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Some of you probably thought my use of the term “Twitterati” in that last post was a bit “cruel”.
I have to admit, it’s true that some definitions, like those at the Urban Dictionary – the ones I just pointed you to towards, look as if they could have been written by teenage geeks that secretly want to join the gang of “cool kids” at their High School (or were simply written by homophobes, perhaps).
There are no real secrets surrounding the Twitterati in any field/sector or interest area – they are dead easy to spot.
BTW – I hate the term “follower” with a passion…just so you know!
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Yes, some tweeps might prize their status in an “elite crowd”, they might have an ego bigger than a bus, and…they might even shed a tear when so-and-so manages to gather more “followers” than those in their own Twibe (go on – you know what this is).
It doesn’t matter really – in EDUcation, I define Twitterati as those who use Twitter…actively (or like me, over-actively) – regardless of the motivations for doing so.
The “elite” side of things is still there – this crops up because, as Tom Whitby has pointed out (in the case of the USA), there are so bloody few of us!
Now, you see why I asked the question I asked…
…not just because I am a High School “mean girl”!
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Is it only me that finds it ironic that so many of us promote the use of Twitter…to the so-called “unconnected” or “semi-connected”…by posting on Twitter?
But, then again – how do we reach them?
Neyse…
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Tom has calculated (or made a “calculated guess”) that there are only 200 to 300,000 “connected” educators in the US (the ones that would probably have a Twitter account and do loads more on-line stuff). This is from a total population of between 7.2m to 11m EDUcators…across the USA – that’s around 4% or 1.8%, if we use the extremes (read his post to find out why no one “knows” how many American teachers there are).
OMG! That ain’t a lot…ain’t many at all!
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Tom’s post also got me thunking – about how popular EDUtweeting actually is.
Taking my lead from him, I randomly selected 8 of my favourite EDUthunkers (and authors) and also 8 of my favourite “connected” EDUcators (people who have a decent digital presence and leave enough footprints to inspire me…and help me LEARN). In truth, there’s a bit of overlap between the two groups – but let’s not quibble.
As these people mean so much to me in my “second life”, I wondered how many other people might feel the same. Yeah, I had to use “followers”…sorry!
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Here’s what I came up with:
Kinda frackin’ drops off after “Sir Ken”, don’t it?
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But, take a closer look…and then…compare those numbers with Justin Beiber or Paris Hilton (above)!
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Lady Gaga puts on a good show…I like the way she pushes the envelope in dance…love her views on “tolerance”! BUT, come on – how can she have 40,167,626 more followers….than Howard Gardner?
The man is an eduGOD!
BUT, then again…look at HIS followers.
Even our dear own RTE has more followers than the big, bearded guy in the sky!
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If these numbers are some / any kind of indication of the amount of thunking we are doing (across the planet…yes, the whole bloody world! ) with regards EDUcation, TEACHing and LEARNing….
…we are sooooooooooo screwed!
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When we think about Tom’s numbers…on connected TEACHers, the same type of worry starts to get to me. Of course, many of these non-TWEACHers (yep, you got it!), could be doing loads of other great professional development stuff (reading those “book-thingies” or doin’ some of that there book LEARNin’, for example) – we just don’t know…
In fact, no-one knows for sure how many TEACHers are actually on Twitter – especially…in…
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I tried to find out…let it never be said that I do not go that extra mile for you all…and got a high-priority, emergency tweet to Dick Costolo (CEO of Twitter) asking him a (very polite) question…
…the buggar ignored me!
Does he not know who “I” am? At all?
Actually, way before this…I did do a bit more hard-nosed research.
Just before Summer, I was lucky enough to be invited to be a co-presenter at a series of technologically-themed professional development seminars. These were held over 3 glorious weekends (on the Island of Cyprus…the Northern bit!) and, in total, around 375-400 teachers (from around canım Türkiyem) participated in these 2-day events (and did a lot of dancing, too…a lot)!
As part of my sessions, I did a few quick straw-polls – you know:
A. How many of you have a Twitter account?
B. How many of you use Twitter to develop yourself professionally?
C. How many of you use Twitter with your students (as part of their learning opportunities)?
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The responses:
Didn’t fill me with confidence!
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But, at least…a lot of people who came over to the Island (in Summer) said they would give it a try – many have tweeted me (yeah!)…lots have “friended” me on Facebook (I share a lot there, too).
This is how we reach our semi-connected or unconnected TEACHers…on Cyprus, in the Summer, while dancing!
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We collaborate (face-to-face),
connect (face-to-face) and
care (face-to-face)…too!
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I’m gonna need a “Postscript”
– ain’t I?
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NOTE from the CBO:
If you are interested in following some great EDUcators and TEACHers on Twitter, why not take a look at some of these lists:
- 100+ Connected EDUcators to Follow on Twitter (by Tom Whitby)
- 50 Women TWEACHers: Women in EDUcation you should follow on Twitter (by Angela Boothroyd)
- 50 EDUcation Leaders Worth Following on Twitter (by Jeff Dunn)
- The Top 10 EDUcation Experts to Follow on Twitter (by Jenny Inglee)
- 10 EDUcators on Twitter You Should Follow (But Probably Don’t) (from TeachThought)
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And, give these ones a quick gander, too:
- 54 Smart THINKers Everyone Should Follow on Twitter (from Business Insider)
- 25 of the SMARTest Women on Twitter (from Fast Company)
- Ten Imaginative THINKers to Follow on Twitter (by Ashleigh Blomfield)
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I’ll be honest, I do not follow all of them – and there’s a couple of them in there that I wouldn’t be seen dead tweeting (or twerking) with…the choice is all yours!
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P.S: If you have found these last posts useful, why not print them out…”adopt” a non-TWEACHer…take him for coffee and “walk” him through the Twitter process (tell him about your experiences, show him your account & favourite tweets (& tweeps), let him ask his own questions…play around together!) 😉
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allthingslearning 