Early Twitter Use
I first started using Twitter when I was 12. My initial use was rather childish (as to be expected) and contained several band posts, minion memes, and random retweets from trending hashtags at the time.
When I was 14 I decided that I needed to clean up my digital footprint a bit. This was mostly due to the fact that the school was going to be starting a Twitter account to showcase our participation in sports, activities, and learning experiences. I wanted my Twitter to appear more mature than what it was at the point. This led to me unliking and deleting any tweet I had interacted with, as well as unfollowing a ridiculous amount of random accounts. This was a crucial purge that has allowed to use the same Twitter account that I started with back in 2016. Majority of the posts from my early Twitter days were either posted by my school, a response to an assignment, or interacting with a tweet via the retweet and like option.
Between 2016 and 2020 I would sporadically download, log-in and check my Twitter account, but would rarely, if ever, post any of my own thoughts or understandings. After graduating from high school, I deleted the Twitter app and once again my account was inactive for close to two years.
Present Twitter Experience
This September was the first time I had gone on Twitter since leaving high school. Starting this process I was hesitant. I didn’t understand how it could be used as a learning tool, but I was willing to give it a chance and I’m glad I did. I have come to see that it has a very large learning community full of support and resources. I have enjoyed learning about a variety of new strategies and technologies, that teachers can use within a classroom. Several of these have come from peers, as well as educators, administrators, principals and many others across the world.
I love opening the Twitter app and scrolling through everyone’s #learningproject and watching as individuals develop their skill in a specific area. Furthermore, Twitter has provided a great opportunity to interact with the peers in the class daily which I feel is not always easily achievable in an online format. I enjoy seeing the overall community of support that has been created in our EDTC300 class.
I’ve also really appreciated the opportunity to participate and read the discussions for #SaskEdChat, although it can get a little intense at times while everyone is interacting with each other. It’s a fantastic opportunity to discuss vulnerabilities, successes, and areas for improvement all while fostering relationships between individuals related via the field of education. Overall, I really enjoyed this experience and can see myself participating in one again. If you’re interested in the #SaskEdChat on Twitter, join in by going to the ‘latest’ feed after searching the hashtag on Thursday nights at 8:00 pm. Even better is the fact that if you miss the initial start time, you can always join into the conversation later on.
One thing that I am not a huge fan about Twitter is the daily digital footprint I am leaving. Although I have numerous forms of social media such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, etc., I rarely post on any of them and if I do it is no more than ten times for the whole year. Being that we are expected to post twice daily, I have significantly surpassed my typical posting quota. I have found that I struggle to consistently post twice a day and that this past week particularly I have been experiencing what I like to refer to as Twitter Burnout. In the future, I personally would not post as much as I am posting now. Furthermore, my posts would focus more on what we were doing within the classroom rather than tools teachers and others can use.
Feel free to check out my Twitter account. My handle is @kzedk360.
I agree with your Twitter Burnout! I have found it hard to not retweet what others have already retweeted. I, like you, hardly ever post on social media even though I use multiple platforms every day. I am a little bit worried about my digital footprint. I’m trying to be careful with what I share so it doesn’t come back to me in the future. But again, I am really impressed with all the educational resources on twitter
Hey Meghan,
I am struggling with the retweet aspect too. I really like the quote tweet option instead of just retweeting which I’ve tried to focus on using more this past week. It brings up the option to see the post while you think about what else you can add to the discussion. I have found taking this time to sit with the post as a quote tweet helps me engage a little better with the content rather than just quickly skimming the content and re-sharing.
Hi Kaelynn, thanks for your post! My first reaction when I read that you had been on Twitter for 8 years but you were only 12 when you started was ” Gosh I am getting old!’ lol.
But I also agree with your comment about the digital footprint. Sometimes I feel nervous about Twitter because it is a purely professional platform for me, so everything I post on there is read by my superintendent, director, colleagues etc. It can be intimidating but it is also probably good if it makes you a bit nervous because then you will be very thoughtful in the posts you make.
Yes, I was totally shocked too when I realized I had created my account 8 years ago. I really like the point you finished with about one’s digital footprint playing a role in an individual posting thoughtfully: I agree.
The technology burn out can be real! Especially when you start adding in Division expectations. I like to pick one thing and do it well. I have been using Twitter to showcase the learning in my classroom, as well as staying up to date with classes I am taking. I hope you find a good future balance.
I really like the focus you’ve decided to take with your account. It is similar to the focus I would like my account to have. As a pre-service teacher, I appreciate you sharing what works for you!