Comments on: passing notes and twittering behind your back

By: Bernadette

Bernadette — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:51:09 +0000

Very good point, B. But come to think of it, no one is passing notes in class anymore. Guess we’re showing our age to even think of that as an analogy!
I checked out Len’s utterz and am looking forward to the presentation Tues. I have learned a great deal in a short time thanks to your class including most especially why I should put some things I already knew about to use.

By: Beth Dunn

Beth Dunn — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:54:04 +0000

Aha – but how would you feel if you went back to Twitter after you presented, and saw a long line of tweets to the effect of “Bernadette is rocking the house with this talk” and “if you’re not in Room 211 watching Bernadette’s talk you are missing out” and things of that nature?

A lot of live-twitttering is just another way of re-broadcasting an event or a talk, so the fact that people want to do so means they think what you are presenting is of value.

I imagine that as a middle school teacher you rarely confiscate notes in class that say complimentary things about you (just guessing) but that has been my experience with live-twittering most events.

If you’ve ever been interviewed by a member of the press, it’s kind of like the feeling you get when you are talking, and talking, and answering their questions, and FINALLY they write something you say down in their little notebook.

You’re like THANK GOD I finally said something they think is newsworthy.

By: bwaystack

bwaystack — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:14:15 +0000

It is a little like passing notes in class—spoken like the middle school teacher I am, eh? Except the problem these days has been texting in class, even to the point of giving answers in the middle of the exam. I don’t think the 11-to 14 year old demographic I live in the midst of has infiltrated Twitter yet. I hope they never do, frankly. But I wonder about high school level.
I guess I may be a bit “old-fashioned” in my thinking, but I do feel it is not much different from taking the phone call at the expense of the live person right there in front of you. Maybe it all depends on the circumstances and time and place. Certainly from a business point, you don’t want the sales clerk, wait staff, etc. checking their phone/computer etc. for messages texted or tweeted when you’re right there in front of them trying to get information, help, service, goods.
On the other hand, when the burden’s on you as the presenter to engage your audience and really give them something they want, guess the shoe–or phone– will be on the other foot. Maybe people will be getting “tweeted” like they used to get booed?
Since I don’t even have have texting on my current cell phone, you won’t have to worry about me Tuesday night. I won’t be lugging my PC to class. And even if I did, that would be one HUGE note I would be trying to pass and everyone would be able to tell.

By: Beth Dunn

Beth Dunn — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:28:34 +0000

I think that is an EXCELLENT idea.

By: Len Edgerly

Len Edgerly — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:10:00 +0000

This is a great post! I’ve made a note to make sure I have your Twitter feed set for notification on my iPhone, so I’ll get a buzz in my pocket whenever you pass a note in class. “Miss Dunn, do you have something you’d like to share with the REST of the class…?” . Or else, “Hold on, I’ve got to Twitter Beth….” We’re breaking new ground here, and I’m liking it… Seriously, I think this really is a chance to fool around with Twitter on the speaker-audience dimension and see what we might find out. Maybe we can offer a positive alternative to the Zuckerberg interview Tweetdown at SXSW.