Twitter is a blogging platform, but simpler. It's similar to a Facebook status update, except you're only allowed to post entries that are 140 characters long. This is because Twitter was designed to work via cellphone text messaging. You can update Twitter from your phone as well as "follow" people on Twitter (and they can follow you back). Updates come to your phone (or online) instantly. You get real-time updates from peers and others you are interested in knowing what they are doing.
To create and sustain further conversation about technical communication, you are required to maintain active presence on Twitter. 5 tweets per week are also required, but there is freedom regarding content. I encourage you to post original thoughts, "retweet" classmates' updates, @ (reply to) classmates' updates and share relevant links. Posts unrelated to course content are okay, but will not count toward the post requirement. I am very active on Twitter, so I encourage all students to check my profile (and those I follow) for models of engagement.
So, why are we doing this? Perhaps Twitter can help us learn better clarity and concision. Furthermore, employers in a variety of fields and industries are interested in hiring employees who are social media savvy. Knowing how to use Twitter could very well help you get a job someday. I'm also curious, though, to see how/if using Twitter changes the culture or society of the class in any appreciable way.
The Assignment
[amended from Brian Croxall]
- If you haven't yet joined Twitter, join Twitter.
- Create a profile. In your username or bio (or both), use your real name (e.g., my username is "betajames," but have my real name in the bio section).
- Make your profile public. If you already have a Twitter account that is private and would prefer to keep it that way, create a new account for this class. (If your profile is private, classmates cannot search for you and your course-related tweets won't appear in the archive I've set up.)
- Find and follow all members of our class (students and professor). (I'll try to make this easier by sharing a full list of Twitter users once compiled.)
- [optional] Search for and follow some other interesting people, such as barackobama, kanyewest, and/or rainnwilson (Dwight Schrute from The Office). Consider following different services that provide updates, too, like CNN or The Nethernet.
- Post at least five times a week from January 11 to February 8.
- When posting about our class, please use the hashtag #345tw. This will allow us to better track one another's tweets.
- Consider connecting your cellphone to Twitter to get real-time, SMS updates or to post on the go. Having phone updates is not required for this assignment, but it could be helpful. Regular text messaging fees do apply, though. (I manage just fine without SMS updates, but I'm on the Internet 6-8 hours almost every day.)
- Please get into the habit of checking Twitter at least once a day. (Don't worry about keeping up, though. Just see what's happening when you check in. Think of Twitter as a river of information. Dive in and you might get swept away; stick in a toe, or even a whole foot, and you should be fine.)
- At the end of this assignment, you will post an evaluation of Twitter (and how we used it) to your Posterous blog. Your evaluation is due Monday, February 7 by 11:59pm.
As a class, we will decide whether or not to keep using Twitter for the rest of the semester. This assignment and the subsequent evaluation will be assessed on the same basis as everything else written in this class, i.e., if you make an honest effort to play along, you will be in accordance with the grading contract.
Other interesting ways to use Twitter.
- There are a number of desktop applications for using Twitter, including Tweetdeck and Twhirl. They are both cross-platform and free. Installing either will require you to also install Adobe's AIR platform. It's lightweight and free.
- You can sync your Twitter updates to your Facebook status. Just install the Twitter application on Facebook.
- Use your cellphone camera in conjunction with Twitpic, yfrog, or other such services.
- Check out the autopost feature on Posterous. Any time you update your blog, Posterous will send an update to Twitter, too!