Hashtags, Retweets, and 140 Characters: Finding Meaning in Twitter

Nell Eckersley

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Agenda

• What is Twitter? • Basics of Twitter

o Hashtags o Retweetso Shortening Links for Tweets (and other purposes)o How to find people to followo How to get people to follow you

• Advanced Uses of Twittero Tweetdecko Follow Conferences even when you cannot attend

(Paper.Li, TweetChat)o TweetReacho Use with students

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Why Incorporate Social Media?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyZRS0BnpAI&feature=youtu.be

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What is Twitter?

• Short messages called “tweets”--maximum140 characters

• You “follow” people on Twitter (you “friend” people on Facebook)

• You can send and receive tweets from your cell phone, computer, tablet, e-reader etc.

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Twitter & Metacognition

• Metacognitiono The practice of thinking about and reflecting on your

learningo Increases comprehension and retention

• Twitter can be a viable platform for metacognitiono Forces users to be brief and to the point-an important

skill in thinking clearly and communicating effectively o Can provide a simple way for attendees at a

conference to share thoughts about particular sessions and activities with others at the event and those unable to attend.

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https://twitter.com/

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What Can You Say in 140 Characters?

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Retweeting

• RT @Username

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Tagging

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HashTags

#EdTech #AdultEd

#TwEd

#EdChat #TechPD #SoMeEd

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Our Hashtag

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Anatomy of a Good Tweet

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Shortened URLS

• http://ipadeducators.ning.com/profiles/blogs/preparing-your-school-for-an (73 characters)

• Bit.ly/3FjhpX (13 characters)

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Shortening Links

You can use https://bitly.com/ to shorten URL’s without creating an account

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Customizing Your Shortened URL

But if you create an account on BitLy.com, you can customize your shortened URLS

Go from http://bit.ly/vJrH91 to http://bit.ly/wiggiotips

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Analytics

With an account you can also track how many times the URL you created has been clicked.

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QR Code

And with or without an account you can make any of the shortened URLS into a QR Code by adding .qr at the end

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Following People

• Not required to follow everyone who follows you

• You can un-follow someone very easily and they won’t know

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Finding People to Follow

• Twitter Directories like http://WeFollow.com

• Search hashtags and words #AdultEd

• See who follows people you follow• http://Twibes.com • http://Listorious.com • http://Archivist.visitmix.com

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Search Twitter

• Search on http://Twitter.com for people, keywords or hashtags

• Search on http://Search.Twitter.com for keywords or hashtags even if you don’t have a Twitter account

• Track hashtags and tweet from http://tweetchat.com/

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Sending and Receiving Tweets

• Twitter.com• SMS Texts via your cell phone• Applications on computers & smart

phoneso Tweetdecko HootSuiteo Seesmic

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http://www.tweetdeck.com/

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Advanced uses of Twitter

• Follow Conferences (even when you cannot attend in person) o TweetChato Paper.Li

• Lists, interactions• HootCourse• TweetChat• Other fun tools

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http://tweetchat.com/

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COABE 2012 Paper.Li

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Twitter Backchannel

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Lists

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Interactions

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Hootcourse

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Twitter Chats• How do we

keep up with important education Twitter discussions?

• #EdChat Wiki

• #AEChat

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http://twtpoll.com/aechat

When should we have our AEChat?

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http://twtpoll.com

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http://archivist.visitmix.com

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Twitter Town Hall at COABE12

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http://tweetreach.com

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http://HistoricalTweets.com

• http://historicaltweets.com/2008/12/04/lincoln-asks-twitter-followers-for-speechwriting-help/

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http://packrati.us/

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http://wiffiti.com

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http://twitpic.com

#NYACCE12 40https://support.twitter.com/articles/64986-how-to-report-spam-on-twitter#

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What to Do Right Now?

• Create a Twitter account on twitter.com

• Follow three peopleo @LACNYCnell or @NYACCEo Search for people using #AdultEdo Search for your favorite hobby, writer,

singer, actor

• Retweet one tweet and create one of your own tweets. Remember to use hashtags

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What to Do in the Next Few Weeks

• Spend 15 minutes on Twitter every morningo reading o retweetingo following new people

• Try TweetDeck or receiving tweets as sms text messages

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Nell Eckersley• @LACNYCNell• NellE@LACNYC.org• http://www.scoop.it/t/twitter-in-adult-educ

ation• http://lincs.ed.gov/mailman/listinfo/technolog

y