example RT@Rsuominen.
You can give your message keywords in accordance with your topic by writing them as hashtags – for example, #online learning, or #schools. Both the hashtags and nicknames will automatically become links and if you click on them you will find all the messages marked with the same word. The hashtags make the messages look awkward, but they help you follow the messaging concerning some particular topic or conference. Twitter is also good for communicating information quickly and networking.
By following the stream of messages, you will quickly find the interesting experts and will be able to comment on their thoughts. It’s a lot of fun to get an answer from a respected guru from across the world. However, the messaging doesn’t have to be global – the service works just as well in the internal conversation of a course and its teaching. The messages concerning your own course or community (for example #lrnchat) are easy to find with the help of the hashtags.