Updated October 10, 2023.
I can no longer support the use of Twitter. I am keeping this post in my feed as a record of my previous support. See my new posts here. Goodbye Twitter Part 1 and Part 2

Even after all the news about Elon Musk taking over Twitter, I still believe it is an amazing place for educators to connect, share, and grow. I started using Twitter in February of 2009 (Personal Feed @bryanfwilson) and have expanded my footprint over the years (Teacher @bfwclassroom  FaithFilledFatherhood @FaithFatherhood ). I originally used it as a way to put blog posts out to a larger audience, then as a way to replace my Google News feed. However, the difference between it as a Social Media platform and say Instagram or Facebook is that it provides an almost invisible wall between the content creators and the content consumers. I’ve been able to connect with so many writers, teachers, and students over the years. However, this graphic best shows how far you can extend your classroom’s reach with Twitter.

The final @hashtracking stats for the South East #KYGoDigial are in! Check out these numbers! Way to CREATE, CONNECT & SHARE your learning! pic.twitter.com/UTvsVUpMcr

— MeMe Ratliff (@meme3rat) July 25, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
In just a ten hour period, about a hundred different educators were able to promote a single day’s PD event and end up being seen in twitter feeds more than 1,000,000 times.

First Steps…

Meme Ratliff @meme3rat is a great place to start her Twitter 101 tutorial explains a lot of the basics about Twitter.

• Create an account now before someone else takes your account name. Be sure if you are planning to develop blogs and a future online presence to see if anyone else has taken/used the names for your future web presence.
• Think long term. Last year I spent five days converting names and blogs in case I ever decided to switch schools again. Looking at presentations now, I see that my Twitter name has changed three times since 2010. That’s a lot of fragmentation.

Twitter as a PLN

• Find what interests you and start following those people and groups online. Lots of conferences use #Hashtags to promote events and create discussion online.
• Several groups host Hashtags chats and live PD events via Twitter feeds,
• During one EdTech event only a few teachers were using Twitter, so I made a list of some great places to follow for EdTech.

Those of you new to @Twitter today bc of the #KYGoDigital SESC here are some suggested people to follow for #edutech: @TheTechRabbi @iste @kystetech @AppleEDU @GoogleForEdu @alicekeeler @MrsDoolin @MrsStevensMath @dintersmith @jeffsebulsky @martypark @heatherwarrell @AdobeEdu

— Bryan F Wilson (@bfwclassroom) July 25, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Next Steps…

Promote Twitter at school and everywhere.

• Twitter is an open newsfeed platform. No one ever has to join to see what you are posting.
• Begin retweeting people you follow and promote them in your feed.  It helps to build your community and gets you noticed.
• If your school doesn’t have a Twitter feed, get them to create one. And setup guidelines for everyone to follow.