I have finally accepted that Twitter can be a useful part of my life. For the past few years I heard people talk about "twitter", "tweets", "hashtags", and "140 characters". Being a relatively introverted person, I never thought this idea would be useful for me. I have been barely a Facebook user, MySpace never caught my attention, so the idea of checking a social networking site that seemed to be filled with mundane and random comments by people seemed a little too unnecessary for me.
I was unaware that Twitter has been in existence since 2006. When I look at the big picture of social media I also notice that Facebook had recently arrived in 2004 and perhaps most importantly the iPhone or smartphone came into existence in 2007. In my opinion, a site like Twitter would have been useless without a tool like a smartphone to allow people to record their thoughts instantly. My own experience with Twitter started with the iPod Touch. Being able to have the internet in my hands and to check Twitter while waiting at a coffee shop became as common as flipping through a magazine while waiting in line at the grocery store. I did not become completely immersed in Twitter until I joined the world of the iPhone, and I soon discovered people to mentor me through the Twitter world such as how to retweet, use hashtags and other features. After listening to the Ted Talk by Evan Williams and reading the 2009 Time article by Steven Johnson, I was most amazed at the truly unique feature of Twitter is how it has been adapted by the users. Steven Johnson writes, "the key development with Twitter is how we've jury-rigged the system to do things that its creators never dreamed of. In short, the most fascinating thing about Twitter is not what it's doing to us. It's what we're doing to it." (2009) The users of Twitter created features that allowed them to search for people, identify people in Tweets, or to post to certain groups by using symbols such as @ or #. The developers of Twitter simply allowed the users to create their own tool which I think is essence of a social networking tool. Twitter also allows programmers to develop different types of software or apps that change how Twitter is accessed on computers, tablets, or smartphones. These open ended features of Twitter are what have made it so powerful in delivering information in the world today. Johnson writes, "the tools you're offered if you visit Twitter.com have changed very little in the past two years. But there's an entire Home Depot of Twitter tools available everywhere else." (2009)
What hooked me on the usefulness of Twitter is realising how it can be useful for me, and this seems to be the trend throughout the world. People may use Twitter to follow news stories as they are happening, tracking the personal life of their favorite movie star, or creating a conversation at a conference. I am still not convinced I need to know what random people are doing at various moments of their day and so I choose carefully who I will "follow" based on whether the person provides quality opinions about topics I am interested in. My favorite use for Twitter has been the ability to access a world of educators and resources about education. I will often spend a few minutes in bed on a Saturday morning just reading through my favorite hashtags such as #edchat and #mathchat. After a short period of time I typically have 5-10 new resources which I will read or investigate throughout the week.
Twitter has also become a useful tool for advertising. The school where I teach adopted the use of Twitter as an advertising tool to inform current and perspective parents about the unique events that happen frequently in the school. This sharing of information was always a challenge in the past as it was typically accomplished through monthly newsletters. Twitter provides a free and extremely easy way for teachers to share this information instantly from anywhere as long as they have a smartphone. One teacher may post images of an art project at school, while another teacher is posting images about a field trip to the science center. The Twitter feed is instantly accessed through the school website, and anyone can learn about the events at school.
As with all social networking, the usefulness of the tool is determined by the user. Twitter is constantly evolving and expanding as more and more people join in the conversation. Twitter provides a perfect tool which is easily accessible and adaptable to however the user wants to incorporate
Johnson, S. (2009, June 5). How Twitter will change the way we live. Time Magazine. Retrieved November 24, 2011, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1902818,00.html
Williams, E. (2009, February). Evan Williams on listening to Twitter users [Video file]. Retrieved November 24, 2011 from
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