Sh0w and T3ll

Twitter: It’s A Whole New World Waiting To Be Explored November 17, 2009

I first signed up for Twitter a little over a year ago, and I’ll admit I was skeptical at first.  This was back when my sister and boyfriend were my only followers, and I would post simply AMAZING (haha) tweets with no one to read them.  Twitter sounded like a cool concept, but I needed more followers to really become interested in it.  I am very into fashion and  running, so when I found out a few of my blogger friends had Twitter about six months ago, I became instantly hooked!

Now, with the help of my IPhone and Twitterific, I can instantly connect to anyone with the same interests as me.  Through Twitter I learned so many new and interesting things.  Many think, 140 characters?  How much can I possibly say that would be of value in so little space?But let me tell you, I have learned so much through Twitpics, hyperlinks, and tags.

This is why I found David Silver’s article, “The Difference Between Thick and Thin Tweets” so interesting.  Anyone who thinks knowledge cannot be found on Twitter needs to read Silver’s blogpost which can be found here:  http://silverinsf.blogspot.com/2009/02/difference-between-thin-and-thick.html

In this post, he talks about trying to accustom his students to writing more in their tweets than just “I made a sandwich” or “I am tired.”  Although these facts can be interesting to some, others want to learn and explore through the tweets.  Silver says, “thick tweets convey two or more layers of information. they often, but not always, include a hyperlink that takes readers from twitter to another source of information – a newspaper article, a blog post, a flickr set, a video.”  With this I completely agree.

If there is still confusion, here are some examples taken directly from my Twitter following list, but inspired by David Silver.

teachersnetwork Teachers Without Borders Writing Contest starts tomorrow! Register now on Helium.com http://bit.ly/1ajFAI

Here is where someone I follow, that also has to do with my major, alerted me of a contest that can also stretch my writing skills. In 140 characters or less, they successfully told me what was coming up, and gave me a link in case I wanted to learn more.

Twitter can also include visuals to further show the point you are trying to make.  Since I believe visuals can really make the message, I frequently do this in my tweets. Here is an example from my own personal Twitter account, which you can follow here: http://twitter.com/alison55555

Alison55555:  There is one who always waits for me to come home http://yfrog.com/j39kej

Now, readers of my tweet might be confused at first.  Yes, one always waits for me, but who?  After examining the picture, readers can see it is my dog.

Silver ends with, “i’m trying to teach my students how to craft creative, meaty, and to-the-point messages that attract other people’s attention.”  Isn’t that the whole point of Twitter?  To share our knowledge with the world, and connect with others who have the same interest.

As more professionals, businesses, and celebrities jump on the band wagon each day, Twitter is still just warming up.  Twitter is more than just a silly way to say what you are doing, within there is so much more to reach out to.  Also, it can be done right through your phone, how much more convenient can you get?  So get out there and share your knowledge.  My recommendation is to start Twittering now before you are left behind!