Traci Prater and I attended what looks to be a great opportunity for Eastern Kentucky students today at the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative in Hazard, Kentucky.

The pilot project involves students from 10 counties in Eastern KY creating a virtual learning community called Purpose Island using Teen Second Life, which is a compenent of Second Life.  If you are not familiar with Second Life, it is a virtual world where members can create a avatar and bascially be anything or anyone they want in the virtual world.

Using Teen Second Life, students will create the virtual island where each group will establish a part of a learning community.  They will have resources to build a building to house their part of the community.  Students will create an avatar for themselves and can participate in all the activities of the Teen Life virtual world. 

If the project is successfully, it will be a springboard for a state-wide expansion initiative.  While most of the project is still in the planning, it appear it will be an exciting opportunity for our students and those of us chosen to mentor the program.

Ethnography of Twitter

Jeff Arnett

EDUC 628

Spring 2008

            Social Networking Services, or simply SNS, use software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. The idea of creating SNS has been around for quite some time, and there have been a number of attempts over the years to establish these networks, including LISTSERV and Bulletin Board Services (BBS). Some of the earliest sites, such as Classmates.com and Sixdegrees.com, appeared as early as 1995 (Wikipedia.org, 2008).

            Today, there are many SNS available, but most all of them are organized around a central theme of providing a place where people of similar interests can exchange information and ideas. Millions of people use SNS daily, with a large portion of these being adolescents and young adults.  Reasons for using SNS vary greatly by age group, with adolescents and young adults using them primarily for social interaction, whereas older users might pursue business or educational interests (Jardin, 2008). Other SNS are simply a place to post whatever the interests of the user are. 

            The service I have chosen to explore is Twitter (http://www.twitter.com).  Twitter was created by founders Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey and launched in 2006 (Strickland, nd).  Twitter is headquartered in the South Park neighborhood of San Francisco, California.  Since its inception, Twitter has rapidly grown to over a million users, though the exact number would be hard to authenticate (Berlin, 2008).

             Twitter allows users to post short messages, called tweets, 140 characters or less, to a network of contacts and has been referred to as a system for micro-blogging.  Rather than posting lengthy entries as would be found on a weblog, Twitters’ limited number of characters allows only for short messages.  Once a message is created, it is sent to all the users on the creator’s contact list.  This allows for rapid and efficient delivery to large groups of users as compared to sending messages via email or text message.  Messages can also be sent privately to selected users rather than the entire contact list if desired.  In either case, in order to receive these messages, a user must be “following” the user who creates the message.   To follow another user, one must add him or her as a contact.  This can be done by entering the user’s email address in the box under the find and follow tab. Contacts can also be added from other user’s list of followers by clicking the follow button.  Some users choose to follow only a small group with specific interests, others may follow hundreds, even thousands of user.  Users can also follow other users without opting to receive updates from them.

            Where do the messages go?  Twitter permits global messaging at no cost to the sender.  Primarily, most Twitter users probably receive their tweets via computer when they log on to the Twitter website.  A user can also chose to have real time updates sent to an instant messaging service, where they are displayed as received in the messaging service window.  Tweets may also be delivered to a user’s cell phone using the short message service protocol (SMS).  Users are allowed a maximum of 250 SMS tweets per week (Sunday to Sunday).  This can be especially useful for the dissemination of an important message, such as a campus alert or weather advisory.

            So who uses Twitter?  The Twitter landscape appears to be made up of individuals of all races, background, education levels and interests.  Ordinary people as well as high profile individuals use the service….even presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are using Twitter to keep their followers up to date as to where they are and where their going next. One example of an organization using Twitter effectively was when the Los Angeles Fire Department put it to use in dealing with the California wildfires in 2007.      

In order to truly get a better picture of the overall use of Twitter one would have to follow a large group over a long period of time.  People who use the service seem to have many diverse interests.  Some use Twitter to simply post quick blurbs about what they are doing at that moment.  Some use it to send out messages to their followers about something they’ve seen, heard or done that would be of interest to them.  Yet others use Twitter for business or educational purposes, sending out offers or ideas that business people, or even the general public, might find of interest.  Educators can use Twitter to pose questions, make assignments, recommend a resource or even ask questions of their students.  Twitter users broadcast messages about a new hobby they are into, a favorite band’s new album, a great movie they’ve seen…..there’s really no limit to what’s being broadcast.  Unlike other SNS such as MySpace or Facebook, Twitter is not used so much for in depth discussions, explorations of one’s personality or hang-ups, but rather simply to tell the world “what I’m doing right now”!   

