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Confessions of a Former Twitterphobe


Maybe I shouldn’t admit this freely, but I had an irrational aversion to Twitter until I was FORCED to use it for Dr. Lesesne’s Literature for Young Adults class last year. I already had an account that I had signed up for years ago, but I never used it because I just didn’t “get” Twitter. The #’s and @’s both baffled and irritated me, and I couldn’t make any sense of the apparent randomness of information that would show up on the rare occasions when I bothered to open the app. Periodically over the years I would feel shamed by my lack of coolness and try again, only to quickly delete the app once more. Dr. Lesesne dragged me kicking and screaming back into the Twittersphere, and I am so grateful that she did.

Why Twitter?

In addition to being a great way to promote your school library and share information with your patrons and community (as mentioned in my previous post on social media), Twitter has become a force to be reckoned with as a PLN (professional learning network). It may take a little getting used to, but once you push past your discomfort and find librarians, educators, authors, publishers, and others to follow, you will discover that you have an amazing resource at your fingertips. The only downside you might find is that you can easily spend waaayyyyyy more time than you should on it because there is so much information, and there is ALWAYS something new.

Okay, I'm curious. What kinds of information are we talking about?

Do you want to know about upcoming webinars or other professional development opportunities? People are always sharing information about free (how much do you love that word?) trainings, such as in this recent tweet by the National AfterSchool Association (@NatlAfterSchool).
(Tip: Even if you can’t participate in a webinar at the scheduled time, register anyway! Many presenting organizations will send you a link after the fact to access the archived recording, which you can watch anytime.)

Are you isolated in your school or district and wishing you could feel like you were part of a community? New to the profession and wanting to learn from your more experienced colleagues? Experienced and wanting to share what you’ve learned over the years? Jump in and join one of the numerous Twitter chats that happen on a monthly or even weekly basis! Try #txlchat or one of the dozens of others listed in this blog post from The Incredibly True Adventures of a School Librarian.
(Tip: If you can’t participate in the chat at the time it actually happens, message the moderator and find out how to access the chat archive; you can read all of the tweets from the chat in order that way, which is much less confusing than trying to piece it all together using the hashtag after the fact.)

Are you interested in technology? Need to find reviews of new apps or devices? Maybe stay up to date on helpful updates to familiar favorites? Twitter has you covered! For example, if your campus is 1:1 with Google Chromebooks, you definitely need to know about this new development shared by the friEdTechnology Team (@friEdTechnology).

Maybe you're looking for some inspiration on ways to engage students with innovative projects or other learning opportunities? Twitter to the rescue again! November Learning (@NLearning) has some exciting tweets, such as this one about having students try their hand at podcasting.

Or how about just some useful tips to simplify your digital life? You will find all sorts of information just begging to be integrated into your daily life and passed along to your students or teachers. Gwyneth Jones (@GwynethJones) is an excellent resource for sharing or retweeting gems like this one:

And of course, let's not forget about the BOOKS. You can follow your favorite authors and even interact with them on Twitter - and let me point out that for a book nerd, few things are as exciting as having a tweet liked by one of your favorite authors. (I'm pretty certain that in my golden years I will still be telling people about the time Kwame Alexander liked my Tweet.) Follow publishers to keep up with new releases and other developments, such as this fun post from Riveted by Simon Teen (@simonteen):

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what you can discover and learn on Twitter. Now go forth and explore the Twittersphere… just don’t get so sucked in that you forget to eat, sleep, and take care of your family! You can also follow me on Twitter (although I will confess I’m still not super active yet) – my username is @The_Wright_Book.

Cool! So how do I get started?

If you are new to Twitter, I highly recommend this tutorial by Jessica Hische to help you make sense of it all. I would also suggest using a platform such as TweetDeck for perusing Twitter as it allows you to establish a certain level of control over your feed, making Twitter slightly less chaotic and intimidating to new users. 




Comments

  1. HeatherFebruary 21, 2019 at 5:53 PM

    Love the Sketchnote at the beginning. I will also admit that I was hesitant to get on board with Twitter. I was strongly encouraged by my principal. I signed up, post a few times, but that was about it. But when I became the librarian at my elementary campus and told myself that I was going to make Twitter a part of connecting with others and telling my story. I am so glad that I did! Twitter is a wonderful place to learn from others and tell your story.

    ReplyDelete

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