Not that a ton of teens are tweeting on Twitter just yet, but if helpful hacks like GovTweets take hold, the PoliSci exam cram kids will be au courant in a micro-second with these little info capsules!
Created by Canadian political analyst Stephen Taylor, it’s a cool ‘day in the life’ of media mindshare in our ongoing Age of Conversation. He’s made it so that the tweets update constantly with any mention of the four core candidates, and there’s even a Facebook app!
There’s no archive (which pretty much means you snooze you lose if you’re seeking a link that’s already scrolled off the page) but I’m sure someone will create one if the demand for searchability is there. After all that’s how Twittervision and the digital Twitterati of the Twitterverse ended up with a gazillion Twitter off-shoots and applications!
Here are some recent Govtweets per TechCrunch to give you a feel for how this can help or hinder politicians in a few keystrokes. Media literacy and deconstruction are a “given” to avoid a mind-meld of misinformation. btw…for all of you who have requested to ‘follow me on Twitter’…
I must confess I’m dodging due to overload, taking a page out of nonprofit guru Beth Kanter’s Twitter advice to “only be there if you have the time to do it right”…which I don’t (yet) until I find a clone.
That said, I DO go in anonymously on occasion just to see what’s cookin’…I find the microblogging mix of Tiny URL links to cool conversations an amazingly convenient form of content rich info.
I just feel like I’m in “tmi” mode so often that I can’t risk another “knowledge addiction” until I can get a more consistent/reliable fleet of helpers…so, alas…
If anyone wants to be our Twitter Correspondent, send your techno-savvy chops our way!
I also have my eye on an awesome 14-year old blogger in Singapore that I’d love to recruit onto our team. What say you Xavier? Want to be Shaping Youth’s ‘Kid Tech Guru’ and help lead our youth teams?
We’re doing some beta testing in virtual worlds soon that I’d love you to wrap your eco-thoughts around…You’re applauded and welcomed here with open arms! Granted, you’re probably on your way to making your millions already instead of the nonprofit route, but as a sidelight maybe?
Think on it. Hmnnn?? 😉
GovTweet Sample from TechCrunch
An Alaskan’s Perspective on Sarah Palin: A down-to-earth description of Sarah Palin’s time as Alaska’s Gover.. http://tinyurl.com/6h7h69
August 31st – 4:52:47 am PST
GOP Alaska State Senator: Palin Not Ready to Be Gov/VP: “She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be p.. http://tinyurl.com/5gp6mk
August 31st – 4:52:43 am PST
Who scrubbed Wikipedia’s entry for Sarah Palin just before nom announcement? http://tinyurl.com/6n9dnk
August 31st – 4:51:41 am PST
Interesting watching the Obama meme evolve: http://tinyurl.com/6nyehp Worth seeing all three pages.
August 31st – 4:51:21 am PST
An Alaskan’s Perspective on Sarah Palin: A down-to-earth description of Sarah Palin’s time as Alaska’s G.. http://tinyurl.com/6h7h69
August 31st – 4:51:02 am PST
Related Shaping Youth Articles About Twitter
New Media Made Easy: Wikis, RSS, and Twitter Defined
Did Jott the Vote Decide to “Move On?”
Media’s Positive Impact on Kids: Twitter Sends An Orphan To College
Teen Heroes Twitter Journalism & Media Transparency
Using Mobile to Mobilize: Tapping Into Teens Info Needs
Teen Twitter: Mobile Social Media Minutiae (oh how long ago this seems!)
Check out Britt Bravo’s post here on “Ask Britt: Using Twitter to Answer, “What Tools Can I Use to Teach Classes Online?”
http://havefundogood.blogspot.com/2008/08/ask-britt-using-twitter-to-answer-how.html
Insightful!!! (as always…)
Amy, Your audience might be interested in these two new resources:
Teaching With & About The Political Conventions
http://www.frankwbaker.com/teaching_the_conventions.htm
Lights, Camera, Debate: How To Watch a Presidential Debate Using A Media Literacy Perspective (from the current issue of Cable In The Classroom magazine)
http://www.ciconline.org/cicmagazine-sept08
Frank, this is fabulous, and we’ll do a full feature on it for the fall B2S…in fact, there’s a perfect digital/virtual world opportunity to incorporate this with a site in beta if you’d be game.
I’ll ping you offline to discuss it further…I think informal learning and participatory media literacy could be a big coup taking it into a VW style platform in a fun new manner…More via phone, then we can set up a conf. call too. Talk soon. Congrats on this, –best, Amy