What is Twitter? What am I using it for? What is the purpose?

and by Wikipedia as:

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send “updates” (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service, instant messaging, email, or an application such as Twitterrific.

Let me begin by saying, that I mostly get blank looks form people (family, friends, teachers, colleagues) when I mention or try to explain what twitter is and “reveal” that

• I twitter…
• I am part of a the twittersphere…
• I rely on my twitter network…
• I learn something from others written in under 140 characters or less…
• I twitter when I am bored… want to share something I found out… promote or make others aware of a a project… let others participate in a conference they can’t be at physically…share what I am doing in the moment, that nobody else but a techie teacher would appreciate.
• I twitter when I have a question and could use a quick, easy and short (140 characters or less) answer.

Twitter it described on their own website as:

Twitter is for staying in touch and keeping up with friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing. For some friends you might want instant mobile updates—for others, you can just check the web. Invite your friends to Twitter and decide how connected you want you to be.

I am not one of the “Power Twitterers” who have over 2000 updates under their belts. I am just going to break the 200 update mark in the next few days, but that is OK, since I enjoy reading Twitters from others even more. When I receive requests from others who want to follow me, I do check their profiles out to see if they are in the same field as I am in or if we have any other thing in common. I don’t want to drown in twitter updates that mean nothing to me. I also like to see my followers about the same number as the ones that I am following.

Susan Morgan describes Twitter and her usage in a recent post on the Independent Schools Educator Ning:

…when I began “twittering” a few months ago, I didn’t get it. It seemed frivolous, and it took time away from my other networking (blogging, reading feeds, etc). However, I’ve discovered I can not only handle it, I can’t live without it. I check it several times a day and discover leads to people, resources, and projects. I’ve been able to participate in online video streams with students, teachers, and administrators. I’ve found great web 2.0 resources for my teachers, and I have met amazing people who respond almost immediately with help if I need it. Yes, it takes time. But with 140 character limit, you can only say so much! On days when I have no time, I simply pick up where I left off and ignore the previous “tweets” from people.

Here are some of the twitters in the last 24 hours that have been interesting to me (maybe I had a similar question), pointed me in the direction of a new tool or website, alerted me to a live event happening in the edusphere or made me think about something in a new or different way. Thanks to the ones who took the time to twitter them.

More links about using Twitter:

• What do you use Twitter for?
  
• The Top 5 Ways Smart People use Twitter

Twitter on CBS News:

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Posted: 15. November, 2007 at 10:07 pm. Filed under: Uncategorized.
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