All of a twitter
by
Matt Lingard
ALT is now providing regular news updates via Twitter, including links
to upcoming events, ALT-J articles & additions to the ALT Repository.
One of the increasingly popular uses of Twitter is as a
'backchannel' for conferences. Twitter enables both delegates and
those unable to attend in person to participate online, comment on
& discuss sessions, share links and make new contacts.
At ALT-C 2009, Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, believes that
"Twitter came of age... it was the single most important discussion and
communication tool being used by the majority of the delegates". Statistics
produced by Brian Kelly, UKOLN, UK Web Focus, show that in the week of
the conference there were over 4,300 conference related Twitter updates
published by more than 600 Twitter users. Through the use of a shared
hashtag included in updates (#altc2009) it was easy to follow
everyone's ALT-C updates via tools such as Twitter Search & Twitterfall. Many of the 600 were not delegates at the conference but participating remotely. Philip Paasuke followed the conference from Australia
and feels that Twitter provided "an interesting perspective on what
participants at the conference and those observing it remotely were
thinking about the various presentations".
To follow ALT on Twitter go to twitter.com/A_L_T.
Matt Lingard
London School of Economics and Political Science
mattlingard@gmail.com
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