Twitter and its use in the Higher Ed Web Dev Community

[Seth Meranda]

Late last year I changed my Facebook status to read "Why should I use Twitter?" Within five minutes, Matt Herzberger had a post on my wall with some resources to get me started. So I decided to take the plunge and have been mildly tweeting (twittering ?) ever sense.



Last December, a social media expert and blogger, Jeremiah Owyang, asked all of his readers to connect in Twitter through his blog. Me and hundreds of others took this opportunity to network with other like-minded users.



Since then, the conversations and insight have exploded. I have been able to track the latest and greatest news before it hits the RSS feeds. I have been enriched by everything I have taken in. On the flip side, I have shared a few thoughts but have yet to contribute at a level equal to the value I receive.



One of my complaints so far is the lack of connections I have made with Higher Ed Developers. I have talked and discussed with a few dozen users, but I haven't seen a consistent thread of conversations related to our industry. Do you use Twitter? Would you like to connect with other Twitter users? As the Ning network expands, and the IRC channel grows, is there room for Twitter?



You can follow my tweets at: http://twitter.com/smeranda. If you follow me, I will follow you back. If you would like to connect with more twitter users, leave your twitter ID in the comments. If a list grows, I will add them to this post and the Ning Network.

[Also cross-posted at http://imhe.blogspot.com]

[Katie Foraker]

@busimagebuilder-Jane-We have considered the same issues but because Twitter is a third-party, not hosted by your university you are not liable for students bullying each other on Twitter. Twitter also makes it easy to block and report users. I see more issues with a Facebook fan page on this point because others come and comment on your page, whereas Twitter is the Twitterverse, cyber bullies can specifically target students on your fan page. You can report users through facebook who use hate speech, indecent content etc. You can also have a disclaimer that bullying, hate speech etc, will not be tolerated and you will delete their post. Many blogs have that same kind of disclaimer and you are free to delete posts as you like.

[Jane Davis]

I was wondering if anyone has looked into liability issues with 'tweeting'. One of our concerns is what if some students start bullying or stalking through Twitter and what would be the implications of that to the college if it did happen?

[Kevin deLeon]

Nice post. I made a post on my blog about my experience so far as well with Twitter over at http://mydesigncouldbeatupyourdesign.com/blog/

[Matt Herzberger]

Seth, I made a post in the forum in case anyone misses this. Also Jerimaih is doing a free webinar on Thurs.