Every Friday on Twitter, Tweeters will make recommendations based on their personal experience of exceptional people to follow on Twitter. As an educator, if I follow those recommendations I will almost certainly improve the quality and quantity of tweets I get on education since educators are the people who I follow for my own Personal Learning Network. Each of these tweets of recommendation will be tagged with the telltale hashtag #FF. This identifies them as such a recommendation and allows the hashtagged tweets to be aggregated.
In the evolution of Twitter it has become possible for each tweeter to create lists of people being followed into categories. Lists could be created for math teachers, or Administrators, or organizations. This would allow a tweeter the ability to aggregate tweets from a specific list dealing with a specific area of concern. It is another method of organizing information. These lists may be found in the profile of the Tweeter. A unique spin-off of this is that anyone can access anyone else’s profile giving access to those lists, as well as the ability to follow those very same people. If I have a great person that I follow offering great information, I might access that person’s lists to follow the same people they do. Their specific lists will focus my efforts even more.
Today, ever-trying to share good stuff, I decided to link out what I call “My Stalwart List” on an #FF tweet. It is a list of those, less than 100 people, from my big list of 2,000+ that I follow, who offer me up my best sources of education information. This is my personal Crème de la crème Twitter List. I shared that Link with my 29,000 followers, nice guy that I am. It was that act of sharing that brought my list to the attention of one of my female tweeters, a fact that I never even considered. I must admit to oblivious ignorance on this observation she made. My list was predominantly, male oriented.
How could that be? Of the 83 educators on my Stalwart list, only 23 were women, 28%. I asked, in a profession dominated by women, why do I have so few on my most influential list? I could understand it if I was dealing only with administrators because that is skewed in favor of men. The percentage of male administrators is not representative of the percentage of males in the education profession. It definitely exceeds it. Is it that Twitter itself appeals to males more than females? Could it be that women offer information more sparingly than men do? Could women be more passive when it comes to engagement in discussion on Twitter?
When I made my list up, my only consideration was who provided the most and best information and sources to me on Twitter. I never considered male or female, only tweeter. Do differences in men and women display themselves in the way each approach Twitter (The Venus and Mars debate)?
Thanks to Jennifer Borgioli @DataDiva I will never look at these lists the same. My #FF recommendation would be to follow her. She does vigorously promote gender awareness. The next big thing should be Educators of color on Twitter. Are they truly represented in the numbers that offer an equal share in the Social Media discussion on Education? I think not!
Your generosity helps me and all those who follow you. Thank you for communicating so completely. I am a creative, multilingual female and still feel eager to land my first RSP or SPED m/m lead teaching job, especially so that I may fulfill my UCLA Ext., university internship and get my Level 1 teaching credential, (in Los Angeles, CA). We are professionally improved by you and yours.
Nice! Thanks for asking the question. I have noticed some of the gender discrepancies you mention. I have a list of educational “leaders” on Twitter that has more men, and like you said, it’s not administration focused. However, unlike Jennifer, I’ve not stopped to ask why. I’ll have to go now and follow her.
Thanks,
Denise
I think men are more likely to contribute to Twitter. I think there are many female educators on Twitter, but they are less inclined to tweet. In my opinion, this happens because many women are not inclined to what feels like self-promotion. It takes some readjusting of how one sees oneself to realize that not only do we have worthwhile things to say to students, but that other educators could learn from us as well. In the PD sessions I’ve taught on Twitter, that is the hardest part is convincing teachers (mostly women) that they have something relevant to share with the world.
Just my humble opinion 🙂
@dierdreshetler
Great post, Tom. I am frequently aware of the lopsided Twitter demographic in general, and in my education PLC world specifically. I notice a parallel to the white, male-dominated voice in the heavy presence of tech integration specialists and STEM educators–people who might be more likely to be expected to, or even required to, participate in PLCs in this way and are also more likely to be male.
I look for diversity of perspective and interactive experiences, but it can be hard when there are fewer people who represent the broad spectrum of educational points of view such as experts in the arts and arts integration (my field), world languages, history, social studies, etc. With the lack of diversity, it can be easy to stay in silos, only talking to those with similar values.
