Building a professional learning network on Twitter

January 12, 2013 by Tom Whitby @tomwhitby

For those who do not know, here are two basic Twitter principles: 1. If you only follow 10 people you will only see the general tweets of those 10 people. 2. If only 10 people follow you, only those 10 people will see your general tweets. Although some might argue that the right ten people might be enough, I would argue that ten educators is a very limited Professional Learning Network. The never-ending task of building a PLN is to continually follow really good educators to get the information they put out.

I often say that the worst advocates for using Twitter as a PLN are power users. They come up with numbers, time on task, and strategies that overwhelm and blow away the average Twitter users, not to even mention how they scare off any novice. The accomplishments and numbers of power users tend to intimidate those who would consider using Twitter but see these numbers as unattainable and huge obstacles to success.

Building a professional Learning Network consisting of quality educators, who responsibly share quality information and sources, takes time and requires a plan. It is my belief that the people you follow are far more important than those who follow you. That doesn’t mean your followers are bad or have no value, but quite selfishly, they do not fit into the focus of what a PLN is designed to do. It is created and maintained to provide you sources and that only comes from those who you follow. Of course you should share those sources with those who follow you, but that is another Post.

How do you find those quality educators to follow in order to add value to your PLN? It is much easier to do today then it was when Twitter first started. A rule you should always follow is to check a person’s profile before you follow. You can view their profile, making sure they are a professional educator, and see a sample of their tweets before committing to them. An easy way to follow people is to take note of who is most often being retweeted and follow him, or her directly. Another good tip is to follow your favorite Education Bloggers. Most are on Twitter and many have “Follow Me on Twitter” icons on their sites.

The very best sources for good people to follow on Twitter are the best people you already follow. If you select your best follow and go to their profile, you can view the people that he or she follows. A simple click enables you to follow those people as well.

Additionally, many Tweeters have lists of people culled from all of their follows for the purpose of grouping. I have a list of what I call my “Stalwart List”. It is made up of all of the people I most frequently get information from. Another list I maintain is that of education organizations and publications. You can subscribe to anyone’s lists. As they are updated so are you.

Hashtags add range to Tweets. If you send out a general tweet only your followers will see it. If you add a hashtag to that tweet, then anyone following that hashtag gets it. In the case of #Edchat, that could be thousands. Following hashtags will often lead you to people who share your interests. If there is a specific hashtag that you follow, #Edchat, #Edtech, #SSchat, #CPchat ,etc… you may find tweeters frequenting those tweets. Shared interests may yield great sources as well as new good people to follow.

By constantly working and updating your PLN, you will continue to have relevant and beneficial sources flowing through your PLN. The one thing to remember is that you can unfollow people much more easily than it was to follow them. They are not notified of an unfollow. Having and working a plan, or strategy to follow people for your PLN development is essential to grow it and increase its value.

Posted in Accountability, Blog, EdChat, Education, FaceBook, Internet, Leadership, PD, PLN, Professional development, Professionalism, Reform, Social Media, Teched, Technology, Thought leadership, Twitter | 33 Comments

33 Responses

on January 12, 2013 at 1:06 PM | Reply Bonnie Frampton Faust

Professor Whitby,

I’m doing a PDP on using Twitter and other social media for professional development and also in the classroom. May I share your blog? If course I have MY hotlist if whom people should follow and you are on it lol but I think this post is a great ‘common sense’ intro to the basics 🙂

-Bonnie

____________________________ Bonnie D
- on January 12, 2013 at 1:16 PM | Reply tomwhitby
  
  B – Need you even make such a request? As it was when you were in my class, if I put it out there, it’s for you to take and share.
on January 12, 2013 at 2:28 PM | Reply Maureen Devlin

Thanks for writing this concise Twiiter explanation. I hope to share it with colleagues. I agree with all you points, and I’m grateful for all you’ve own to make the Twittersphere a place for collegial discussion, support and debate.
on January 12, 2013 at 4:25 PM | Reply Building a professional learning network on Twitter | TEFL & Educational Technologies | Scoop.it

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on January 12, 2013 at 6:09 PM | Reply Edwardfberger.com (Edward F. Berger, Ed.D.)

Tom, I have over a thousand ‘select’ followers now, mostly educators and parents. I have not used hashtags as I guess I don’t understand how they reach both parents and educators. Your, My Island View, post has helped me a lot. I still have one more question (always one more). When I blog on Word Press I do not know how to focus my work on those who would benefit from it the most. For example, I have a blog up re: Parent choice between district and charter schools. This has been tweeted and re-Tweeted, but what can I do to reach a broader audience. I use the tags I put on WP. I think I am missing an opportunity to communicate.
Ed
on January 12, 2013 at 7:33 PM | Reply thabomophiring

Reblogged this on Thabomophiring's Blog.
on January 12, 2013 at 11:56 PM | Reply Building a professional learning network on Twitter | My Island View | #etmooc and me

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on January 13, 2013 at 4:04 AM | Reply Janet Abercrombie

I had a hard time understanding Twitter at first – all the feeds felt random. What helped was to follow chats and start participating in those conversations. Once I got to know a few people through the chats, I knew some of their philosophies and their tweets seemed less random.
on January 13, 2013 at 11:54 AM | Reply Building a professional learning network on Twitter | Learn and Share | Scoop.it

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on January 15, 2013 at 4:32 AM | Reply NovaNews

Great post Tom. You succinctly sum up the value of both Twitter and PLNs. Like many, it took me a while to get the hang of Twitter, but the elation of getting there is reflected in a post I wrote Twittering to my heart’s content! on my fledgling blog and subsequently published in FYI – a library journal. I’ve heard others comment though that too many followers on Twitter results in overload and isn’t such a great idea. Your thoughts?
- on January 15, 2013 at 5:55 PM | Reply tomwhitby
  
  I have over 27,000 followers and I follow over 2,000. I do not have a problem. I also do not read every tweet on my timeline. I have created a number of columns on TweetDeck to follow specifically developed lists.A strategy for management is needed with large numbers.
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on January 26, 2013 at 2:26 PM | Reply 733lori

I am a newbie to blogging and twitter. I found this post about forming a PLN especially valuable this week. Your explanations have been very helpful. Thanks!
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