I will admit that Twitter is a service I have refused to join since it came out because I’ve only thought of it as the one aspect of Facebook with which many users go overboard–constantly posting where they’re at/what they are doing. It’s really not of my concern that you’re eating dinner in front of the TV or going shopping at this exact moment. Why would you waste the time to continually post what you’re doing every moment of the day? I am driving in the car…I am at X restaurant…I am eating XYZ…I am driving back home…etc, etc. Seriously, either you have way too much time on your hands or your ego is so enormous that you feel everyone is dying to know what exactly it is that you’re doing.
The readings (here and here)for this week have introduced me to a new side of Twitter; increasing communication among students and between students and professors among other benefits. We’ll see what additional information comes from class tonight…maybe I’ll be converted and jump on the Twitter bandwagon, well, at least for academic purposes. You don’t have to worry about me posting my every action of the day.
psychosocialeducationalist 
I am a little guilty of some aspects of posting that you mention, though not as overboard as you mention. My daughter flat out stated that I must be narcissistic! But what I have found is that by focusing who I follow, I receive amazing communications that are relevant to my field. I do not follow everyone that follows me, and some I follow do not follow me, but the flow of information keeps me current in a rapidly changing environment.
I agree – I am on the “wait and see” fence with you. I don’t sit down much on a good day and don’t need more excuses to play on my droid. I would like to see it in action for a professor and see how it differs from the personal use of the site.
[…] there was a collective groan from the room. Some of their initial reactions can be found here and here and […]
twitter is but one example of a socially networked communication tool. It will be used by people in many different ways…even in ways the creators never imagined. Some popular uses of twitter I find rather humorous and at times annoying…What we often see with the adoption of technology is that people tend to use it to do things they are already doing…which means they will use it to reinforce existing practices. I think this is part of what we see with twitter. Then we see innovative practices that let us do things in new ways that are fascinating (e.g., recent uses in Egypt). My hope is that educators – being a creative lot – might be able to innovate and create new kinds of relationships / uses.
LOL I had the exact same ideas, but now that I have been using twitter for almost two weeks, i don’t post that much but I am benefiting from the posts that i get. I was cautious of who i should follow so i don’t get an annoying amount of information. I am getting lots of interesting posts of people and organizations in my field..