Twitter

As we began discussing and using Twitter in EDM 310, I realized I really didnt know what Twitter actually is. Instead of jumping into Twitter and trying to figure it out for myself, I researched it on google. I first pulled information from Wikipedia (even thought this source is not the most reliable) to get the general information about Twitter. Here is some of the information from Wikipedia: " a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications". This information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
After I researched Twitter, I began to use it by posting tweets, sending direct messages and finding followers. I found that instant results are not to be expected from Twitter as I would have to wait several minutes to read a direct message from someone sitting right next to me in class. I feel that Twitter is a good social networking utility, but it has several gray areas that lack in being the best social network.
As far as using Twitter in the classroom, I do not feel that this is the best way to communicate to your students. My favorite technological method of communication for my students has been blogging since they can use the blog at any time where as Twitter, they might need to wait for that tweet to be posted.