Why would you Twitter or Yammer

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Why would you Twitter or Yammer?
Michael Coghlan ConVerge 4/12/09
This presentation on the web at
http//www.slideshare.net/michaelc/why-would-you-
twitter-yammer
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FROM SMOKE SIGNALS TO THE INTERNET
http//www.flickr.com/photos/sundve/3766277273
Man - the compulsive communicator. (David
Attenborough)
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Whats this?
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Whats this?
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Whats this?
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Whats this?
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We shape our tools and thereafter our tools
shape us. (McLuhan) Each new communication tool
has the potential to change the way we
communicate. In its early years the Internet
delivered email, discussion forums and text
chat, and these tools quickly and radically
changed the way much of humanity communicated.
Most recently Twitter has again changed the
communication landscape forever.
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WE SHAPE OUR TOOLS AND THEREAFTER OUR TOOLS
SHAPE US. (MCLUHAN)
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WHY?

• Because
• Youre totally cool?
• You want to be like the totally cool people?
• 140 characters is about all your writing skills
  can manage?
• I have to share everything with my friends and
  colleagues?
• The Prime Minister and John Cleese do it?
• You have a lot of spare time?
• Youre a twit?

?
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WHY?

• You like to get latest
• breaking news as it
• happens?
• May 2008 Twitter beats media in reporting
  China earthquake."
• An almost real time search tool
• Now being used by some as an alternative search
  tool to Google
• Use of the hash tag eg edayz09

http//www.flickr.com/photos/29281982_at_N00/10195160
7/
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WHY?

• I like to keep in touch with my
• colleagues beyond my immediate
• work team.
• It has been a very useful way of extending my
  network beyond my existing network which is
  limited to my campus and the people I come into
  contact with through my day to day work.
  (Yammer)
• I feel connected. Its like having colleagues
  all in the room at the same time, ready to answer
  questions and help out. (Yammer)

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WHY?

• I like getting and sharing new
• ideas about my work.
• ...it has provided me with information about
  things happening at other campuses that I
  probably wouldn't have heard about otherwise.
  (Yammer)
• New ideas and information, finding out what's
  out there, some practical things to use.

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WHY?

• I like having a place to ask
• questions and help others where
• I can.
• Accessing information quickly from many
  sources, helping others where I have knowledge
  that will assist them.
• A wealth of current info and a wonderful way to
  get quick answers to a problem you might have.

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WHY?

• I like the idea of contributing to a
• body of knowledge that all the
• members of my network (or organisation) have
  access to.
• (Knowledge Management)
• It's a brief, instant messaging
• system (that) saves time and reaches
• more people in one click, thus provides
• the potential for a greater range of
• information sharing/gathering.

http//www.flickr.com/photos/jordigraells/20975548
47/
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WHY?

• It helps me gain confidence to
• ask questions.
• It has helped me gain the courage and the
  confidence to just ask the questions - whatever
  that may be - I feel that those who I talk with
  regularly are a bit more 'real' so I am no longer
  fearful of looking 'stupid'. .... Have visited
  far more (educational) sites based on info from
  Yammer than any other method in all my years with
  TAFE.

http//www.flickr.com/photos/alicepopkorn/38946379
70/
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WHY?

• I like to communicate with others about live
  presentations Im attending.
• TRACKING THE BACK CHANNEL

There is no longer any such thing as
an audience.
See presentation at http//www.slideshare.net/mich
aelc/tracking-the-back-channel
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http//www.flickr.com/photos/bjoern/70875998
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End User Innovation
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LETS SEE WHAT THE TWITTER NETWORK SAYS......
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Can you use these tools in teaching?

• Teaching with Twitter (Steve Wheeler)
• Twit Board Notify students of changes to course
  content, schedules, venues or other important
  information. (could be done with phone)
• Summing Up Ask students to read an article or
  chapter and then post their brief summary or
  précis of the key point(s). A limit of 140
  characters demands a lot of academic discipline.
  v
• Twit Links Share a hyperlink a directed task
  for students each is required to regularly
  share one new hyperlink to a useful site they
  have
• Micro Write Progressive collaborative writing
  on Twitter. Students agree to take it in turns to
  contribute to an account or story over a period
  of time.
• Use the backchannel to provide feedback on
  classes in real time v

http//www.flickr.com/photos/interplast/141013553/
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The Downside

• Twitter people with
• something to sell may
• follow you (you can block them)
• Takes time It has highlighted how much time
  some people have on their hands! (Yammer)
  BUT... the more you put into it, the more you get
  out of it.
• There is a lot of trivia

http//www.flickr.com/photos/maniya/2471677206/
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The Downside

• I am troubled about the
• underlying idea that good and
• useful communication must be extemporaneous.....e
  xtemporaneous conversations are taxed with a
  degradation of quality.
• No opportunity to reflect on what has been said
  so far, ... and to research facts and opinions
  that lie beyond the immediate circle of
  conversation. (Frank Lowney)

http//www.flickr.com/photos/maniya/2471677206/
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IMPACT?
Image courtesy of Mike Seyfang http//flickr.com/p
hotos/mikeblogs/2506591015/
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RESOURCES

• Teaching with Twitter (Steve Wheeler)
• Presenting in a networked age (Clark Quinn)
• Many other resources about Twitter at
  http//delicious.com/mikecogh/twitter
• How do you use Yammer?
• TAFE SA Use of Yammer Survey Results

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THANK YOU

• Michael Coghlan
• michaelc_at_chariot.net.au

This presentation on the web at
http//www.slideshare.net/michaelc/why-would-you-
twitter-yammer