Game of 140 Characters - Crafting Digital Writing

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Today, Twitter is considered to be one of the largest microblogging and social media platforms available. Although Twitter is not recommended for those under the age of thirteen, anyone can open a Twitter account. Twitter provides a very efficient way to access and share concise information on specific topics through the posting of tweets. The tweet, itself, contains a maximum of 140 characters and functions as a teaser.  Like any good news or sitcom teaser, the tweet conveys some interesting details meant to engage the audience but does not reveal the whole story.  The 140 characters limit keeps the tweet focused and concise.  Many tweets contain web links for additional information about the topic. Twitter’s features allow subscribers to retweet followers, follow others, add likes (or favorites), mention others, and reply. The most important feature of a tweet is the hashtag which allows the user to find pertinent information and quality posts about items of interest. In essence, the hashtag (or pound sign) is a trending topic and used to identify messages about given topics. As a result of the hashtag, a phrase is turned into a searchable link for topic posts. Hashtag phrases are kept short and contain only relevant, topic related words. The benefits of a Twitter account include connecting with quality people, archiving and organizing information, and sharing with others. In a classroom setting, students could use the Twitter platform for sharing and collaboration while developing “skills to think, write, and communicate effectively” (Cavadar & Doe, 2013).

How can the MAPs heuristic created by Hicks (2013) be used to assess a Twitter interaction? I will be teaching 4^th and 5^th grade Science and History this year; therefore, I chose my interaction example from the #SciChat feed. In the tweet, the authors write in a professional, yet conversational style about the Science topics. Stevenson’s purpose for tweeting was to solicit ideas for a kinetic and potential energy activity.  In their tweet, Blumberg and Donelson wanted to share their expertise about a current science topic. They stated only relevant, focused information about science. Blumberg and Donelson also instill a sense of urgency which makes the reader want to read more. The purpose of each authors’ post is to share real and practical scientific information as it relates to education.  Moreover, Blumberg and Donelson have included a web link to their own website along with attention seeking images. Again, the authors have created a curiosity that leads the reader into a willingness to click and read more. In his text, Hicks (2013) reminds us that “[s]imply reading a single tweet or even a series of tweets isn’t nearly as important as participating in a conversation. . .” (pg. 137). 

Screen Shot #SciChat on 06/23/2015

All three of these tweets are seemingly written for those within the science education realm.  However, for the incidental reader, Blumberg and Donelson’s tweets create interest for an audience outside of the educational field. Blumberg and Donelson’s have one goal – to get the reader to click the link and retweet the post.  Stevenson’s goal is somewhat different as he needs to collect ideas about activities for classroom use. This interaction was written in a conversational style which could be considered as informational digital text. While Blumberg and Donelson were imparting their scientific expertise, they included web links and carefully chosen images to get the reader to click, link, read, and retweet. The demands for this digital writing task required each author to write a clear and concise tweet with a maximum of 140 characters.  Together, all of the features of the Twitter platform work toward the writer’s goal to have the audience reading, clicking, linking, and retweeting the post.

References

Cavadar, G., & Doe, S. (2013). Learning through writing: Teaching critical thinking skills in writing assignments. The Teacher, (pp. 298-306). doi: 10.1017/S1049096511002137

Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting social media. In T. Antao (Ed.), Crafting digital writing: Composing    texts across media and genres. (pp. 137-153). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.