Twitter

=Intro to Twitter: A microblogging and communication tool.=

Twitter, means many things to many different people. Some often think of it as a narcissistic tool where people blab mundane details of their daily lives or follow mainly the lives of celebrities. Twitter does not have to be used this way and is not by many of its biggest users. People use it to have both synchronous and asynchronous discussions, to share interesting or useful resources, to post questions, to contact and build relationships with professional peers around the country or world, and to follow experts in their field. And, these are only some of the ways it can be used.



Sign up for a [|Twitter account] if you haven't, and follow Tony Vincent's excellent introduction at his blog on Twitter: [|10 Things Teachers Should Know to Get Started with Twitter] Another good article is: []

As Tony mentions, it may be difficult to get your first 20 or so fellow Twitters, but you need to start following others to really get the PLN benefit of Twitter. Besides adding any friends or others you know personally on Twitter, couple key places Tony also mentions are: [|Twitter4Teachers] - A subject/grade level listing of teachers to follow on Twitter and also has a page of those willing to mentor. [|Directory of Learning Professionals (& Others) on Twitter]: A google doc listing over a hundred educators on Twitter. [|WeFollow]: Allows you to search for Twitters by keyword so you can find others besides educators.

Other Resources for learning Twitter
Twitter for Beginners by Mashable: Nice quick, clear breakdown on Twitter and desktop apps. [|Twitter Guide] also by Mashable: Extensive guide but nicely broken down to help learn just about every detail of Twitter--has a downloadable pdf version as well plus links to video tutorials (of various quality however).

Howard Rheingold, one of the experts on social media, has a tutorial with assignments and links to more detailed resources for starting to use Twitter: [|Wiki: Introduction to Twitter/Microblogging]

Tools for Twitter:
To make Twitter easier to use and monitor, several excellent tools have been developed, both for smartphones and for desktop/laptop computers.

Computer Tools:

 * [|Seesmic Desktop]: besides having a nice desktop app that integrates well with Facebook, they all have a nice [|web interface] so you can keep the same experience on any computer
 * [|Tweetdeck]: another nice desktop app and this one has an iphone counterpart to sync with.
 * Others

Phone Tools:

 * [|Twitterrific] for iPhone (free and paid versions) - also has a mac only desktop app
 * [|Tweetie] for iPhone - also has a mac desktop app
 * [|Ubertwitter] for Blackberry
 * [|Tweetdeck]
 * Others