LSE, Learning technology and innovation guide to Twitter

1. Using Social Media
Twitter
Using Social Media: Twitter
What is Twitter?
Twitter could be defined as a crossover between blogging, instant messaging and
social networking
Many tweets answer the question
of what the user is doing, others
are responses to other tweets,
pointers to online resources that
the user found interesting,
musings, or questions.
Similar to social networking sites
like Facebook, Twitter lets users
collectively establish numerous
and interconnected networks of
users.
Twitter is an information network made up of
140-character messages called Tweets.
Tweet (noun)
A tweet may contain photos, videos,
links and up to 140 characters of text.
Tweet (verb)
The act of sending a Tweet. Tweets
get shown in Twitter timelines or are
embedded in websites and blogs.
Hashtags
Any word or phrase immediately
preceded by the # symbol. When you
click on a hashtag, you’ll see other
Tweets containing the same keyword
or topic.
Follow
Subscribing to a Twitter account is
called “following.” To start following,
click the Follow button next to the
user name or on their profile page to
see their Tweets as soon as they
post something new. Someone who
follows you is a follower.
Re-tweet
The act of sharing another user’s
Tweet to all of your followers by
clicking on the Retweet button.

2. What is Twitter for?
Using Social Media: Twitter
Want to find out more?
LTI runs workshops on social media and Twitter.
Go on the training system to find out more
Sharing
Twitter can be considered
as a broadcasting tool with
which users share what
they are doing, reading,
working on. They will also
use it to share information
from other sources and
users, by retweeting them
for example
Twitter in Education?
Conversation
Many people use the # and
@ signs to participate in a
conversation, a debate or a
conference for example.
Twitter can also be used as
a backchannel during a
presentation to display live
comments, questions and
debates.
Networking
Twitter works as a network
that you build by “following”
other people and by having
followers yourself.
In addition to following
people, you can also
receive update on what is
relevant to you by using
hashtags.
“Twitter can provide a simple way for attendees at a conference to share thoughts about
particular sessions and activities with others at the event and those unable to attend”
“In the same way that clickers facilitate active learning, Twitter, too, could be used in an
academic setting to foster interaction about a given topic” EDUCAUSE
Sharing: resources for students, updates on
projects and research,
Connecting: with other researchers, similar
departments in other institutions, influential
people in your field of expertise
Promoting: important events, conferences, blog
posts, websites, live meetings/discussions
Attending virtual conferences and events: by
following threads or adding your views using the
event’s hashtag
Find us on Twitter! @lselti
Contact: lti.support@lse.ac.uk