Tweeting

Who knew I'd become a Tweeter?! I signed up for an account last year, and then promptly forgot all about it. I had signed up after a great librarian meeting that got me excited all excited about the networking opportunities. I was convinced I'd use it to check on people in my field, but wouldn't have to tweet anything out myself. After all who cares about what I have to say?

That was then and this is now. Starting at a new school and traveling between four buildings I was at my wits end. I figured it was time to get drastic. I needed a better way to engage with the teachers in my district! So I got serious about my school blog and I started to actually TWEET. Frightening I know. I'm not going to lie, there was a certain amount of terror and self-loathing at the beginning. But I got over that. I don't have to create amazing and profound tweets, I just have to be myself (cliched perhaps but true). I've got my setting completely open, because honestly what's the point if you restrict access? It's not like this is my personal Facebook page. I don't post anything I wouldn't want everyone to see and I don't worry about who I follow as long as I enjoy them. That being said, I post both school and personal information. I debated creating two separate accounts, but being a librarian is a big part of who I am and why I'm tweeting. So I just have the one account and so far so good.

It's mid-year and I think I'm completely hooked.. I check Twitter daily and have really enjoyed following librarians (public and school) as well as my favorite current young adult authors. I've been better able to promote my blog posts and the information I'm blogging about through my Twitter feed. So far I've kept the celebrity following to a minimum, unless you count authors.

About a month ago my superintendent sent out an email about the virtues of Twitter as an educational tool. He encouraged all employees to have an account by the end of the year. He also encouraged us to follow each other. Thank GOD I started using my account at the beginning of the year! I'm already familiar with how things work, and hopefully I've learned enough Twitter "etiquette" not to be a complete nuisance to all my co-workers! I'm even helping others get a feel for things as they set-up their own accounts.

Today I spent about an hour watching the live web feed of the ALA Youth Media Awards and tweeting about it all. I did a fair bit of re-tweeting so that I didn't waste precious time/thought/attention typing. It was a blast. I've never had such a great time waiting for the Newbery, Caldecott, and other ALA awards to be announced. If you're on Twitter check me out, I'm @estohlmeyer.