This is a question on the mind of many, particularly since Oprah joined Twitter. And of course, the answer is different for everyone. This post is really just about what Twitter means to me, and perhaps what it might mean to other law professors.
To start off, what is Twitter? It is a microblogging service. What is microblogging? It just means that instead of having a blog with long ponderous posts of dubious interest to others (perhaps like this one!), that you can quickly post short - no more than 140 character - posts. The founding question of Twitter is: "What are you doing?" On first glance, this is idiotic (and the subject of much derision). "Making Pad Thai with Shrimp. Serving a nice Pinot Blanc." I mean, who cares? Really, who cares?
Here is a video about how works.
OK, so you can keep up with the details of what your friends are doing. That's nice. It would be even nicer if we all had that kind of time. So far, it is hard to see what the thing is with Twitter.
But wait. You mean that I can follow anyone who is on Twitter, not just my friends? Yes. What about people who are really interesting, and thinking about interesting things that interest me? Yes. OK, now we're getting warm.
Any reader of this blog knows that I am interested - well more than just interested, rather, engaged as a scholarly pursuit - in the subject of changes in education being facilitated and advanced by technology (particularly in the legal education space). OK so far.
For me, what is interesting about Twitter is that there are other people I do not know personally who are also interested in the same issues. Some of them have been leaders in the field of Web 2.0 and community-based learning for many years. Among them Howard Rheingold (@hrheingold) and Tim O'Reilly (@timoreilly). Howard wrote one of the most important early books on the subject (The Virtual Community), and Tim O'Reilly actually coined the term Web 2.0 (and is the publisher of many excellent tech books under the imprint O'Reilly Media). Also on Twitter are Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki - the first Apple Evangelist), and Steve Wozniak (@stevewoz - one of the founders of Apple). (Oh, by the way, those "@ names" - those are Twitter "handles" - it is how you find those people, and subscribe to their "tweets"). Here are pictures of Tim O'Reilly and Howard Rheingold:
So by "following" these folks, I get to see what they are thinking. Are they tweeting about what they are making for dinner? Sometimes, unfortunately (in my view), yes, you have to wade through some of that stuff. But most of the time they are posting about things that are going on in their heads about this topic in which I share an interest, and often they are accompanied by links to sites on the internet that have more information.
Woah, right? Because this is where Twitter really starts to make some sense - at least for me.
From my point of view, I have recruited these really influential thinkers as my personal "knowledge network" - for free! They help me find information I would not otherwise find. They teach me things I would not otherwise know or have thought on my own. Or they affirm things I am already thinking myself (which is really gratifying, since - unlike me - they are so incredibly smart people).
As if that were not enough on its own, here's another thing that Twitter does for me. It helps me meet people I don't even already know about (like the examples I gave above) who also are really smart, and who also share the same (or related) interests. And I get to see what they are thinking. (And, what beer they are drinking, which has limited utility, I agree. But there is an aspect of Twitter that is intentionally "humanizing" of its citizens, and that is not all bad).
Let's flip the coin. A related matter is that my being a part of Twitter has allowed people who are interested in what I am thinking to follow me. Woah.
I did publish a book this year. It is called Law School 2.0 - if you are on this blog, you have probably heard of it! One of the amazing things about Twitter is that you can search the massive database of twitter postings. So, suppose I searched for the title of my book, what would happen? What happened is this: I found people who were reading my book and posting comments about it. OK, that sounds powerful, and interesting too. To be able to view what others were saying about my book while they are reading it, well, for a writer, it doesn't get much better than that in terms of a real-time feedback loop. And, of course, if they are reading my book, they are probably people who are interested in the subject - change in legal education and the role technology can play in it. So those are probably people who also have interesting thoughts related to the same subject. Without Twitter, it would have been very hard - if not impossible - for me to find them, much less hear what is going on in their heads.
Can Twitter be a time suck? Sure. Just like any new technology, we have to figure out for ourselves where the cost/benefit ratio exists. For you, there may be too much cost for the benefit. Just like how we use Twitter, this will be different for everyone. But so far, I recommend Twitter for law professors who want to connect with folks with whom they share scholarly interests, and who they might otherwise not find. The folks you start following might just post something you would not have seen or thought otherwise, and it will expand your thinking on the subject you care about. And by posting your own thoughts, you can do this for others. And they can give you almost instantaneous feedback on what you just said (through what is called a "retweet" or a direct message, a "DM." This is new.
In my view, this is where Twitter shines. And it is what makes it worthwhile.
There are all kinds of interesting questions about how a law school teacher might actually use Twitter in her teaching. I am giving this one some thought, and following closely what others in undergraduate institutions are just beginning to do with this. More on that topic later. For now, it is a great "knowledge network," but it has potential to do much more for us in our teaching role. A new way to communicate with students? A "backchannel" during class? A way for students to collaborate on group projects during or after class? Hmmm...
To create an account on Twitter (oh, go ahead, you know you want to) go here: Twitter
To view my page on Twitter (to give you an idea of what I post): @dicthomson
If you would like to learn more about Twitter, here are two articles that I recommend:
Fear of Twitter, by Greg Downey
Twitter Literacy, by Howard Rheingold
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