Twitter

I introduced the idea of using Twitter amongst my fellow H808 colleagues on the Open U's FCC system .. on the chance that others might be using it too.

Twitter has been better than email. With Twitter installed in Firefox as an addon (Twitterfox), I can get messages "pushed" to me for reading immediately by my colleagues and vice versa, I can "push" messages to them. We can "push" a simple message to all or a few. What do we mean by the term "push" here? Immediately after the message is written and sent.. it automatically comes to me .. I don't need to go looking or checking for it.

It's through my experience in using Twitter at work that I'm really supporting its use here. At work I stay connected with 5 colleagues 150 km away on another campus and even between the 3 of us here on the Abu Dhabi campus. Because we're all in a very small department (8 people) .. we're always either on the move or busy with something. Change is a constant.

How do I use Twitter at work?
We can solicit answers to questions. We can quickly announce new developments / changes in plans. We can confirm arrangements. We can arrange phone calls or direct someone to an email.

Why suggest Twitter for H808?
Because Twitter is so easy to use, I thought I might suggest using it to arrange last minute or impromptu synchronous commuications such as GTalk, Instant Messaging, Lyceum, etc. Even just to announce to others who are online .. what I'm working on. They might be saying "why?" or.. they might be saying "Hey! I'm working on that too .. perhaps we can connected to discuss issues..

Most important for H808 purposes, we can become better connected to support one another.

Here's a simple little video that goes a long way to explaining Twitter.



You can follow me on Twitter. Look for "buckinsand". Be sure to introduce yourself so I know who you are from our cohort.