Who else is thinks Twitter is meaningless?

I learned about Twitter at NYCATE last year. I have been twittering on and off since. I only follow 20 people selectively but even those 20 are tough to keep up with and rarely offer any great new resources. Or offer too many that aren't even usable by real classrom teachers or is way over their heads (quoting a previous recent discussion here in 2.0) I find this forum the best way to truly learn and be engaged.

I am officailly kicking the Twitter Habit today. Who else has Twitter opinions? Anyone want to join my rebellion?

Tags: 2.0, micro-blogging, twitter, web

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Harold Shaw on April 13, 2008 at 1:40pm

I haven't read the other posts, yet. I have been on twitter for about 3 weeks and find it invaluable in getting information on online sessions that I would otherwise miss. I find it an opportunity to talk and discuss things with a small number of other educators from around the world that I would be "in touch" with otherwise. I get to hear differing opinions, links and ideas that I can actually use in my classroom. So even thought there is a bit of "we think" there, I found Twitter useful.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lois Cox on April 13, 2008 at 3:21pm

I have actually gotten a lot from Twitter. Many posts are very meaningless and I try not to post those. But I have gotten may new resources and try to share new ones as I find them. I don't have the time to Twitter very much but am always pleased with results when I do.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mindelei Wuori on April 13, 2008 at 6:30pm

I wish I could remember who tweeted about this blog... I'm new to Twitter and have discovered so many excellent sources. Thanks for putting up the controversial blog, I've found a lot more people to follow this way. For me, I'm mostly a consumer at this point - but I still try to tweet a bit anyhow. As I find interesting things (and have the time) I blog about them and make note of that on twitter too. Feel free to add me: @mindelei You're welcome to check out my blogs as well, I've had only a bit of feedback thus far and am in the learning process after all. http://mindelei.edublogs.org/ or http://mindelei.blogspot.com/.

It's true: twitter may not be the right thing for you. We all have different needs. Although I do vote for trying to follow some of the more prolific tweeters...you may be surprised.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ian Nixon on April 13, 2008 at 6:47pm

I do not use twitter mainly because it does not fit into my current personal professional learning network; however, I think it can be a useful tool for those who decide to keep this tool on their tool belt as a means of communicating. I see this as just a means to a way and for some people it may work, more so than for others, but I would not want to encourage or stifle creativity or creative use.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stu on April 21, 2008 at 12:57pm

Me? Instigate? Never! (-:

It wasn't my true intention, I figured that I would get people fired up. The last thing I will leave this discussion with is this...

Twitter isn't "Useless". It is however cumbersome for most "non-techie" teachers to find useful. And I am an Advocate for the "Non Techie" Teacher.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stu on April 23, 2008 at 3:56pm

http://publishing2.com/2007/12/11/why-i-stopped-using-twitter/

Kinda sums up my thoughts...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Elise Mueller on April 23, 2008 at 8:14pm

Thoughts from a classroom...
(inspired by Jessica Hagy and indexed.blogspot.com)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Colette Cassinelli on April 23, 2008 at 11:11pm

In the vast blogosphere it can be difficult to choose whom to include in your blogroll. I will often subscribe to a new blogger if I see their tweet or if someone mentions it @yourname. I also RSS my twitter feed and briefly scan it when I’ve been away for a long time.

How did I use twitter today? I discovered a new blog, I posted responses on two other blogs, I asked a question and receive 5 responses and I decided to follow someone new. It was a good twitter day.

Follow me: http://twitter.com/ccassinelli

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Elise Mueller on April 28, 2008 at 6:31pm

Tech Crunch reviewed a site that might work for those of us interested in resources but without time to spend sifting through twitter messages. According to Tech Crunch it is "...a service that holds some promise. It aggregates URLs linked in Twitter messages and puts them on the home page based on overall popularity, calculated simply by determining the number of times the URL was in a Twitter message. Like TechMeme, the more people who link to an item the higher it appears. As time goes on, the story deteriorates and drops in the rankings." Haven't tried it yet but it is on my "to do" list.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Wylie on October 5, 2009 at 7:15am

I dont think it is meaningless, but at the same time I dont Twitter, and have no intention of doing so in the future. I just dont think I would have the time to do it. I write a blog, and I know many other bloggers promote their posts via twitter, but for me, it is not worth the effort. Classroom 2.0 is fine for me too!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Cheska Robinson on October 5, 2009 at 10:57pm

I've had a Twitter account for almost a year. At first I too was suspicious. I didn't see the purpose of reading posts about the details of individual lives. It wasn't until learning that my mentor teacher had an account that I realized it could be used as a professional development tool. I decided to experiment and take Twitter more seriously.

Learning how to use Twitter and how to build PLNs is definitely time consuming. I followed 1 or 2 educators at first and lurked for a long time. Mostly read their posts and RT'd. Since then, I have come to follow more educators, admin, tech specialists, etc --people who share my interests or are knowledganle in areas I'd like to know more about-- and the resources I find and the continuous flow of new knowledge has been tremendous. I wouldn't have found these things on my own.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mike O'Hara on October 5, 2009 at 11:35pm

For those of you that haven't given up on twitter (and I hope that is most of you), try reading this book.

The Twitter Book
By Tim O'Reilly and Sarah Milstein

http://www.amazon.com/Twitter-Book-Tim-OReilly/dp/0596802811

It's laid out like a Far Side book. Very accessible for even the most non tech savvy of you out there. It starts at the very basic level and works its way to theoretical uses for Twitter..

The last chapter is more for businesses and how they should use Twitter, but if you try to think of it in school terms, you might come up with some great ideas for your students.

Good luck