May 2008 – Page 9 – Silence and Voice

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2008-05-05

Writing about FireFox extensions for the CP2tech workshop in response to a question posted by @smithjd #
Lots of people have been suggesting I use FireFox as my promary browser, but IE still has the ctrl+T shortcut that opens a new tab at Google #
@derekcx Welcome to Twitter. What Moodle work are you looking for? #
Just overheard somebody speaking about Mother’s Day. She said "he better give me something nice, as I’ve given him two kids." #
I wonder if he sees it in that way? #
@pinoyboy That makes perfect sense to me, especially if the pie is fresh and home made. #
What strategies do people use to keep up with reading the Tweets of others? #
@pinoyboy I can almost smell it. #
Off to mandatory fire safety training. #
@RobinYap Not sure if interesting is a word I would use to describe this. #
The fire safety training was valuable and well-worth attending. The person who does it is dynamic and engaging. Go, Frank! #
@Currie Hello, Sylvia. #
@shirleyearley No idea on that one. #
@macboyx Did you enjoy it? #
@dmcordell What would you envision it contain? #
@dmcordell I aggregate Tweets in FeedDemon, but when I follow more people, I have a lot more to read. One strategy is to not follow so many. #
@josien One issue is that I do not usually have Internet access during the weekend. I can send them from my BlackBerry, but not easily read. #
Attending a teleconference to discuss the first week experience for the Connected Futures workshop. #
What is the Connected Futures tag – #CP2tech or #CP2tech01? #
@etheoreal Not sure which tag to use. #
@shirleyearley Are you using #cp2tech01 or #cp2tech as the tag? #
Listening to the #cp2tech01 workshop, and find the sharing of issues and concerns and "how are things going" fascinating. #
Some of this information is, even for me, a bit too workshop-focused to share here. I usually do not mention that here. #
@Currie Use the phone then . . . #
@smithjd It becomes a little confusing, then, John. More difficult to track. May I suggest we agree on one and only one to use everywhere? #
My blog RSS feed has not yet been added to the #cp2tech01 OPML feed. #
@Currie Unless people are using #cp2tech01 #
@Currie Great to hear you on the phone! #
@kanter Nice to hear you at #cp2tech! #
@coyenator I agree. I think about the value of beta testing and user analysis, and in that sense we are that group. #

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2008-05-04

Kentucky Derby party was inside, since the weather yesterday was a bit damp and chilly. People seemed to like my sangria and mint juleps. #
A neighbor came and performed an adult puppet show, complete with puppet stage and storyline. A lot of talent floating around. #
Doing more laundry. Never had my own laundry machines. Why settle for white? Artic blue all the way! #
Getting coffees for the drive back to the city. #

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2008-05-03

Bottle King; one of the great things about New Jersey. #
Preparing for our annual Kentucky Derby party. Cool and wet outside, but warm and cozy in here with the fire and mint-infused bourbon. #
Did not know new front-loading high efficiency washers need special detergent. #
Trying out the new washer and dryer. Beautiful looking Maytags in arctic blue. Thought they should go in the living roomm they are so nice! #

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2008-05-02

Catching up with reading the posts on CP2tech, the Connected Futures workshop. #
@CP2tech01 Then some really interesting things may happen . . . #
@pinoyboy Your last post did not have words, only "??????? ???!!!" #
@Currie Hope she is doing well; poor little thing. #
@pinoyboy Unless, of course, I could read Japanese as well. #
@phdaisy You are using it for your own online organization? #
My monthly parking fee just went up 10 percent. Wish my salary kept pace. #

Twitter Invitation to a Discussion Group

I found a new use of Twitter–quickly connect to an entire community.

Well, I did not necessarily discover this on my own, as it has been a recent topic of discussion on one of the discussion groups I follow, Online Facilitation. One of the members of the group sent a Twitter follow request / email invitation to the mailing list itself, which in effect invited anybody and everybody in the community to click the link to then follow this person via Twitter.

Brilliant idea, I thought–how better to communicate with a group of people with similar interests than by sending a Twitter invite to the entire group! If we share this interest in online facilitation, as I thought about it, then perhaps sending this sort of Tweet to everybody in the group may in fact move the communication to a more public area (Twitter) , where people can continue to connect in another forum. Isn’t this what facilitating community is all about?

However, the issue of this being discussion board spam or an accident has also been raised. Here, I thought it was a brilliant community outreach (there are many people on the list I do not know nor have I ever met or seen) that tried to bring people together, while others perceived a similar outreach as more discussion group clutter. I know I usually do not actively seek people out on Twitter or any of the other social media (a bit shy, fear of rejection, or desire to be unobtrusive?), so when I get these invitations from others who have some similar interests, I am usually appreciative of their efforts. That this came in a spam-like blanket that does not offer any immediate benefit for the current community (Twitter conversations would, of course, occur outside the current community) is also a very real concern. This is like sending donation emails, self-promotion communications, or even adverts to a discussion group, most of which are frowned upon. What surprised me the most was how little discussion this really did generate at all.

That once again Twitter (I Tweet here, by the way) is used in an unintended way that sparks discussions that previously did not exist is a testament to how significant I really believe this technology to be.

What do you think?