Building a Network with Twitter (#eci831)

I have been part of Twitter since early in July of this year. I have gradually built a network, one person at a time. On August 6, I wrote a blog post titled "31 Tweets, 6 Followers, Following 24" (http://rielliott.blogspot.com/2009/08/31-tweets-6-followers-following-24.html). If I were to write about the state of my Twitterverse today, the title would be "369 Tweets, 115 Followers, Following 194". In the past six weeks, I have been working on building a Professional Learning Network (PLN) as well as a local community network (for the cit

Image via Wikipedia

y of #Saskatoon, #yxe). Many of the people I follow on Twitter have an either/or network. Is it possible for me to effectively build a network that includes both types of followers?

I remember in August when I followed Alec Couros (courosa on Twitter), I sent him a message asking him for Saskatchewan people to follow. He gave me two names. This is an influential Open Education guru living in Regina, Saskatchewan and teaching at the University of Regina. As of today, Alec has more than 5000 people (the size of a small Saskatchewan city) following him on Twitter. Alec has been so generous with the Twitter community that he has a Professional Learning Network that spans the globe. (I know I'm simplifying the picture somewhat. Alec is also offering an Open Education class, #eci831, which has given many , including myself, the opportunity to hear his voice.) Alec has a Twitter community from around the world. His PLN is enormous.

Here's my point: If I engage with other educators and share resources and ideas on Twitter, what will my local Saskatoon followers think? If I tweet about #CupcakeCornerSk that just opened in Saskatoon, will the members of my Professional Learning Network decide to "unfollow" me because these

Image by CanadaGood via Flickr

tweets are not of interest to them?

My question for other people in Alec Couros' class (and for any of the others who read my blog): How have you been able to build both a local and a professional Twitter community? Is it best to select one or the other as the priority? Is it possible to have my cake and eat it too?

You Just Don't Measure Up? Take my Twitter Survey

Image via Wikipedia

Pointless babble? I continue to have issues with the Pearanalytics study of 2000 tweets, over 2 weeks, sampled during the day from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I have issues with their categories and how things are placed within the categories.

(Model, Iman's, photo fits with the title because as host of Project Runway, she uses those words to say good-bye to ousted contestants.)

I decided to do a totally unscientific analysis of the most recent tweets I have received from the 52 people I am following on Twitter. I'm finding that who I listen to on Twitter translates into what seems important in social media right now. I realize that many of you have way more than 52 people you are following. I suppose you could look at the most recent 50 tweets that have entered your Twitter stream. First of all you would need to look at the Pearanalytics study to understand their system of categories. (http://www.pearanalytics.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Twitter-Study-August-2009.pdf)

I have created a Twitter survey using Google Docs. The survey can be found on this website. (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfzz97d8_28gmfkm45f) (I'm sure there would have been a better way to create this so I welcome innovation or spreadsheets or some other means of data collection. Tell me what you have created.)

When I did my totally unscientific (no machines involved) study of the most recent tweets from the people I follow (including one dead president--John Quincy Adams @JQAdams_MHS), here are my category results (since I am following 52 people, I pretended it was 50 and multiplied by 2 to arrive at the percentages):

News: 4%

Spam: 0%

Self-promotion: 2% (I follow one local Saskatoon store.)
(Question: Should people saying, "Read my blog post at ___________", fall into self-promotion?)

Image via Wikipedia

Pointless babble: 38% (using Pearanalytics definition. This includes people sharing URLs and promoting own blog posts. If no @ or RT, does not count as conversation or pass-along. I question this.)

Conversation: 38%

Pass-Along Value: 16%

(Since this was unscientific, I've missed 2% somewhere. My percentages add up to 98%.)

When I analyzed the most recent 10 of my own tweets, I discovered 5 pass-along tweets (50%), 3 conversational tweets (30%), and 2 pointless babble tweets (20%). I am not exactly conforming to Angela Maier's suggested 70% pass-along tweets, 20% conversational tweets, and 10% of pointless babble tweets (although she calls it chit-chat about your life). (See http://www.angelamaiers.com/2008/09/my-twitter-enga.html) I believe that Angela would disagree with Pearanalytics categories as well. Under Pearanalytics system, the tweets during which I am sharing website addresses or other people's blogs (but not as a retweet)

Image by ian g via Flickr

would fall into the "pointless babble" category. However with Angela's system, those tweets would be pass-along tweets since you are sharing resources.

Here's what I wonder: If you analyzed your own tweets, what would you find? If you analyzed a sample of the tweets you follow, what would you find?

Could it be, that in order to alter the "noise to signal ratio" you might have to say (in the words of Iman on Project Runway Canada), "You just don't measure up" and cut some people loose? If you and I are reflective about our own "noise to signal ratio", are there other people who will be cutting you or me loose?

Speak up! Here's your chance.

Image via Wikipedia

This morning one of the women I follow on Twitter talked about the Web 2.0 summit later this year. It is sponsored by O'Reilly. They have a White Paper which lays out what they see as the future of Web 2.0 and beyond. They call it Web Squared.

One interesting conclusion or talking point is that "Data analysis, visualization, and other techniques for seeing patterns in data are going to be an increasingly valuable skillset. Employers take notice." I think that could say "educators take notice." Where does that learning of seeing patterns begin? In the kindergarten, grade one and two classrooms of our schools. Then seeing those patterns is just a part of life and is a skillset that children continue to build as they move up through the years.

Here is the link for the White Paper: http://www.web2summit.com/web2009/public/schedule/detail/10194

Here is the link for the conference itself. (http://www.web2summit.com/web2009/)It is by invitation only and you need to submit an application. They will respond to your application within four weeks.

As educators we can contribute to this conference by reading the White Paper and including our comments. They are requesting feedback. Their ideas are not set in concrete. Rather they are created out of playdough which can be molded and shaped by reader input. Let's have a part in that shaping.

Social Networking - My Titanic Trepidations

"Ships that pass in the night and speak to each other in passing" (Wadsworth Longfellow)

I found this quote in my thesaurus under "ship". I've been thinking about the necessity of closing off the watertight compartments on a ship in case of a breach to the system. (See Titanic information.) As I approach the subject of social networking, I think about the ubiquitous presence of Facebook as the giant of social networking. I have had a Facebook account for over a year now. Many of the Web 2.0 tools that I have signed up for have given me the option of linking to my Facebook account. I have not linked any of them to Facebook. I feel uneasy about doing so. I am worried that the watertight compartments, within the ship that is myself, will start taking on water and I will sink. Maybe these fears are irrational but I am concerned about privacy and security and being transparent and yet professional in revealing myself online.

I do desire to be a ship that speaks to others as we pass in the night. However, I don't want the communication to be an S.O.S. call.

(The photo on the right was taken on the bridge of the Queen of the North ferry while my husband and I were travelling from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy [an all-day journey]. Eight months later this ferry sank along the same route. Some people say that shenanigans on this very bridge led to the disaster.)

References:

Titanic's watertight compartments. At Titanic-Titanic.com. Online at
http://www.titanic-titanic.com/titanic_watertight_compartments.shtml