Why Do You Tweet?

Jeff, I really appreciate you posing this question and seeking feedback. I can tell that you are exploring the vast depths of why twitter has become so meaningful to you both professionally and recreationally. I too am interested in the responses of others on this question and will add my own thoughts to the mix.

When you mentioned how the merging of those you network with in your running with those who you network with as an educator in higher education, I think you touch on a really meaningful aspect of twitter because of its melting-pot/aggregation of the various aspects/tribes connected to ourselves and things we are interested in in one spot.

I also think that because this is not just a space where we are consuming information and ideas from various people and topics that are meaningful to us, but engaging them all publicly at once. We find ourselves talking with the diverse audience all at once as well, which certainly changes the way we have to communicate with everyone in mind who you suspect could be listening.

Could it be possible that taking this broader audience into thoughtful account while communicating could be helping shape us into a more holistic and integrated-self in the way we think? I sort-of thought that was what you were touching on yourself and it made me think more about it as a possible reason it has become so meaningful to me as well.

Can't wait to hear more responses and thanks for the great question, brotha.

Great question, Jeff. Took me a while to test the Twitter water. Even now, I feel like I'm staying on the shallow end. BUT... I Tweet for several reasons: 1) to connect to people with similar interests; 2) to connect to people with interests that spark my curiosity and challenge me to try new things; 3) to have information delivered to me (is great that all of the good articles come filtered through experts - I feel that what makes it to my Twitter stream has passed the test and is worth my time); and 4) to get answers to almost any question I can come up with (such as what were the original marshmallow shapes in Lucky Charms!!!)

There is nothing earth shattering here, but this is my response to "Why Do I Tweet?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vabmpMmdBc

To this day I still get hung up on the word tweet. I just don't think I like how it sounds, I avoided Twitter for a while simply because of what it sounded like. It seems a bit ridiculous.

One thing to note, I consider "Tweet" to be not just posting, but consuming posts. Therefore, I am thinking of this as a two-way street. So, with that in mind, I Tweet for several reasons.

I Tweet for professional development. I find a lot of great information via the people I follow on Twitter who post links. I also find out about things such as training that helps me with my job.

I Tweet as it is a great way to build my personal social network in this area. When my wife and I moved here, we really didn't know a whole lot of people. Through Twitter, we have been introduced to a lot of great people. At least in my experience, this sort of trumps the fear that social media cuts down on in-personal, one-on-one interaction. It has been the opposite for me.

I Tweet as part of my job, using it as a promotional tool to market various cool things we at Teaching and Learning with Technology at Penn State are doing.

I Tweet as an extension of a hobby of mine, meteorology. I can post forecasts, alert people to weather risks, etc.

I Tweet because it is a great way to "keep an experience going." For example, if I go to a friend's house for a dinner party, often people will Tweet about it afterwards, keeping alive all the good vibes.

And finally, I simply Tweet to keep track of what is going on. It's a great way to do so.

I've always been too lazy to keep a diary. Twitter gives me a quick way to take a snapshot of my day - not just what I'm doing/thinking/reading, but also what others are doing/thinking/reading that I think is particularly interesting, and/or might be interesting to others (a.k.a. re-tweet). And since I'm never quite sure whether anything I say is of any value whatsoever, it does wonders for my self-esteem when someone re-tweets me. Not sure if this is just vanity, or total lack of self-confidence, or a little of both.