            One problem that can arise with Twitter, especially when a use follows a large group is simply the overwhelming number of messages that are received.  Even though each tweet is relatively short, sorting through hundreds of message can become frustrating.  The potential for using Twitter to send spam messages (or in this case “twam” messages) is a distinct risk.  In fact, most users consider broadcasting the same message twice to be twam (Wikipedia.org, 2008).

            There doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rules for using Twitter.  The obvious courtesies should apply…no inappropriate language or obscene content, don’t twam other users, etc.  Twitter does offer a site where questions can be asked, problems reported or suggestions made.  These issues are handled through http://getsatisfaction.com/twitter.   It would appear from the time I’ve spent using Twitter that the site is pretty much policed by its users.

            Overall, I’ve found Twitter to be an interesting SNS that was well worth exploring.  I see that it could have potential for use in the classroom environment as well as for extracurricular groups, sports teams or even teacher groups and administrators.  Though it did take some time for me to come to an understanding that it was simply a place to post messages relevant to the present, I’ve come to realize it, along with so many other, can be a useful tool in my technology toolbox.

Works Cited

Berlin, E. (2008). Online media cultist. Retrieved April 28, 2008, Web site:  http://onlinemediacultist.com/2008/03/31/how-many-people-use-twitter.

Jardin, X (2008). msnbc.com. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from MSNCB Interactive Web site: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5488683.

Social network service. (2008). In wikipedia.org [Web]. Retrieved 4/28/2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_sites#cite_ref-5.

Strickland, J. How Twitter Works. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from How Stuff Works Web site: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/twitter.htm

Twitter. (2008). In wikipedia.org [Web]. Retrieved 4/29/2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

[Note to Dr. Lowell - for some odd reason, WordPress will not let me indent the second line of any of my APA references.]

An article entitled, “Social Networking–Why Are We Afraid?” came across my reader yesterday.  It was an article posted on Tech Learning.  According to the article, social networking is the current scary word.  However, it is interesting to note that it is only scary to the adults.

I think the reason adults are primarily afraid is that we have had enough life experience to realize that what is said about a person can have serious consequences.  Students usually haven’t reached that level of thinking.  Here’s an example.  We use a program called SynchronEyes at school to monitor what students are doing on the school’s computers.  I was looking at the library’s computers the other day when I say two students engaged in a conversation about a girl.  They were discussing creating a MySpace page about her where they would say that “she is a whore” and “will  ________ with anyone who wants to” and so on and so on.  I captured their conversation and sent it on to the principal to deal with. 

I think this type of activity is what scares adults most.  Anyone can say anything about you on one of these pages…true or untrue….and you may never even know it has been said…..but remember how eager most people are to believe something negative!  So I think this is why most adults shy away from these sights.

Like most SNS, there are many sites that offer extra features designed to enhance the user’s experience.  Below are some sites that help make the Twitter experience more enjoyable.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/twitter/ - a variety of applications related to the Twitter SNS.

http://www.twittertroll.com/ - a search engine for Twitter.

http://politweets.com/ - keep track of your favorite political candidates.

http://twitterpacks.pbwiki.com/ - Twitter Packs is a place to get a starting idea of who on Twitter posts about what.

http://www.twi8r.com - converts English to text message lingo and vice-versa.

http://www.twitterlocal.net/ - see tweets near you, search tweets by area.

http://tweetburner.com/ - Follow how many people click links you post to Twitter.

http://quotably.com/ - Follow conversations more easily, as a thread, and see who is answering and commenting.

http://twittes.com/ - Links about Twitter: great place to do research about Twitter, find out whats new, and what people are doing with it.

And the list goes on and on and on and….

For more useful resources for Twitter or your favorite SNS, just google!

Thought this was an interesting read……

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/7375772.stm

The last installment of my “getting to know Twitter” posts….

There doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rules for using Twitter.  The obvious courtesies should apply…no inappropriate language or obscene content, don’t twam (Twitter spam) other users, etc.  Twitter does offer a site where questions can be asked, problems reported or suggestions made.  These issues are handled through http://getsatisfaction.com/twitter.   It would appear from the time I’ve spent using Twitter that the site is pretty much policed by its users.

One problem that can arise with Twitter, especially when a use follows a large group is simply the overwhelming number of messages that are received.  Even though each tweet is relatively short, sorting through hundreds of message can become frustrating.  The potential for using Twitter to send spam messages (or in this case “twam” messages) is a distinct risk.  In fact, most users consider broadcasting the same message twice to be twam.

I found the section of Stoll’s book entitled “Isolated by the Internet” to be very interesting and somewhat surprising.  Research from several major universities has shown that spending large amounts of time on the internet can lead to depression.  I’d never thought about it.  Like most people, I’ve always looked at the internet as an escape to anywhere I wanted to go.  I’ve never given thought that for some, the internet leads to feelings of isolation…..but then it makes sense.  Folks who spend countless hours surfing the net lack any contact with real people.  Combine that with the fact that often the reality of what we search for on the net is somewhat of a let down and it becomes easier to see how this could lead to depression.

So maybe we do need to get out from behind those machines and out into the sunlight!

So who uses Twitter?  The Twitter landscape appears to be made up of individuals of all races, backgrounds, education levels and interests.  Ordinary people as well as high profile individuals use the service….even presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are using Twitter to keep their followers up to date as to where they are and where their going next. One example of an organization using Twitter effectively was when the Los Angeles Fire Department put it to use in dealing with the California wildfires in 2007.           

In order to truly get a better picture of the overall use of Twitter one would have to follow a large group over a long period of time.  People who use the service seem to have many diverse interests.  Some use Twitter to simply post quick blurbs about what they are doing at that moment.  Some use it to send out messages to their followers about something they’ve seen, heard or done that would be of interest to them.  Yet others use Twitter for business or educational purposes, sending out offers or ideas that business people, or even the general public, might find of interest.  Educators can use Twitter to pose questions, make assignments, recommend a resource or even ask questions of their students.  Twitter users broadcast messages about a new hobby they are into, a favorite band’s new album, a great movie they’ve seen…..there’s really no limit to what’s being broadcast.  Unlike other SNS such as MySpace or Facebook, Twitter is not used so much for in depth discussions, explorations of one’s personality or hang-ups, but rather simply to tell the world “what I’m doing right now”!  

Continuing my exploration of Twitter for my ethnography, I thought I’d provide a bit of insight as to what folks do with Twitter….

Twitter allows users to post short messages, called tweets, 140 characters or less, to a network of contacts and has been referred to as a system for micro-blogging.  Rather than posting lengthy entries as would be found on a weblog, Twitters’ limited number of characters allows only for short messages.  Once a message is created, it is sent to all the users on the creator’s contact list.  This allows for rapid and efficient delivery to large groups of users as compared to sending messages via email or text message.  Messages can also be sent privately to selected users rather than the entire contact list if desired.  In either case, in order to receive these messages, a user must be “following” the user who creates the message.   To follow another user, one must add him or her as a contact.  This can be done by entering the user’s email address in the box under the find and follow tab. Contacts can also be added from other user’s list of followers by clicking the follow button.  Some users choose to follow only a small group with specific interests, others may follow hundreds, even thousands of user.

The SNS I have chosen for my ethnography is Twitter (http://www.twitter.com). Twitter was created by founders Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey and launched in 2006. Twitter is headquartered in the South Park neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Since its inception, Twitter has reportedly grown to over a million users, though the exact number would be hard to authenticate.

Twitter allows users to post short messages, called tweets, 140 characters or less, to a network of contacts and has been referred to as a system for micro-blogging. Rather than posting lengthy entries as would be found on a weblog, Twitters’ limited number of characters allows only for short messages. Once a message is created, it is sent to all the users on the creator’s contact list. This allows for rapid and efficient delivery to large groups of users as compared to sending messages via email or text message. Messages can also be sent privately to selected users rather than the entire contact list if desired.