Thanks for the thoughtful reflection. A worthy topic for examination… as we learn, who are our influencers and how does this impact the learning itself?
Since I read this post this around noontime, I keep thinking back to it. I rarely use the #ff on Twitter, but I got thinking about the Lists I maintain to help me keep a bit more organized on Twitter in addition to using TweetDeck. My Lists tend to be broken down by categories, such as ElemTeachers, MS/HSTeachers, Principals/Admin/Super, and I found in reviewing these Lists today that there did not appear to be any kind of distinction or imbalance in terms of gender. Still, it was an interesting study that made me reflect on how I use Twitter. At times, I do put people or organizations into a List that I don’t necessarily follow. Overall, I found your blog post of interest, but did not identify personally or professionally with the way you find yourself gravitating to specific “power” people to follow who are of one gender.
Is this smoke? Is there fire?
I don’t know. I know that @DataDiva can be quite…vigorous…on gender-related issues, but I am not convinced that you’ve done anything wrong or that your list needs modification.
Is there any issue somewhere? Maybe? Are you sexist in who you follow? Maybe? Is there a gender disbalance on twitter? Maybe? Are women and men differently interested/willing to share their education stuff publicly? Maybe?
I don’t know what’s really going on here. But vague notion of quotas or thresholds for its own sake? I can’t get on board with that. I want to see a well developed theory (not necessarily proven or anything) for what is going on, so that that theorized problem can be addressed.
If it could be addressed.
That sounds like a familiar response from a member of the category being looked at. Keep things as they are because that’s how they are…
I think many women educators simply do not have the time to participate in Twitter chats or to blog. They undertake a lot of home-related responsibilities and that seriously diminishes the amount of time they can use for professional interactions. Just think of mono-parental cases (which account for nearly 30% of today’s families) and you would understand – a single mother will definitely have other priorities to focus on.
As far as I am concerned, I never follow nor will ever follow people based on gender. Inspiring, resourceful educators can be found regardless of gender. The opposite is true, as well.
Maybe you narrowed your own view by sticking to the same people and never refreshing your list with less popular ones. I learned a lot more from the latter type because they are not trapped in clichés, do not replicate content, and pose interesting questions that you wouldn’t find in the “mainstream” blogosphere/Twitter stream.
I personally started to step away from social media more often because it increases my screen time and I miss a lot of other things that I enjoy (such as reading, walking…). As Roger Cohen said, “…oversharing and status anxiety, the two great scourges of the modern world”.
I notice the same thing about my own Twitter follows, Tom. I tend to think that there is a three-fold reason behind the discrepancy. First, women are by nature more reserved and unwilling to “toot their own horn.”
Secondly, women are more interpersonal in communications. I work with so ma ny talented women who will share things face to face, but aren’t really interested or engaged in the idea of developing an online
PLC. Finally,it is not for no reason there is a STEM. discrepancy beyween genders. Women are largely less familiar and comfortable with technology. Sad, but in my experience, true.
I have noticed this and I agree with CristinaM. The issue is TIME! Even though one of my goals is to contribute more, both on Twitter and through blogging, the immediate priorities that come with being a working mother of young children make it difficult.
Interesting perspective. I think it could have something to do with who shares what with whom on twitter. I subscribe to the theory that people (both men and women) are more a like than different, but, in general, the sexes do share different sets of interests. I think, perhaps, just as some television shows, and some films attract one sex more than another, some tweets may experience a similar phenomenon. From what I read in your blog entry, you compiled your list base on what was shared with you via twitter, that resonated with you. You probably share more interests in the males tweets in your feed than the female tweets, perhaps. Either way, very interesting indeed.
I have noticed this practice in myself at times. I have sat and looked through my #FFs on Fridays and noticed a lack of females educators included, and I actually follow many of them closely. There are many I rely on, for great conversation, challenges to my thinking and just plan new information I was unaware of. Why do I forget to include so many? Not all of them, but there are many I forget to mention. Thanks for helping me to be more conscientious of that. A very helpful post.