So I love Twitter. A lot. And this week I've had the opportunity to use it. In my (humble) opinion, my Twitter game has been ON POINT. All this tweeting has reminded me why I love Twitter and the ways in which you can use it to do all sorts of things.
My "yeah Twitter is LEGIT" face (Drake included)
First up, this semester my LIS 515: Media Literacy for Youth class has been out of this world. My professor, Carol Tilley, has been fantastic in letting us explore so many aspects of digital literacy and showing us to great resources (both web and print articles). Each week I feel that I have so many ideas for things I could do with the kids I work with at UNCC or projects that would be great to try out in the future. This past week, we got to experiment with Twitter, aka LIVE TWEET CLASS.
Yes, you read that right, live tweet class. I was so giddy it was great. Not only did I get to follow many of my classmates, but we had such an interesting and engaging conversation on Twitter. It was a constant battle between paying attention in class, recording the quotes and main ideas in tweet form, and talking with my classmates via replying to their tweets. It made for such an enriching discussion. If I find spare time this weekend (lolz) I hope to make a Storify story to really capture what we were able to talk about. Professor Tilley also showed us Tweet Deck, which I knew about but had never gotten around to installing. It's great because I can track hashtags I care about and see everything on one screen. If you want to see some of our tweets, search the hashtag #medialit.
Round two of Twitter fun. I'm currently part of a group of GSLIS students called GSLIS Tweeters. Our job is to tweet regularly about our experiences at GSLIS using the common hashtag #GSLISlife. We are hoping that by using this, we can unify our experiences and be a place for prospective students to go to see all that we do. The group decided that in honor of National Poetry Month, we would host a Haiku Day. Essentially, tweet a haiku about GSLIS, libraries, etc and get a homebaked treat or (clearance) Easter candy. Sounds like a sweet deal, am I right?
It was such a fun day. I had way too much energy at 9 AM, but my enthusiasm for Twitter and haikus could not be stopped. It was especially fun in the afternoon when myself and fellow GSLIS Twitterer, Allie, joined forces to tweet at other groups/libraries. We got some great haikus back. That night, I put together a Storify story (see below) to capture them all. Check it out! Also, check out our hashtag #GSLISlife to see what we are up to on a daily basis.
So why do I love Twitter? I love that you can have conversations with others about things you're passionate about. I love that a conversation I had in a class about health education/sex education horror stories was continued on Twitter with a couple of gals I went to undergrad with. I love the way Twitter can capture a conversation or a memorable quote in an instant. I love quoting my friends on Twitter so they can chuckle about it later. I love how many ways you can use Twitter. You can use it to get news, to follow sources that link to articles or videos. I love that I can use it to tweet my inner monologue and share my amusing day with others. I even love that blue Twitter bird. I see so many possibilities with Twitter and have to give a shout out to Coe College Student Senate for making me get one. Best decision.
Oh, and if you're looking for a neat Twitter hashtag to follow this weekend, make sure to check out #LISed15. A group of GSLIS students put together a conference on LIS education. I went today for part of it and it was great conversation about a wide variety of topics. Definitely worth checking out.
Tweet on my friends, tweet on.