Category | Arts & Living

Twitter: Networking site and learning tool

Published on January 26, 2010 by Tori Wester

Ever get tired of people asking what you are doing? What a pain it is to figure out when your favorite band is playing in Atlanta. Don’t you just hate finding out you missed a special at your favorite restaurant? If only you had a Web site with extra study material. If this sounds like you, then maybe you should have turned to Twitter.

Twitter is a micro-blogging Web site used by millions of people and businesses to communicate on the fly. Tiny updates called “tweets” are sent out in 140 characters at a time.

Twitter also serves to streamline the user’s favorite topics. You can search for a keyword and, depending on your search results, find someone new to “follow” with similar activities or occupation.

With a Twitter account, you can subscribe to other tweeters’ timelines (history of tweets), choosing only the most entertaining or most relevant tweeters to your interests. You can also send your twitter updates to a personal Web site or to your Facebook status.

Twitter can be a bit confusing to work with at first, because you may see the symbols @ and # quite often, so make sure you know what they represent before you start tweeting. The @ is the signal that precedes a username; the # precedes a trending topic, which is a topic or keyword seen on Twitter frequently.

The instant connection, professional or personal, with anyone you choose is one of the most prominent advantages Twitter has to offer. Stephen Rahn, the interim director of the Foreign Language Research Center  (FLRC) uses Twitter as a means to complement his job. His position at KSU involves staying current with technological advances that satisfy the Foreign Language Lab’s needs.

Rahn (@StephenKSU) is also working to get his doctoral degree in instructional technology. “Tweeting has become my method of establishing a PLN, or personal learning network,” Rahn said. He typically follows people involved in education and/or technology and carries on conversations with them via tweets: exchanging expertise, helpful tools and the occasional witticism. Rahn views Twitter as a global network in which to share resources with others: “Twitter can be exactly what you make of it,” he said.

Freshman Tyler Bishop, former chairman of the Georgia Association of Teen Republicans, manipulates Twitter to suit his needs. Bishop (@tylerpbishop) uses Twitter to follow what’s going on in the political world.

With many politicians, special interest groups and news sources that use the Web site, Twitter is the perfect place for Bishop to turn when he wants to know what is happening politically.

When asked who his favorite tweeter is, Bishop answered, “John Mayer [@johncmayer]. He always has something hilarious to say.”

The question remains as to which networking Web site is better: Twitter or Facebook?  Rahn said the two Web sites have “two very distinct purposes. Facebook is for personal use: friends, family, and colleagues I know on a personal level. Twitter is more geared towards your profession. For example, I’d use Twitter with students for resources and learning materials, but I would not be friends with a student on Facebook.” Bishop enjoys both Twitter and Facebook, but he dislikes “when people link their Twitter to their Facebook so you end up reading everything twice.”

Twitter can be used professionally as well as on a personal level. There are also some great resources for KSU students waiting in the Twitter-sphere. #followfriday (another popular trending topic used to gain followers) covers many offices and activities at KSU: Culinary Services, Owl Radio, registrar, admissions, athletics, Holocaust Museum, Coles College of Business, the Bailey Center, College of the Arts, Greek Life, KAB, SGA and “The Sentinel.” Other #followfriday tweeters from around the Kennesaw community include US Play, Taco Mac, Mellow Mushroom, City of Kennesaw Police, Tilted Kilt, Rafferty’s and The Villas Apartments.