Why Tweet? Handout
- 1. key terms tweet • An individual message is called a tweet. • Can be used as a verb: “I tweeted about the stimulus package this morning.” Alternative is “twittering.” • Alternatives include “post,” “message” and “update.” follower or following • Follow other people and companies to receive their tweets as they post. • Conversely, people get your messages by following you. @username (at reply) • Send public messages to people by beginning with @username. • If the user is following your account, your message will appear directly on his Twitter home page. (If not, your message will appear in his @username mentions folder.) Sample: @WUSTLlibraries Thanks for the great twitter class! RT @username (retweet) • Retweeting (RT) is reposting people’s tweets and giving them credit. • To retweet, begin with RT and @reply to the tweet’s source. • Retweeting is common and a form of conversation on Twitter. • Used to spread messages and ideas across Twitter quickly. Sample: RT @WUSTLNSS Campus Electric Outage http://nss.wustl.edu/node/314 1 hy Tweet? Learn How Twitter Can Help YOU! | ©2010 Washington University Libraries W
- 2. d username (direct message or DM) • Direct messages (DMs) are private – only the sender and receiver can see them. • DMs are on your home page under the Direct Messages tab • Can only DM people who are following you. Conversely, you can receive them only from people you’re following. • Send Direct Messages by using the pull‐down menu to choose a recipient and then typing in your note. • Send a DM by starting your message with “d username” Tip: If you’re communicating about Sample: d WUSTLlibraries I’d like to schedule a meeting in the something potentially sensitive, switch Café next Tue at 10am to DM or email. Remember, @mentions are public, so anyone can see them. #tag (hash tag) • Hashtags are the way to group and organize tweets from multiple people. • Searches for a hashtag result in all of the related messages. • Hashtags are the # symbol followed by a term describing or naming the topic. • If enough people use the same hashtag at once, the term will appear in Twitter’s Trending Topics. • Conferences and events frequently have hashtags associated with them (like #TED). Sample: Are you reading Zahra's Paradise? You should be. http://www.zahrasparadise.com/ #iranelection Shortened urls • URLs use up many of the 140 allowed characters • Links posted on Twitter via the website are automatically shortened. • Many services take regular links and shrink them down to a manageable length and even let you track clicks. Samples: bit.ly, tinyurl.com, ow.ly, tr.im, su.pr 2 hy Tweet? Learn How Twitter Can Help YOU! | ©2010 Washington University Libraries W
- 3. Lists • Twitter Lists are created and maintained by Twitter users. • You can create your own or follow lists created by others. • It can be overwhelming to follow everyone in one timeline. • A way to organize feeds you want to follow: o follow people without adding them to your home page o follow topics instead of individuals • When looking at a user’s profile, click on the Lists icon to add them to a list. • Listorious is a directory of Twitter lists. Trending topics • The most‐mentioned terms on Twitter at that moment. • Continuously update, reflecting the real‐time nature of Twitter and true shifts in people’s attention. • Trending Topics aggregate many tweets at once and often break news ahead of the mainstream media. • Trends often include hashtags. • Can view what is trending worldwide or in various countries or cities. Searching • Search for people using the Find People Link. • Search for topics from your home page. • No advanced search features ‐ all search is done via #tag or keyword. It’s not very sophisticated but it can get the job done. • Google does some twitter searching but it is very new, methods and quality are uncertain. Sources “The Simple Twitter Book | Brent Ozar ‐ Too Much Information,” http://www.brentozar.com/twitter/book/. “Twitter 101 — Learning the lingo,” http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning. 3 hy Tweet? Learn How Twitter Can Help YOU! | ©2010 Washington University Libraries W
- 4. Key Uses Twitter for Current Awareness • Twitter is a primary source document • #Iranelection • Trending Topics • Searching Microblogging • Examples: @mcleod, @kinggary • Why microblog? • How to become a tweeter of note • Scott McLeod, Associate Professor at Iowa State University, focuses on educational technology for administrators • Gary King, Harvard Professor, social scientist and statistician • List of other academic tweeters: http://www.twitter.com/andrewcallahan/academics Teaching with Twitter • Twitter Etiquette o Privacy ‐ Make sure that if someone contacts you in private that you respond in kind (via DM) o Query ‐ Post questions on a regular basis to start a discussion that may not only continue on twitter but also be incorporated into class or subsection discussions. o Frequency ‐ Tweeting regularly is important but you also don’t want to tweet too much. Questions and links are staples of many of the most interesting twitter accounts. o Be prepared to be kind and to have unkind things said about you Teaching with Twitter • Create multiple accounts • Creating a community o Create a hashtag for your class (#WUSTLANTH4243) o Continue classroom chatter o Create multiple accounts 4 hy Tweet? Learn How Twitter Can Help YOU! | ©2010 Washington University Libraries W
- 5. If using twitter in the classroom you will likely want to have different twitter accounts for your different classes Don’t use twitter website to monitor multiple accounts, use Co‐Tweet, TweetDeck or other client • Scholarly Community o Follow others in your field. Then follow libraries, conferences, publishers, news sources. o To get the community going ask questions, start discussions, and use #tags. Hashtags will let people stumble upon your conversations. o At conferences, have tweetups, which are meet ups of twitter users. Teaching with Twitter • Assignment Ideas o Summarize – an article in 140 characters or tweet a thesis statement. o Word usage ‐ use the search feature to have students follow the usage of a word throughout the day. o Public Timeline and Trending Topics ‐ What is the world talking about? Also, look at how people, who may not know each other in daily life, interact with each other in the Twitterverse. o Follow a Professional ‐ Have your students follow one of interest and report what was learned. o Recreate history ‐ Students assume roles and then tweet based upon primary source documents. An interesting and fun way to look at historical events. See http://twhistory.org/ Questions? Comments? http://libguides.wustl.edu/twitter http://twitter.com/wustllibraries http://twitter.com/jaleh_f http://twitter.com/b_marston 5 hy Tweet? Learn How Twitter Can Help YOU! | ©2010 Washington University Libraries W