Using Twitter without TweetDeck lists was akin to what one might experience in “lines” or “cues” in certain unnamed countries (I’m sure you can imagine which ones): spatial and self-absorbed chaos. My Twitter feed was dominated by those line members who were loudest, pushed the hardest, and acted upon the assumption that no one else but them mattered. No disrespect to those who tweet non-stop throughout the day, but instead of being an asset on my Twitter feed, they became a disruptive nuisance that took over faster than bamboo roots in Asia. Their pushiness and assumption of “it’s all about me” into my Twitter feed was wearing out its welcome more than that guy who just shoved past four respectfully patient patrons and walked up to the counter like he owned the place.
I will admit, I am that guy who confronts individuals who cut in front of everyone else in line and will not hesitate to call them out in public. I have no shame in that. I will also admit that I’m about to do the same thing with my Twitter feed over the next few months. I’m taking back my Twitter feed and no one here is safe.
I’m a sports nut. I can’t get enough of reading about sports, particularly my beloved Green Bay Packers of the NFL in the USA. I see myself as the General Manager (GM) of my Twitter feed (and Google +) and I’m about to assemble the best team that will help me learn.
Here’s the scenario current Twitter feed members:
I just assembled my initial roster of 90+ players (tweeters) to begin the season. Some of you were acquired through a recent draft (searchable names), some of you were acquired through free agency (picked up off the Twitter streets) and some of you will begin this season on the roster because you’re already a part of a previously assembled team (Online Cohort 2).
Over the next few months, I will be evaluating you like a normal GM would in the NFL. Some of you are savvy veterans who have been around other Twitter feeds before. You have value and experience in this profession and could become a leader on this team…if you can stay healthy and innovative.
Some of you are rookies to the TCL (Twitter Community League) and may turn some heads in your first season. Some of you might be role players and find a niche spot on this team (a specialized Twitter list) and can contribute to my learning in some way.
Some of you might find a spot on the practice squad, where I’ll keep my eye on your development over this year. Practice squad tweeters could move up to the active game-day roster if a veteran loses his or her hunger and becomes complacent, or goes down with a hamstring injury (no Internet connection).
And, the hard truth is that some of you, perhaps many of you, will be cut and not make my Twitter feed. I’m sorry. It’s not personal. It’s a professional business decision. Making the highest level of professional sports is not easy; neither is making the highest level of educational tweeting.
But don’t worry. Even if you get cut from my other Twitter lists, you’ll still get a chance to turn my head in the future by maintaining your spot on the COETAIL Twitter Group.
TweetDeck, via Twitter lists, will transform how I use Twitter due to its filtering and categorizing capabilities. I’m excited to refine my lists to meet the needs of what I’m looking for in Twitter and participate in “geeked out engagement (which) involves accessing as well as producing knowledge to contribute to the knowledge network” (Living and Learning With New Media). Before this week, I never understood why Twitter was such a popular platform because it seemed so random and chaotic. To me, it was not user friendly. Due to that, and people overly tweeting minuscule actions in their daily life, I tended to avoid it.
Now, I plan on taking back my Twitter feed and using it for what it was originally intended: professional development. TweetDeck is a simple and user-friendly extension that allows its users to assert more control over the knowledge that is disseminated to them. In Living and Learning With New Media, the authors state that “almost all geeking out practices we observed are highly social and engaged, although not necessarily expressed as friendship-driven social practices.” My intention when I signed up for Twitter over a year ago was never to use it to socialize with my friends or access news, as I have Facebook for that. I wanted to hear about what everyone else was doing in the world of education, as my colleagues repeatedly opined that it was the best form of professional development available. In this end, I hope to reassert Twitter as the professional collaborative community it was intended to be, and exercise my inner line-monitor aspirations in the process.
Disclaimer: The above metaphor is not to be taken too seriously, nor too personally. You don’t need to go out and start lifting Twitter weights in order to try to make my team. As a GM of your own Twitter feed, you also have the power to follow and cut those that will help you assemble the best learning team. In fact, I might find that as a current Twitter lurker, I will probably soon be called to the coach’s office to be given my walking papers.
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