This document summarizes the Twitter accounts that a student followed for an assignment. It describes several educators' accounts that posted frequently about educational topics and resources and encouraged student engagement. It also reviews the popular singer Taylor Swift's account, noting she has many followers but tweets normal personal updates in addition to promotions. The student found various accounts informative and intends to continue following some that provided interesting educational links and perspectives.
1. Theresa Jackson
CI 350
Dr. Harold Blanco
Twitter Assignment
Following @wiseinWV:
Over the last few months this user has been educational. The activity on this page was very high.
The account was a couple times a day on average. However, I discovered that the post became very
repetitive. Another detail I noticed was that the user did significantly more retweeting, than they did
tweeting. I think this user is providing pertinent information about sex in a very accessible format. The
profile has 319 followers, which is relatively high. The tweets are retweeted fairly regularly and cover
numerous topics from STD’s to contraception. The information provided appeared to be sound and
clear. I commented on one post by this user, pertaining to an event I attended. They tweeted from that
event and I replied, expressing my opinion of the event. I would like to see more things tweeted which
encourage follower participation. Overall, I think the page is a relatively successful twitter account.
2. Following @CI350class:
This twitter was interesting. The first few weeks the only thing on this twitter was how far the
user had biked. There was, however, a spike in activity during the international festival on Marshall’s
campus. The photos the user posted where cool insights into the festival. After that the user tweeted in
spurts. On November 17th alone there were 7 individual tweets. Most of the tweets during this time
were educational or technology related. There were a plethora of different topics covered in the links
tweeted by the user. One link I found particularly interesting was from teachthought.com. The link
addresses the 7 dimensions of learning which, was a neat concept. Another spurt occurred on Dec. 3rd
when the user began tweeting in response to the chokehold death of Mr. Gardner. I found the
educational resources on this feed to be very helpful.
3. Following @GwynethJones:
This user had a really high number of tweets, during the period I have been following. Total she
has almost 30,000 tweets. She has over 20,000 followers, which is a huge number. This user calls herself
The Daring Librarian. Most of her tweets are pertaining to her students. I thought this was really cool
because you can see the level of interaction she is fostering. She and her students have been doing a
project called #storyin140. She has tweeted numerous times about it. From what I gather it is simple
creating a story using a tweet. She is obviously an advocate for technology usage. You can see that she is
actively using twitter to communicate and encourage her students. I will definitely continue to follow
this account.
4. Following @NMHS_Principal AKA @E_Sheninger
This user has changed his Twitter handle since the video was released. His old profile directs you
to his new one. This account was even more active than @GwynethJones. This account has almost
74,000 followers. The tweet count was also really high with over 37,000 tweets. The user posts everyday
multiple times a day. Most of his tweets are educational links. I looked through several of the links and
found more cool resources. After watching the users TEDx talk I had to retweet it. His video stresses the
importance of allowing students to learn the way the know how, which is digitally. His page is active and
intriguing.
5. Following @taylorswift13:
I had trouble deciding what other person to follow. After much deliberation I settled on Taylor
Swift. I found that her ratio of Tweets to Retweets was about even. She has 3,025 tweet, which is less
than the two educators I have listed before her. In contrast she has more than 48 million followers. To
put that number into perspective, she has roughly 650 times as many followers than @E_Sheninger. A
fair number of her tweets are self-promotion. She tweeted recently about watching her appearance in
the VS fashion show. Surprisingly, though I found that a fair number of her tweets are normal. When I
say normal, I mean like Videos of her decorating for Christmas #nofilter. One of the reasons I chose T.
Swift is because I’m draw to the idea that she is somehow just like me. Her Twitter account confirms this
idea. I’m definitely going to continue following her.
