Twitter is MORE than Honey Boo Boo Child

Sometimes it's just plain amazing to see what you can find floating through Twitter. 

 

KNOW WHERE TO LOOK AND YOU CAN FIND HONEY BOO BOO:

AND SPANDEX AND HAIR BOWS:

AND CATS.  LOTS AND LOTS OF CATS.  AND EVEN MORE CATS:

 

 

 

BUT IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK, YOU'LL ALSO FIND INSPIRATION:

 

CONTENT THAT CHALLENGES YOUR THINKING:

 

INTERESTING QUESTIONS:

CELEBRATIONS:

 

IN DEPTH CONVERSATIONS:

AND NEW CONNECTIONS:

 

MORAL OF THE STORY: Give Twitter a chance.  It's a powerful place where educators are learning together -- and learning together matters.

#simpletruth

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Related Radical Reads:

Twitter as a Tool for Professional Development

Twitter is Only ONE PLN Building Tool

Twitter Can SAVE You Time

Five Twitter Hashtags for School Leaders

Twitter Hashtags for Educators

A Twitter Push-Back

 

Comments

[Tina Bessias]

I'm not a huge fan of "deep conversation" conducted in 140-word bursts, but I was willing to consider your position until that oh-so-superior closing hashtag. I wouldn't have pegged you as someone who thinks the truth is simple and he has a lock on it.

[Bill Ferriter]

Tina wrote:

I was willing to consider your position until that oh-so-superior
closing hashtag. I wouldnt have pegged you as someone who thinks the
truth is simple and he has a lock on it.

- - - - - - - - -

Interesting take, Tina.

What makes you think that #simpletruth is an oh-so-superior hashtag? If you spend time poking through my blog, youll see that I use that phrase all the time -- and its never intended as I told you so. Instead its intended as if theres one thing I want you to take away from this bit, here it is.

Dont you think its possible that the tone you heard in that hashtag has been shaped by your own experiences? Is it possible that you made an assumption -- hes being superior here -- that just isnt true?

Whats also interesting is that this is the first time that you and I have ever crossed paths. Youve never commented on my blog or interacted with me in Twitter. Weve never had any connection outside of this comment.

Dont you think that reality makes it difficult -- even unfair -- to peg me as anything? Can you really peg someone that you really dont know -- and isnt the suggestion that you can the same kind of superior thinking that you are frustrated by?

Youve really got me thinking about what we know about the people who publish in digital spaces. Thats an important lesson for anyone who is living in todays world to wrestle with.

Thanks for that challenge!
Bill

[Hatcherelli]

Great post, Bill! I have always told people that Twitter is only as good as the people that you follow. #simpletruth Yeah sure, there is a pile of crap being shared on Twitter but, as you mention, there is also GOLD. I find that Twitter is a great filter for me to find GOLD through the people that I follow. All that information on the internet being filtered for me by my PLN. I, in turn, share what I think is good to my followers...and anyone else who wants to listen.
I thought back to this http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2011/02/twitter-can-save-you-time.html with happened almost two years ago.
I have grown and learned so much since then and it thanks to awesome educators like you. #simpletruth
BTW...the hashtag provides great punctuation and I can certainly vouch that it is a trademark of yours having read your stuff for so long!
Stay GOLD!
Derek

[Tina Bessias]

Hi Bill. Thanks for your thoughtful response. I've followed your blog silently and intermittently, I suppose, which is how I follow most blogs. Maybe my eye just didn't fall on that hashtag before.

Don't you find lots of people trying to make big claims about technology, teaching, religion, politics--anything, really--and claiming they're "simple truths"? I do think there's an inherent statement of superiority implied: I know the "simple truth," and if you don't agree, then your understanding is too low to be worth engaging.

Maybe you meant it differently, using "simple truth" as a small thing to build on instead of a grand claim.

I'll keep dipping my spoon into the Twitter stream when I can. For now, though, it ranks below the middle of my list of favorite tech tools.