One social media platform in particular, Twitter, gives its users real-time access to posts called "tweets" and other user's reactions to those status updates. More often than not, these tweets are filled with intentional content used to make its readers feel a certain way, react a certain way, and respond a certain way. Below you will find a particular tweet that presents a constant argument among educators and the education world- teacher pay.
As you can see, the tweet itself and the responses have brief, but powerful content. This is because tweets are limited to the number of characters used in posts. As Hicks (2013) states, "the art and skill of composing something as seemingly simple as a tweet is more than simply typing a limited number of characters into a small box" (p. 142). This tweet takes into consideration the type of social media it is being presented on (short phrases that get straight to the point), the audience that will be captured by the post (teachers who relate to the frustration many feel about teacher pay), and the purpose behind posting a controversial issue such as teacher pay (to bring light to how teacher pay is not enough on its own to support families). Because of the power in the content and portrayal, various Twitter users were prompted to respond to the original tweet with their own opinions and experience on the suggested topic. As Turner and Hicks (2017) states, "often, we don't recognize that the simple act of sharing information itself makes a claim, positioning us in certain ways- and that those who read what we share can engage in the argument" (p. 104).
Although this tweet did catch other users' attention, use a popular hashtag, and elicit a response from them, the composition of the tweet could have been different in order to have been more engaging. The use of visuals, emojis, call to actions, and even link to statistics on teacher salaries could have improved the effectiveness of this tweet.
Finding the "just right" way to compose a tweet can be pretty tricky. To discover way to make your tweets more visually appealing and more effective in its design and content, visit the links included.
References
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
HSTeachProbs. (2019, November 3). Tweet.
Hutchinson, A. (2016). 8 tips for creating more effective tweets (from Twitter). Retrieved from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/8-tips-creating-more-effective-tweets-twitter
Lufkens, M. (2017). The perfect tweet. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@luefkens/the-perfect-tweet-ece83ad60e4b
Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.
Whether we like it or not, social media is a huge part of a student's literacy life outside of school. The big idea of teaching social media writing is to teach students how to share their work and communicate with others in meaningful and responsible way, and how students establish their online identities through social media can have lasting implications for their future (Hicks, 2013).
ReplyDeleteTwitter is a great tool to use to make a digital argument. I completely agree that since users are only given 140 characters, they must make their point in a direct way. However, this does tend to cause students and other users to post things without thinking first. Hicks (2013) states that “social network posts are often first draft thinking in a final draft form” (p. 147). When I read this quote, I immediately think about twitter. It is easy to respond and tweet without being intentional first. As educators, I believe it is part of our job to teach students how to be responsible users on social media.
ReplyDeleteTwitter is a great tool to use when teaching writing. Turner and Hicks (2017) suggest that we teach students to be mindful "readers," (p. 109) by teaching them to monitor their reading, identify the claim, and note the evidence. I think this could easily be applied to social media, and would also help in their normal reading skills as well.
ReplyDeleteTwitter has grown on me the last few years! I have never been able to get into it on a personal level, but as far as educational information, this website is the best! It really can turn into a rabbit hole because there is SO much information to access on Twitter. "Even though Twitter has only a fraction of the number of users other social networks have, its impact on conversations between people around the world with common interests has been significant" (Hicks, 2013, p.141).
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