Writing instructors shouldn’t underestimate the power of Twitter to engage students in the content of the course. It is important to note that Twitter is not just a service for prioritizing Twitter information, but a tool to organize the information of the Internet as a whole. This comes from what venture capitalist and Twitter investor Fred Wilson calls “the power of the passed link” (Schonfeld). Using Twitter’s powerful system, essentially a system of digital road signs, savvy tweeters are able to discover and propagate influential and interesting ideas by passing links and using others’ suggestions as a way to navigate the information highway. This passing of content from one context to another fits into Barbara Warnick’s claim that “electronic media content has become rife with intertextuality” (93). Warnick suggests the hyperlink, one of the most intertextual elements found on Twitter, as an example of digital intertextuality (94). The hyperlink allows ideas to begin on a blog or website (Warnick’s digital intertextuality) and then spread to—and through—Twitter.
This is where “following” the right people on Twitter turns out to be invaluable: if a student is writing about politics, for example, she will follow—and receive tweets from—individuals who tweet about politics, often those in her region. Eventually, she will learn who are the most influential and the most well connected, and add to or subtract from the group of people she follows. In a short amount of time, that list of followers will become more helpful to her than the local paper or the blogosphere, precisely because they will pass on their own timely experiences as well as up-to-the-minute useful links to relevant information from all over the web. The simplicity and directness of these passed links, along with individuals’ commentary and personal experiences, combine to give the Twitter reader a very powerful supplement to traditional means of getting information. Twitter doesn’t always supplant traditional media; it supplements them through the referral system of passed links.
Sample Twitter applications
If Twitter is so effective in passing links, is it equally as effective in helping students engage in a back-and-forth with experts in their fields? I believe it is, and here are a few examples of how that can come about:
For an opinion piece:
Read at least two other op-eds on your issue and tweet the more powerful along with why it’s the more powerful. Not only will students read up on their issue, but they will engage in the thoughtful discussion on the issue. This will help establish them as investigators of that particular issue, helping them join the topic’s discourse community on Twitter.
Find at least five twitter streams of people who tweet about your issue. Follow them and ask them their favorite source on the matter. This is a wonderful way for students to engage with experts in their field. People are often quite willing to help over Twitter, especially if the student has spent the time to find high-quality Twitter streams.
For an analysis piece:
Tweet a link to your analysis along with the thesis statement. Ask for comments. This will invite the comments of those who agree as well as those who disagree with the student’s analysis, engaging the student in the real debate about the issue. Here are some ways this might happen.
For a researched position:
Find a link to an opinion that disagrees with your own. Post it along with the reason you disagree with the opinion. Students will practice engaging with opposing viewpoints. Twitter’s accessibility means that others—maybe even some who disagree with the student—will be able to read and comment.
For a multimodal composition:
Tweet a link to your completed project. Ask for feedback. It’s amazing how many people are willing to help when contacted through social media. Students might even learn that someone in their network is an expert visual designer.
Find a twitter user who has a webpage you admire. Tweet them and ask how they designed their page. Even if the expert never responds, the students will have found a website whose design they appreciate and spent a few minutes crafting and sending a tweet. If the expert does respond, that’s just icing on the cake.
See also how Twitter can be used to create connections with the teacher and with peers in the class.
See also how Twitter can be used to create connections with the teacher and with peers in the class.
In summary, students become more active scholars and citizens as they interact in the discourse community they are entering with their writing assignments. They are able to see that their issues really matter to the outside world, and that their assignments are preparing them to interact with experts on their issue. This interaction helps give students the perspective and confidence to actually engage with the experts, rather than summarizing or parroting their arguments.
