The document discusses the role of Twitter as a professional development tool, highlighting its importance for information distribution, networking, and learning. It outlines key features of Twitter, such as tweets, retweets, and hashtags, while emphasizing the need to cultivate a thoughtful presence on the platform. Additionally, it provides resources for further reading and guidance on effectively using Twitter for professional purposes.

1. MGCCC Employee DevelopmentSeptember 2011Twitteras a professional development toolcynthia wetzel licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

2. Social Networking is BIGhttp://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks.aspxhttp://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Social-Networking-Sites.aspx

3. 93% of social media users believe every company should have a social media presencehttp://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/17/social-media-in-numbers-too-big-to-ignore/

4. Just what is Twitter?A social network begun in 2006, based in California

5. A form of text messaging; also called micro-blogging

6. Supporting 17 languages, it is used around the world

7. 100 million “active users” in just five years

8. More than half are daily users

9. 60% of users have joined in the last year (Pew 2011)

10. 40% of users only follow and do not tweethttp://blog.twitter.com/2011/09/one-hundred-million-voices.html

11. Some Definitions“On Twitter, the people I follow provide me with more relevant links &information than any other tool. It saves me time &helps me learn about new technologies or innovative ideas, as they are happening.”TweetMessage sent via Twitter

12. Limited to 140 characters including sender’s ID

13. Can be a reply, a retweet, or a direct message

14. Can include hashtag(s), link(s), or @mentions (“at mentions”)

15. Also a verb, to tweetSome Definitions“On Twitter, the people I follow provide me with more relevant links &information than any other tool. It saves me time &helps me learn about new technologies or innovative ideas, as they are happening.”TweetFollow/FollowerBasic social relationship of Twitter

16. Allows one to see a person’s “tweets” even if protected

17. Not always reciprocalSome Definitions“… you can’t build a community in 10 minutes. Your network requires time. Not a large amount of time, but time and attention to achieve its potential.”TweetFollow/FollowerHashtagSystem to tag tweets by content or relationship

18. Provides a means to follow topics, events, discussion

19. Often used as commentary: #couldbeworse, #soclever

20. Can be overdone & usually isSome Definitions“… you can’t build a community in 10 minutes. Your network requires time. Not a large amount of time, but time and attention to achieve its potential.”TweetFollow/FollowerHashtagRetweetTweeting a message you received, i.e., forwarding to your followers

21. Method to further distribute information

22. Also a verb, to retweetSome DefinitionsTweetFollow/FollowerHashtagRetweetTimeline, Feed or StreamList of tweets in real-Time order

23. Newest messages are first“…research strongly suggests that two-thirds […] of Twitter users are really just using the service as a human-powered information distribution and filtering service”

24. Some DefinitionsTweetFollow/FollowerHashtagRetweetTimeline, Feed or StreamTrendsTopics which are immediately & at the moment popular

25. May be hashtags or not “…research strongly suggests that two-thirds […] of Twitter users are really just using the service as a human-powered information distribution and filtering service”

26. What Twitter is notA chat application

27. A blog

28. A social network like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedInSome say it isn’t a social network at all but a “real-time information network” or a “personal quick response network”Private!If you wouldn’t shout it from the roof-top, don’t tweet it.For everyoneSo who is on Twitter?13% of online American adults

29. 200 million accounts

30. Individuals—real & imaginary– professionals, politicians, artists

31. Businesses, corporations, non-profit organizations, governments

32. Magazines, newspapers, television shows, writers, actors, animalsOkay, now what?Now… sign up for an account at twitter.comYou need a Twitter name and a password.Both can be changed, but changing your Twitter name after you have followers can be confusing.Not quite ready to sign up?Then, look around a bit. Just pick a topic, search for a person & see what’s going on ...

33. http://twitter.com/search or http://twitter.com/#!/search-home

34. http://twitter.com/#!/search-advanced