Twitter at the Conference

I spent last week at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) annual conference.  It was a big event at the Walter Washington Convention Center with about 20,000 attendees.

They had a very active Twitter presence throughout the show.  They created a hash tag #naeycac; the “ac” stands for annual conference.  All the tweets from the show had that hash tag, and NAEYC put up big monitors all around the convention center with live feeds from Twitter. 

I was tweeting for my organization, and it was cool to put out a tweet and immediately see it on the big screen.

There were a lot of early childhood education bloggers and tweeters at the show, so it made for an interesting online conversation.  I quickly learned where good tech savvy sessions were being held and got a feel for sessions that I could not attend.

Lesson here is to create a hash tag for any big live event that your organization holds.  It makes the conversation simple, quick, and fun.  

Twitter chat

Learned in class last week about Twitter chat.  Interesting.  This seems like an amazing use of Twitter.

Why?  Well…let’s see…

First, let me define what I mean when I say Twitter Chat, because I’m sure there are a host of different definitions.   Based on what Alan Rosenblatt of the Center for American Progress and William Buetler and Leslie Bradshaw of New Media Strategies said, the Twitter chat has these simple elements:

1. A common topic

2. A unique hash tag

3. A common time

4. A core group of people wanting to discuss

If you come equipped with those four things, you are ready to go.  Basically, you get the word out that you will have a conversation about the topic at a certain time, and everyone gets on and discusses.  Simple.

So what?

Well, having worked in online Communities of Practice for years, I know a lot about the challenges of getting people online together at the same time—and getting them to contribute.  Typically, you have lots of lurkers and few posters…and those that might post are a bit intimidated by those that do.  So you end up with two or three people in a chat—and unless they are super interesting, that can get old quickly for everyone.

The Twitter chat seems different for several reasons.

-The Twitter format encourages quick posts, which mimics the way people talk.  I say something, you respond.  Although the posts might not be as thoughtful, it more resembles an actual dialogue.  For more substantial conversations, an asynchronous discussion board is more appropriate.

-A Twitter chat can satisfy the urgency of the moment.  Right after an election or a Redskins loss, people have a lot to say.  Twitter chat it perfect for that.  And everyone knows where to go.

-It super easy.  All you need to do is search for the hash tag, and you can read and post.  There’s just something a bit much about a discussion board.  This is a amazing alternative.

 

Twitter and the NFL

Despite the fact that the organization is now in shambles and the Supreme Court is about to force it to change its name (rightly, I must say), the Washington Redskins have been dear to me since the good old days of John Riggins and Darrel Green.

This week two unpleasant things happened to the team (actually it was more than two—but for the sake of simplicity, let’s keep it there for now).  One, they lost to the previously winless-since-2007 Detroit Lions.  Two, they felt they sting of the Twitter fan attack.

A rookie on the team was upset last week when fans at FedEx Field booed the team despite beating the Rams.  This rookie proceeded to damn the fans for their behavior with this Twitter post: "All you fake half hearted Skins fan can...I won't go there but I dislike you very strongly, don't come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!!"

The fans went crazy and soon enough the story was picked up by major networks. 

Twitter and football is so interesting because for the first time fans have the opportunity to publically express their celebrations or frustrations with a team or a player.  This is particularly good for Redskins fans who have been deeply frustrated, and rightly so, ever since the team cursed themselves by moving from DC to Landover, Maryland a little over a decade ago.

 Although Twitter doesn’t allow depth or breadth of thought, it does allow for fans to get things off their chests.  This is also true during the political election season, which is very much like the NFL season (I’ll post on that later).

It’s tough to tell whether or not this is really a good thing however.  I, for one, find it fun but a wasteful enterprise, reading all these ranting and ravings.  Surely, there is some value, although I can’t quite point it out yet.  Thoughts?