Day 4: How do you read your twitter streams?

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From my face 2 face twitter workshops I have learned that it is the simple things that gets us down when using new tools. So today we will look at how you read your twitter streams. There are many tools that we can use to make reading easier and to read our twitter streams more effectively, but for now we will look at how twitter intended for us to interact with everything that is being said and shared. 

Your main stream (timeline) 
Everything happens in your main twitter stream which can be found by clicking on Home-->Timeline in twitter . Here you will see everything everybody who you are following is saying in reverse chronological order. If you have chosen who you follow carefully (see day 3), there will be some interesting titbits to be consumed here! 

I am often asked if it is not too much and my answer is.... of course it is! Are there any boundaries to the amount of learning out there?  Twitter makes it possible to consume it all in little titbit sizes. It is like e-mail or information on steroids, except that you can choose to ignore it, and you do not need to reply to or pass on everything that appears in your stream. I can scan through my twitter stream quickly and only process the tweets that "speaks" to me. In this process I become a filter of knowledge for those who chose to follow me. Due to the fact that the stream "flows past" in reverse chronological order, you will find that discussions are fragmented with someone answering a questioned that has gone some time before. This can make conversations seem disjointed and out of context. But you don't have to worry- if you want to follow an interesting discussion between twits (can I call us twits?), you can look for the little discussion icon in the corner of the relevant tweet which will then show you the discussion in chronological order on the right hand side.

 
You will notice some icons in tweets that will guide you to what embedded content the tweet has (video, resource link, photograph) Just look to the right of the tweet.
When scanning through your tweet timeline you will notice that the people you are following can be doing a number of things:  

• They can ask questions- it is a great idea to respond to questions as it is a good way to build learning relationships. We will look at how you can respond tomorrow.
• They can share resource links. By clicking on the resource link, you will be taken to the resource, e.g. a webpage or a document (which will open in the relevant programme) or a video. You will get some indication of what kind of resource it is by checking the icon to the right of the tweet.
• They can have discussions with someone else- you will see the twits who are part of the discussion's names in the tweet (e.g. @bhallowes @clarkformaths). As this is all happening out in the open, you can lurk and learn from whatever is being discussed. An effective way to learn.
• They can summarise what is happening at an event (or in a classroom). This happen often when people attend conferences and workshops and it allows you to become part of whatever is happening at the event. You can chirp in  (like a tweetie bird ;-) )  any time and be part of the event - how cool is that?
• They can share information, quotes, events.

All you have to do is keep an eye on your timeline stream to see what is happening in the edu-sphere out there. Please do not become obsessive about it! Good news and resources will be taken out of the stream by someone and put back just when you are reading your stream! We will look at good ways to screen for good stuff more effectively in a later day. I read my twitter stream mostly on my phone when I experience "dead time", like when I am sitting on the loo (sorry for the mental picture) or standing in a que. I also make time to read my tweets in the morning before I start working and before I stop working at night.

Activity: (Don't forget to add #ict4champions to your tweets- type it in anywhere)

• Read your main tweet stream and identify the different kinds of stuff being shared. Send a tweet about what is mostly being shared. 
• Identify some of the conversations and tell us about it by sending a second tweet.
• Ask a question (anything will do) 

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<--Back to day 3:  Who follows who: The following dilemma
<--Back to Workshop activities
On to day 5--> How do you have discussions in twitter?

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