Twitter 101 for Learning Professionals

Twitter 101
http://bit.ly/1zjDXIz
Photo by carrotcreative
David Kelly
@LnDDave

What’s your Social Media
Usage?
4. I create and share content,
spearhead discussions, and
teach others
3. I actively use my accounts
and connect with others
2. I have accounts, but don’t
use them much.
1. Social what?
Photo by Takeshi Kawai

What’s your Twitter
Usage?
4. I create and share content,
spearhead discussions, and
teach others
3. I actively use my accounts
and connect with others
2. I have accounts, but don’t
use them much.
1. Social what?
Photo by Takeshi Kawai

Discussion Points
Discuss Twitter’s Importance in
Learning and Development
Explain what Twitter is
Set up a Twitter Account
Define Common Twitter Terminology
Provide Opportunity for Q&A

What exactly is Twitter?
Photo by Rosaura Ochoa

What is “Twitter”?
Twitter is a social networking and
microblogging website. It enables
users to send and read text-based
posts composed of up to 140
characters, called tweets, which
are displayed on the user's profile
page. Users can subscribe to other
users' tweets – this is known as
following and subscribers are
known as followers or tweeps.
via Wikipedia.org

What is “Twitter”?
Twitter helps you create and share
ideas and information instantly,
without barriers.
via Twitter

Twitter - Simplified
A text message is a short message
limited in characters that
someone sends…
…to a single specific person who
can read and respond to the
message.

A Twitter message, or
‘tweet’, is a short
message limited to
140 characters that
someone sends…

…but unlike text
messages, a
tweet can be read
by anyone that
decides to
‘follow’, or view,
a person’s Twitter
updates.

What’s on Twitter?
 Pointless Babble 40.55%
 Conversational 37.55%
 Pass-Along Value 8.70%
 Self-Promotional 5.85%
 News 3.75%
 Spam 3.60%
Source: Pear Analytics

Graphic Courtesy of Terrence Wing of ASTD-LA and LiquidLearn.com

Setting up a Twitter Account
Creating a Twitter Account is
very easy, and can be done in
5 minutes or less.
Let’s create one now.

Setting up a Twitter Account
Creating a Twitter Account is
very easy, and can be done
in 5 minutes or less.
Let’s create one now.
Twitter Terminology

Twitter Terms: Feed
The Twitter feed is
the list of tweets
that are viewable
on your Twitter
home page.
The feed consists of
messages posted by
people you follow.

Twitter Terms: Follow
If you want to read a person’s Twitter
postings, you choose to follow them.
Following
someone will
make their
tweets visible in
your Twitter
feed.

Twitter Terms: Commercial At
The Commercial At (or just At) symbol (@)
is used to indicate a Twitter User Name.
Tweets that include a
user name preceded by
the @ symbol will be
visible on that user’s
home page even if they
do not follow you.

Twitter Terms: Commercial At
Be aware that in addition
to being viewable by the
person whose user name
you include in your
message, your tweet is
still public and visible by
anyone searching or
following your tweets.

Twitter Terms: Hashtag
The hashtag symbol (#) is
used by Twitter users to
group tweets on similar
topics. By searching the
topic proceeded by a
hashtag, you can see all posts
from users that included the
hashtag in their tweet.

Twitter Terms: ReTweet
RT is a Twitter abbreviation that stands for
Retweet. Retweets are one of the more
powerful features of Twitter.
Retweets give you
the option to share a
tweet that you read
with those that
follow you.

Twitter Terms: Profile Picture
Every Twitter account includes a Profile
picture. It is visible on a user’s home page
and appears next to each of their tweets.
Profile pics are
square-shaped and
customizable within
a user profile.

Twitter Terms: Header
The header image is a recent addition to
Twitter profiles. It is visible on a user’s home
page.
Header images
are rectangular
and customizable
within a user
profile.

Twitter for Trainers – Why?
The rules are changing…
•10 Years Ago
“Leave your cell phone home.”
•5 Years Ago
“Turn off your cell phones”
•2 Years Ago
“Set your phones to vibrate”
•Today
“Please step outside if you
need to use your phone”

•Tomorrow
“Yes, you may use your cell
phone during the session”
This is a huge
problem.

•Tomorrow
“Yes, you may use your cell
phone during the session”
This is a huge
problem.
opportunity.

Leveraging Twitter
Learners are entering sessions
with the ultimate
tool for
engagement
already in their
pockets.

Examples of Twitter in Learning
1. Trainer can receive real-time evaluations
(Levels 1, 2, and 3)
2. Learners can easily be engaged before,
during, and after a session.
3. Use Twitter to make key learning points
stand out.
4. Taking Live Polls from Participants.
5. Adds informal learning to formal learning
plans.

(Part Deux)
As a Learning and
Performance
Professional,
Twitter can help
you know what
you don’t know.

(Part Deux)
Adapted from Eli Pariser’s Beware online "filter bubbles” - http://youtu.be/B8ofWFx525s

The Back Channel
“A line of communication
created by people in an
audience to connect with
others inside or outside
the room, with or without
the knowledge of the
speaker…”
Cliff Atkinson, The Backchannel

The Back Channel
Participants no longer wait
until after a session to
perform an evaluation.
Using Twitter and other
Social Media tools,
participants interact and
provide feedback during
and throughout a session.

The Back Channel
Speakers and
facilitators have begun
to embrace and
encourage the
Backchannel as a
means of collaboration
and feedback during a
session.

Live Chats via Twitter
While Twitter is generally used
asynchronously, groups have used
hashtags and dedicated time slots to
create live chats.

Live Chats via Twitter
#lrnchat
Every Thursday
evening at 5:30 PT /
8:30 ET
#GuildChat
Every Friday
afternoon at
11:00am PT /
2:00pm ET

Twitter 101 for Learning Professionals

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Twitter 101 for Learning Professionals