Web 2.0: Rediscovering Twitter


In the beginning: 

I created my Twitter account back in 2009 (when the logo still had legs) and last tweeted in 2011, almost 12 years ago (when the logo still had eyes)! It feels weird to be jumping back on this bandwagon so many years later. It was a blast from the past reading my old tweets -- I was traveling a lot for several engineering projects at the time, and mostly tweeted from airports when I got bored. While I followed a few engineering hashtags, I mostly used Twitter to see what businesses my friends were working in or promoting. It was a time of frequent job changes for many, especially somewhat recent grads who had just spread out across the country. 

What's new:

Looking at Twitter now, I'm excited to see that a few of my old friends are still tweeting, and I get a peek at what careers or projects they are working on now. I wasn't in education last time I was on Twitter, so that opens up a whole new area of interests to explore. I'm also following my class hashtag #etec527 to see what all my fellow classmates are posting about. 

How useful it Twitter today?
So far it's been quite helpful because my classmates are posting timely tips and resources for this week's homework. Thanks classmates!

I could see Twitter being a handy tool to get quick updates. I've been to many conferences in different industries where they have recommended following a specific conference hashtag to get the latest updates, info, participate in polls or free giveaways and mores. At events where the audience is too large to communicate with something like mass texts, this seems like a very useful tool.

Similarly, many of my friends have put a lot of thought into what hashtags to use for their wedding, so that photos from guests posting on platforms like Instagram can be tagged and will show up for happy couple to search for later. For example, my sister used: #chelsandmitchgethitched to help chronical their happy day!

I certainly see hashtagging, following or using "lists" or "circles" as essential tools to keep Twitter relevant to your interests. As with TikTok and other social sharing giants, if you just scroll you will find SOOOO much content that is completely irrelevant and a waste of time. I'm in the process of curating my Twitter personal learning network (PLN) by choosing who and what I want to follow. Time will tell if this is a useful way to stay informed and current.

Feed ME!

I feel like current trends in social Web 2.0 technologies lean toward feeding the user information, whether this is based off your curated and explicitly chosen interested, or data mined about you based on previous searches, clicks, viewing time and ads, etc. I suppose that I want to be fed sometimes. However, my time is valuable! Sometimes it's more efficient for me to actively search for specific content that I want at that moment, only consume that content, and move on with my life. In this "feed"ing frenzy of Web 2.0 social media, many people get sucked into wasting time scrolling and consuming content when they could either be creating content and interacting OR developing healthier habits that reduce the amount of scrolling they do on their phones or online.  

In Conclusion:

I think Twitter can be useful, as it was this week, and I hope to report back positively on how my curated online PLN feeds me. However, I also want to explore more efficient uses of Web 2.0 beyond the world of massive feeds and endless scrolling.

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