Twitter- Changes in Networking

Stats in November ’07:

Stats in December ’07:

I joined Twitter in May of 2007, with the intention of trying it out. Blogging in 140 characters or less? What would the benefits be? I had read many comments on various blogs that people were just not getting the Twitter phenomena. So , I figured I was just going to throw myself into it to see.

Here is my first tweet back in May:

I am going trough my Twitter archive. Too bad that there is no search function according to time. I have to click myself through 20 Twitters at a time until I got to the oldest.

I twittered along for the next months, since then it has evolved somehow/something like this:

• Reading other tweets more than twittering…
• Twittering things that I was doing professionally at school…
• Stating unrelated facts “What are your doing”
• Traveling with Twitter to Germany, New York & Egypt
• Venturing into asking questions from other Twitter friends- Not much response. Asking myself : No one is interested or I don’t have “enough” friends on the network?
• Keep twittering
• Announcing an upload when I finish a blog posts on Twitter
• Go through list of the people who my followers are following. Adding them or request to add them.
• Continue to have the people who want to follow my twitters go through my approval first. Trying to keep Followers and Followees at the same number. (Don’t know why…?) Only will accept fellow educators.
• Starting to make a conscious effort to use “@username” more to respond to other tweets. Maybe it is not all about what I AM doing, but to let others know that one is interested in what THEY ARE doing.
• Making sure I share links to cool new tools with others.
• Starting to get responses to my tweets via @langwitches- Good feeling to be in a conversation now…able to contribute something for others.
• Trying to find collaborators on new school projects through twitter.
• Checking Twitter first before my Bloglines and Google Reader. Sometimes even before my e-mail. Oh my….
• Checking Twitter specifically to see if there is any live event/chat/ustream going on in the world.
• Starting to have fun with Twitter profile pictures.
• Changing settings. Not protecting my updates any more. Still checking who the person is who has started to follow me. Will block them if not an educator.
• Finding great blogs of other educators by following the trail from twitter profiles.
• Answering “Shout-outs” from people I follow who are trying to demonstrate the power of Twitter to others.
• Enjoying a Twitter Hanukkah by following Twitters in Israel and other Jews around the world. Makes me feel connected and not so lonely in the “Bible Belt”.
• Answering a Shout-out from someone who is writing an article about tech integration in elementary school. Within an hour we skyped and I send her links and projects we have been working on at school for her to include in the article. Through other people answering her shout out, I am expanding my Twitter network with more elementary school educators. Others are starting to follow me because of this twitter exchange.
• Meeting for the first time a Twitter friend in real life. Amazed how much we know (professionally) of each other just by following each other’s tweets. Almost feels like “déjà vu”. You know about the fact/incident/story, but there is no recollection of the moment that person told it to you.
• Amazed at the speed of responses from people all over the world when someone needs a tip or suggestion.
• I catch myself thinking of Twitter immediately when I am doing something that think others might be interested in. I am starting to learn about different “Twitter personalities” and their interests. Specifically sending out tweets addressed to individuals.
• Starting to use Direct Messages more.
• Realizing that it is not the 140 characters or less that make sense about Twitter, but the SENSE of community and the process one goes through in becoming part of that community.

That was a stroll through memory lane (Archive lane) in 140 characters or less per memory. Wow! I would like to archive the tweets separately. Since it is some kind of record “What I have been doing/thinking/responding to in the last months.

Is there a better way than using a screen capture tool for each twitter or copy/paste into a Word doc. Any ideas anyone? Well I probably should twitter that question. I am sure I will get a faster answer through Twitter rather than wait for my blog post to show up in people’s Bloglines or Google Reader.