The Dilemma December 10, 2007
Posted by gmwand in Uncategorized.trackback
Ok. I missed posting something last week, but not to worry , no one is reading it yet anyway. I’ll try to make it up this week. Some new questions have been posed in my quest for web2.0 literacy. Mostly dealing with I’m not sure what to do with any of this stuff or how to make the most effective use of these tools.
I joined Twitter a couple of weeks ago and have been following the likes of Will Richardson, David Jakes, Steve Dembo, and Dean Shareski. While I’ve learned much just from seeing bits of their twitters, only Steve has returned the favor of following me and even still, I haven’t felt as if I have participated in a conversation yet. I know that I am still learning and don’t have much of a voice yet, but still I do have questions and don’t know how to get a response. I kind of feel like being at the kid’s table at Thanksgiving. Santa Claus, however, did respond to one of my Tweets. He response to my dilemma was kind and gentle and I will persist.
There have been some cool moments in the past week though too. By receiving tweets from these guys, I have found (and followed) some other edtech leaders including one in nearby St. Louis. I learned about the 25 days to make a difference blog and the Students2oh project. I also Ustreamed play rehearsal from our high school and a personal Thanksgiving greeting to family. Neat stuff.
My biggest question of all is: How much time do I have to sit in front of a computer to make all of this neat stuff happen? My posts don’t have many fancy links or embedded videos or pictures. And still, I spend a lot of time, day and night, watching the twitter page and Google reader to see what’s new. Today for example, I’m home on a snow day (Ice in the Metro-East today) and have spent most of the day reading blogs on the computer instead of actually doing something. It seems that social networking Web2.0 takes time from personal networking. And while most of the information is good, it isn’t the only thing I do.
I have been reading the past couple of days about folks who are not following as many people as they used to. That doesn’t seem to bode well for the new kid on the block. I may well be shut out of the game before ever getting on the field. I guess we’ll see.
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Gerald –
I feel like you’re about six months behind me… I went to one of Will’s presentations this past July and have radically altered my teaching (and continue to do so on the fly). I’m happy to share what I’ve done and how, so you can see how I use various tools (is this how a network starts?). BTW, I’m the other person Will replied to on his last blog post!
Cheers,
Justin Scott
jscott@sturgischarterschool.com
http://www.jscottib.blogspot.com
I understand. I finally joined Twitter a month or two ago after reading about it in blogs and SecondLife (if you think RSS and Tweets can eat up a day…) But I have drunk the Kool-Aid, taken the red pill, gone down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass.
This has changed the way I think. it has changed the way I work. It has changed the way I think about the way I work.
I currently follow 68 people (yourself included). I’m followed by 45, quite a number of whom I do not know. Having posted ~400 tweets, most of them in reply to @somebody, I think I reached critical mass. I’m now getting followed by folks I didn’t follow in the first place.
Mom’s advice – to have friends, be a friend – applies online. Get in there. Mix it up. Post comments and replies on blogs. Tweet and respond to tweets. The network doesn’t build itself. After it becomes a certain size it starts to grow on its own, but you have to bootstrap it.
Justin & Corrie, Thanks for the response and so quickly. I guess we are on the right track. It’s good to know that others are struggling with some of the same issues that I am. I’d be happy to exchange ideas and share what I’m doing. That’s sort of what this blog is for me, a documentation of my experimentation in building a network. I love it that it’s finally starting to grow and connections are being made!
Gerald, I think sometimes those of us who do frequent Web 2.0 presentations almost make it sound too easy. You’re right, there are cliques, there are groups, there are snubs and challenges. But that’s not to say that there isn’t room for a few more people in the pool. The great thing is, there’s always more room.
I think everybody goes through a “I’m talking but nobody is listening” period at least once, twice or five times when they begin jumping into the blogosphere and such. It does take some persistence, and in some sense, there’s sort of an art to getting noticed. A few tips from my own experience:
1) Leave comments. Lots of comments. If you like a blog post, leave a comment with a link back to your own blog. Most authors DO read every comment that comes in, and I can’t speak for anyone else, but I follow almost every link back to the authors’ site.
2) Hyperlink everything up. Someone mentioned this post to me, otherwise I wouldn’t have seen it. However, if you had linked my name to Teach42.com, it would have showed up in my Technorati ‘ego feed’ (blogs that are currently linking to me) and I would have known about it that way. Great way to let people know you’re mentioning them in a post and encouraging them to visit you.
3) In Twitter, reply to people directly. Just like #2, if you wrote me a note, I probably wouldn’t see it. My Twitter feed scrolls REALLY fast so I don’t see the vast majority of posts people put up. However, I always check my replies tab. Anybody who posts something and includes @teach42 shows up there and WILL be seen be me, guranteed. And most of the time I respond directly. Can’t speak for anyone else, but that seems to be a pretty common trend.
Just a few thoughts. But glad to have you along on the journey. There’s quite a few twists and turns, but it’s a fantastic voyage so far!
Steve