The power of Twitter is that it allows you direct access to primary sources, ideas, suggestions, and responses. You can search for users or content in the twitterverse.
Users: Users are identified on Twitter by the @ and their account name (I'm @bjlangston). To find a user, click on @connect on twitter.com (if you have a twitter account) and you can search for a user's name or you can browse categories. If you find someone whose tweets interest you, you can click to Follow that user. By "following" a user, you will see all of his/her tweets appear on your home page. Unlike other social media sites, you can follow a user even if he/she doesn't follow you. If you create a twitter account, you can choose to let anyone follow you, or you can request the ability to approve or deny requests to follow you.
Users: Users are identified on Twitter by the @ and their account name (I'm @bjlangston). To find a user, click on @connect on twitter.com (if you have a twitter account) and you can search for a user's name or you can browse categories. If you find someone whose tweets interest you, you can click to Follow that user. By "following" a user, you will see all of his/her tweets appear on your home page. Unlike other social media sites, you can follow a user even if he/she doesn't follow you. If you create a twitter account, you can choose to let anyone follow you, or you can request the ability to approve or deny requests to follow you.
Content: Topics of discussion on Twitter are identified by the "hashtag" or #. Twitter users will often insert hashtags which reference what subject their tweet is about. For example, tweets about the Houston Zoo may include the hashtag #houstonzoo. Hashtags are one of the most useful tools for searching twitter. f you are interested about information, you could do a search for #houstonzoo and you will see tweets related to that topic.
Home, Timeline, or Stream: These are all terms that refer to the list of tweets you see when you log in to your own Twitter account. You will see the latest tweets from anyone you are following, and occasionally some advertisements.
Retweets: Retweeting is when you find an interesting Tweet and decide to resend it to your own followers. You can retweet the message as is, or you can retweet it and add your own comment before or after it (you are still limited to 140 characters total, tweet and retweet combined). Retweets are generally identified by the initials RT.
Trending: Twitter tracks which hashtags are used and the most common hashtags being used that day will appear on the left pane as trends. You can choose to see trends worldwide, or you can change to a particular area to see what is trending in that region. Watching what is trending gives you an idea of what people are talking about.
If you would rather not have a twitter account, you can start at http://twitter.com/@twitterand browse around from there. You can still search for users or hashtags without having an account, but you cannot follow people or have them follow you.
Home, Timeline, or Stream: These are all terms that refer to the list of tweets you see when you log in to your own Twitter account. You will see the latest tweets from anyone you are following, and occasionally some advertisements.
Retweets: Retweeting is when you find an interesting Tweet and decide to resend it to your own followers. You can retweet the message as is, or you can retweet it and add your own comment before or after it (you are still limited to 140 characters total, tweet and retweet combined). Retweets are generally identified by the initials RT.
Trending: Twitter tracks which hashtags are used and the most common hashtags being used that day will appear on the left pane as trends. You can choose to see trends worldwide, or you can change to a particular area to see what is trending in that region. Watching what is trending gives you an idea of what people are talking about.
If you would rather not have a twitter account, you can start at http://twitter.com/@twitterand browse around from there. You can still search for users or hashtags without having an account, but you cannot follow people or have them follow you.
Important note: At this time, Twitter is approved as a staff development resource for teachers only. Twitter is not approved for use with students at this time.
Some of my favorites to follow:
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