I have always avoided social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and anything else that encourages users to share every detail of their lives. After all, I kind of have my own life and therefore I do not need to hear about what Steve ate for dinner or what Sarah is doing at this particular moment in time.
However, I am starting to think that maybe i was a bit quick to distance myself completely from these tools. After this past week, I can see that if used correctly, these tools can open up a wealth of information as they connect me with people that I normally wouldn’t have a chance to interact with. This in turn brings my PLN to a level that could not otherwise be achieved.
Although I just joined Twitter (@dhoekstra), I am already seeing its power as I start to follow a trail. I click on an interesting Tweet and then I can see who is following this person and who they follow. This leads to more and more interesting people and tweets. While I have already come across lots of great educational information (and “wasted” a whole lot of time doing so), I can see that the amount of information pouring in could get overwhelming. TweetDeck has helped but I still will have to find the right balance. I’m afraid that if I get blasted with too much information, I may just shut down and not go back.
Run With EdTech! 
Dan – your pictures at the bottom really do represent the sheer overwhelming feeling of trying to use any large volume social media service. When I first started my Twitter account, I didn’t see much point in it – but that rapidly changed as I started to follow high “signal to noise ratio” people. If you asked me today to give up one communications tool, my last choice would be Twitter because of all I’ve learned and will learn from great people across the world.
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Dan – I love those photos too! When I first started using twitter I was also overwhelmed. How do I find people to follow? How do I keep up with all the tweets? I was a lurker for a long time before I finally started participating and sharing. I’m still working on that, but the connections I have made are amazing. I also love that features like hashtags, edchats, etc. provide me with ongoing professional development on my time and anytime. Happy to connect with you and look forward to more opportunities to share our learning.
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