Twitter #Futuretrends

Technology is always advancing and so there are people that get paid the big bucks to predict future trends to be sure the social networking sites give the consumer what they need in a way that will increase its marketability.  In fact, a futurist is an actual occupation.  Here are some ideas on the future of Twitter from futurists Ross Dawson and Gerd Leonhard discussing the future of Twitter as a news source:

I am not one of those well-paid analysts, though I do have a few ideas on what we might see in the future regarding social networking sites, including Twitter.  First off, I think it will be a premier source of news for people around the world.  I hope that it can become more of a source for local communities.  I would like to know more about what's happening in my town and the greater Buffalo area, such as upcoming events, traffic issues, even upcoming "big garbage days," local government issues, and so on.  Here are some other ideas, albeit on a larger scale, that we might see from Twitter and other social networking sites in the future.

1. As social networking becomes more commonplace in our daily lives, we will - for better or for worse- be more inclined to put more of our personal information online, including status updates, pictures, videos, and services that will show your location at a given time.
2. Exponentially greater amounts of information will be available online.  Search engines will need to provide more relevant/personal search results for each individual user - possibly by connecting with social media profiles.
3. More marketing using social networking sites:  see real-time reviews on restaurants and other businesses from friends.
4. Being increasingly connected to what your friends and family are doing:  knowing what they are doing before you call.
5. More jobs for marketing with social networks and analyzing users and ratings
6. Paying for the username you want - I hate when I have to add 5 digits in order to get the name I want in it!!

Twitter - #Education

At first glance, Twitter may not be thought of as a useful classroom tool because it is perceived as a way to keep up with your friends, and after all, how much information can be disseminated in 140 characters or less?  However, some believe that it is a valuable way to create a new personal learning community that involves a new way to gather information and resources and connect with other people in your pursuit of learning.  Here is one example of success using Twitter in the classroom:

One example of success using Twitter in the classroom

Education is slow to integrate anything!  Thus, I did a little bit of research to see how Twitter can be easily used in the classroom so you can get a head start on how to make it work in your classroom.

• Tom Barret and other teacher collaborators have created a Google Doc to share ideas on how to use Twitter in the classroom. 
•  Here are a few more ideas thanks to Samantha Miller of teachhub.com

There are a few challenges regarding Twitter in the classroom, however.  First, many school districts block social networking sites such as this so that students cannot access them on school computers.  Second, students may have different social norms for using social networking depending on the context.  For instance, students may be more inclined to misbehave online than in the real world, because they believe there are no real consequences for online behavior.  Third, the vast amount of information attainable on Twitter may not always be factually correct because it is free for anyone to post anything.  This is an important idea for students to understand so they can learn to decipher information they need from information that could mislead them.

Twitter - #today #inaNUTSHELL

Twitter is the 8th most visited site in the entire world!  It has over 500 million users and handles over 300 million tweets per day. Anyone can join, but you do not need an account to read other tweets.  So who's using it? It is popular among people of all ages, businesses, celebrities, athletes, and more.  Even the President of the United States has a Twitter account!  Check out the Infographic below to discover more about this popular social networking site (Note: the details below are from March, 2012 and may be somewhat dated.  Afterall, 4 months can seem like decades in terms of technological innovation):

Twitter is often used as a tool for civic engagement and has played a major role in organizing several social uprisings from around the world, including the revolts in Egypt and Iran, and the US Occupy movement.  Check out the video to learn more about spreading messages through Twitter:

Twitter has caused a major controversy surrounding the Olympics.  It centers around "Rule 40," which limits athletes from creating any tweets that name their sponsors that are not officially recognized by the Olympics. For instance, US marathoner Ryan Hall cannot tweet "Thanks Asics for helping to make my Olympic dreams come true," because Asics is not an official sponsor. On the surface, it appears the IOC is acting to protect the Olympic sponsors that paid lots of mulah to be able to put their label all over anything associated with the Olympics.  However, smaller sponsors are necessary for athletes to manage the costs and burdens of their elite training.  Without the smaller sponsors, there would be no Olympics.

Twitter - Connecting the World in 140 Characters or Less

What is it?

Social networking and microblogging site using instant messaging or SMS (short message service).
Can be accessed anytime through internet, smart phone, or texting from a cell phone anywhere in the world using a given Twitter code.
These short messages have been coined "Tweets"

History

• Created March, 2006 by Jack Dorsey and released to public in July 2006. 
• Twitter was founded under the name of a small start-up company, Odeo, which was founded on a technology that took a message from a phone number, turned it into an MP3, and hosted it on the internet. The mission was to make it a podcasting platform.  However, Apple went public with iTunes before Odeo could get up and running.
• Odeo needed a new idea, and Jack Dorsey suggested a site based on status updates. Dorsey, Noah Glass of Odeo, and German programmer Florian Webber designed a system that took a text message from one number and sent it to all of your friends.  In its infancy it was called Twttr and Glass was asked to head the team.
• Dorsey came up with the original idea, but Noah Glass was the passion behind the project.
• At first, it was mostly Odeo employees making use of the program - racking up hundreds of dollars in texting charges.  Participation increased exponentially when an earthquake hit the area and news spread quickly using Twitter.
• Odeo's CEO, Evan Williams, proposed a buyout of the companies stock for the investors when the company's future was uncertain.  The investors jumped on it.  Williams bought the company and Twitter for $5 million.  It was worth $5 billion in April, 2011 and is now the 8th most popular site in the world.