Why I Use Twitter

Twitter is the most important and popular trend on the internet right now. It is such a simple service that many people are skeptical of its usefulness. On the other hand, millions of people worldwide are finding new uses for Twitter everyday. I was once a skeptic, but I have found a use for twitter and would like to share it with you.

In a nutshell, Twitter is a service for broadcasting a message of 140 characters or less. This message can include text, emoticons, links, and Twitter commands. If you use Facebook or LinkedIn, then you have already been introduced to this concept. Twitter is similar to a status update on other social network websites. You can use Twitter as an alternative status update; I use an application that automatically transfers my Twitter status to my Facebook profile.

If you just yawned, give me a second. That is not the end of twitter, that is the beginning. The fact is, few people in the Twitter world care what your status is. What they want from you is useful information in 140 characters or less. Do you have something to say? Do you have an agenda? We want to hear it. We have chosen to follow you, now preach away.

What would you say? If you believe in a certain ideal or brand, you can send out brief messages about your cause. You can send out links to news and blog articles that you think should be read. You can send links to pictures that support your cause. This is your shot to write headlines, reach out, and be heard globally. Better yet, your message is broadcast in real-time at the speed of light. People will be reading your message as soon as you are done typing it.

Going Viral Have you heard the term "going viral" as it relates to the internet? Think of it this way: You have just discovered a fascinating piece of information that you know is of interest to many people. There are many ways to transmit this information, and Twitter may become the media of choice in the near future. All you have to do is capsulize your message in 140 characters and hit enter. Everyone following you will instantly receive the message. Some of them will like the message so much that they will "retweet" the message to their followers. Some of those followers will "retweet". The "Six Degrees of Separation" applies here: if the message is interesting, it will spread like wildfire.

Search My next post will drill deeper into how I use Twitter, but I want to mention here that Twitter is an important tool to add to your research toolbox. Searching Twitter will add an important new dimension to your research: The dimension of real-time. If you need timely information, I doubt you can beat Twitter for finding video, blogs, and news articles since they are sent out over Twitter immediately after they're posted. Additionally, the culture of Twitter ensures that you will find obscure and unique resources that a search in Lexis-Nexis or ABI Inform/Global would never turn up, and would be buried too deep in Google.

Look for my next post, where I explain exactly how I use Twitter.

I Found a Use for Twitter

Over the last year, I have been seeing references to something called "Twitter" in discussions related to technology, internet trends, and other "geek topics" which I follow. Suddenly, I started hearing Twitter dropped in non-geek conversations. Twitter began making its way into the news, and onto the Blackberries of some unlikely people. (Lance Armstrong, Barack Obama, George Stephanopolis, etc)

I kept my distance at first and only glanceowd at Twitter references occasionally. I just didn't see any use for Twitter in my life, and I thought it was a lame fad. I expected it to burn itself out quickly, and I could get back to FaceBook and LinkedIn.

I can now see that Twitter is not going to burn itself out; it is snowballing itself into a YouTube-like freight train. Some of the most popular and intelligent people are using Twitter regularly. Innovative developers are building new applications for Twitter everyday. A group of venture capitalists recently threw $35 million at Twitter, even though it still lacks a profitable business plan. Read that again: $35 million invested in a service that currently is unable to make money.

Several weeks ago, I finally dangled a toe in Twitter. It still seemed like a blackhole, but I kept at it. I was looking for the hook, and the hook found me: Twitter is what you make it. The service is so simple and easy that if you just look for a way to make it useful, you will create the usefulness.

A religious figure once said, "Knock and the door shall be opened, seek and ye shall find." If you play with Twitter long enough, you will create the door that you want to knock on. You will answer your own prayers. Twitter has so many potential applications that you are guaranteed to find a use for it.

In my next post, I will explain how I use it. For now, just realize that for whatever question you may ask, Twitter is the answer. Twitter will eventually be a network service that we take for granted like GoogleMaps or YouTube. It will not, however, go away for lack of usefulness.

A Brave, New World

I just got an email from the President of the United States. The most powerful man on the planet sent me an email to announce a new initiative, broaden my understanding, and encourage my commitment. It's not the first time he has contacted me. We're connected on LinkedIn, he emailed me throughout the campaign, and continues to send occasional emails about what he is doing. His wife and his staff have sent a few emails too. He even sent me a text message to reveal his choice of running mate, prior to making a public announcement.

I try not to get a big head about it. I mean, I know I am not the only American who receives emails from the President, and we still have not met face-to-face. But he does solicit my feedback. I think he is truly interested in my opinion, approval, and support.

Yeah, Obama has no idea who I am, I know. In fact, it would make me nervous if he did know who I was. What I am excited about is the fact that the President of the United States has embraced social media. He has provided an avenue for dialogue that is unprecedented. Government will never be the same, and neither will the governed.

Love him or not, Obama is giving you access. You can still link to him on Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn. He still carries a Blackberry. Obama is leveraging the cutting edge of the internet, and finding new uses everyday.

Love him or hate him, you should pay attention to Obama's use of social media. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. What will be our reaction over time as Obama's administration finds new ways to communicate with us? This is even more important for the candidates in the future, for every office.

The president elected in 2012 may find that their real cost is in time spent online, rather than in dollars spent on TV and Radio commercials. In fact, the future candidates may need to demonstrate more savvy in social media than they do in fundraising. Campaign costs that cost less may dampen the voice of the interest groups who pay the most. A whole new paradigm of power may emerge.

The email I received today is for Recovery.gov which is a website dedicated to providing transparency and accountability with the money that congress approved for economic recovery. The intent is that any citizen may go to this website and be assured that our money is being invested in our future. Part of economic recovery is our own psychological perception. With Recovery.gov, we may have a quicker recovery due to the confidence of the American people.

Will this become the norm? Will we eventually take for granted having a government which communicates directly and immediately? Will we learn to demand the accountability and transparency that Recovery.gov is introducing? Will this change how our congress spends money?

Are you reaching, or just teaching?

Are you reaching your students, or just teaching them? That begs the question: can you teach your students without reaching them? I mean, if you are simply lecturing, assigning homework, and handing out letter grades without analyzing your methods and strategically reaching your students, do they actually learn?

You are a teacher, even if that is not in your job description. For instance, I am the most important teacher my kids have (along with my beautiful and intelligent wife.) Therefore, I need to be cognizant of that as a parent and try to reach my kids in ways that are relevant to them in order to achieve the educational objectives that are important to me. I can talk all day long and say many wise and valuable things, but if if my kids are not listening, then all I have done is made noise and wasted oxygen. I have to think about how I can reach them.

I am a teacher at work, as well. My customers are often my students when I try to sell them a new product/service or if I try to increase they satisfaction with something they already have. I also am a teacher to my coworkers and managers who look to me for information or process improvement. Am I effective? That all depends on my delivery. How can I improve my delivery? That is a question that I must consistently ask.

What got me thinking about all of this is a video that my professor shared in his class. It is geared toward traditional classroom teachers, but it is relevant and applicable to so many different roles, especially parents. It basically describes how students in school today have a completely different paradigm on how they view the world and gather information, and traditional methods are barely reaching (barely teaching) them. It them describes how we can improve our teaching methods to really reach, and teach, our students in profound ways through unorthodox methods. It is definitely worth the next few minutes of your life:

The link at the end is worth visiting to: http://t4.jordandistrict.org/t4/