Since I jumped off headlong into Twitter, as I mentioned two days ago, I’ve been trying to figure out what makes Twitter different and, seemingly for me, so much more engaging than a few other tools.

I’ve never used text messaging on a regular basis; my wife and I actually use it for emergency communications since I can get text during meetings, classes etc. I’ve not used instant messaging on a consistent basis; it’s served a purpose from time to time, but it’s always been nothing more than a tool. I’ve used discussion boards but not consistently, though RSS feeds do make them more useful and accessible. I’m trying to get better at participating in the blogosphere by commenting more on others’ blogs. I’ve not used groups (Usenet; anyone else remember FidoNet?) tremendously; I typically search them for answers to questions or trouble issues. I’ve used listservs but often feel overwhelmed by the traffic of busier lists (SLEDList anyone?). I have a MySpace profile but don’t use it; I have a Facebook profile which I’m using more frequently.

Given all of that, why do I feel “hooked on Twitter?” Why and how is it apparently so enthralling?

Darren Draper commented on his blog, Drape’s Takes:

Even I know that Twitter’s weird.

So I’ll ask the question again, this time with a better idea of my answer. What in the Web 2.0 is Twitter?

I’m convinced that Twitter is about community. Twitter is about people.

Twitter’s ability to connect me with a network of like-minded people is huge.

With Twitter, the news has added meaning for me. Like when I learned about the steam explosion that happened in New York a few weeks ago. It brought the news home to me knowing that one of my colleagues was so close to the actual event.

John Pederson commented on his blog, iJohnPederson:

I try out new tools on a weekly basis and 98% of them don’t make more than a week. Twitter has stuck.

Twitter is about the network. Twitter is just the tool.

That’s why I like Twitter. It’s my network, a little more refined. And real

So, I’m not the only one wondering what makes Twitter interesting. I understand that Twitter is about the network; it’s about people. But why is it so much more about people than other communication tools? What makes “it stick” more than other applications? What makes it more capable of facilitating, for me, interpersonal communication than IM, discussion boards, blogs, comments, listservs, user groups, social networks?

I think there’s three reasons.

First, all social networks are about people, but Twitter draws people into more in depth, personal communication - along the lines of “life blogging.” Just in the last week of using Twitter on a regular basis, I’ve learned:

• Fleep is remodeling her house: replacing light switches and grouting tile.
• WillRich went swimming with his kids in the Delaware and ran more in one day than I have in a month.
• Intellagirl gets unmotivated just like I do when there’s a ton of work to be done.
• CogDog has a new puppy.
• SPeters is helping family through a stressful time and sharing the stress.
• JUtecht’s on his way to China.
• SSandifer just started a new job and was recently assigned to do a presentation on Web2.0
• sorry_afk doesn’t mind traffic nearly as much as I seem to ;-)
• Typewriter went for a haircut.
• iJohnPederson didn’t clean his coffee pot before leaving school for the summer.
• Kenny Hubble’s headed for some white water rafting.

Oh… wait.. I learned all of that in the last 18 hours! Sure, I may have eventually read some of that on blogs, discussion boards, or listservs etc, but chances are, I doubt it. I seriously do not think I would have ever heard any of those details from this group of people in spaces - social networks and otherwise - where they typically focus on more serious discussions. Twitter’s all about people and the networks, but it’s more than that, it’s all about learning WHO people behind the titles and professions really are in more depth and in a more casual environment than other online environments.

Second, in Tweets with Angela Thomas, I suggested that Twitter is different because, to me, it’s ambi-synchronous. It possesses the immediacy and capabilities of synchronous messaging in which there’s greater immediacy of interpersonal communication, but it also creates a persistent, asynchronously available record of communication that allows you to catch up on what you missed while offline. It can do both. What other tools enable both types of communication?

Finally, and quite simply, Twitter converges SMS and web-based tools to facilitate one to many communication.

Is Twitter the first to be ambi-synchronous? Is it the first tool that encourages a lifeblogging of sorts? Is it the first web-based tool that facilitates interpersonal communication via mobile convergence? If not, is it the first to do all three?

I have NO idea what the origin of the name may be, but Xpanity.com offers an interesting new browser add-on. It’s currently in Beta and issuing delayed invites to those who submit their email address. Once I receive my invite, am able to install and experiment with it, I’ll add more details to this blog post.

What is it?
The Xpanity Suite currently contains two applications: LiveChat and SharedBoard. In short, I think it’s “birds-of-a-feather-sessions meet Web2.0.” According to the website . . .

Xpanity LiveChat, “allows you to see the other browsers currently on the same web page as you are viewing. It provides you with the opportunity to interact with them on all levels. You can do all this anonymously. There is no need to register or provide any of your private information.”

Xpanity SharedBoard, “for each web page on the Internet . . . provides a Shared board for permanent comments that can be viewed by all Xpanity users.”

How does it work?
More on this once I’m able to install and use the application. Generally, clicking on an Xpanity button on your toolbar activates the Xpanity browser extension which enables participation in LiveChat with other users or on the persistent SharedBoard

What’s cool about it?
With Xpanity installed, every website seems to have an interactive component. It’s no longer incumbent upon a website to offer a chat tool; users with Xpanity visiting the same website can chat with one another regardless of the sites capabilities or available tools.

Of course, it’s dependent upon a broad volume of users actually adopting the technology, but assuming that requirement is met, Xpanity dramatically increases my ability to network and communicate with others of similar interests. What used to be invisible - other users accessing the same website at the same time as I am - now becomes visible and interactive.

I’m wondering if this may not be an influential Web2.0 application; consider the characteristics of it. It provides a contextualized browsing and micro-blogging experience. Rather than posting a link to Twitter or sharing it via Facebook to engage a social network regarding a specific site, Xpanity constructs a social network around a specific page or site.

How can it be used in the classroom?
Just off the top of my head, without having yet been able to install or use the application, I can imagine several applications.

Shared browsing. If not familiar with it, shared browsing is a tool which enables a group of users to view the actual browser on a facilitator’s desktop - ostensibly as the topic of a discussion or part of a training session. Although not as cohesive a solution, Xpanity may offer a substitute for shared browsing tools seen in other collaboration tools that support group discussion. As long as a user has Xpanity installed and knows which site to visit at a given time, it serves the same function.

Contextualized discussions. Rather than visiting a website and documenting thoughts in a course discussion board, learners can post their thoughts on a particular website to the Xpanity SharedBoard for the URL. Those comments are persistent which means there’s a lasting record of discussions by which participation can be measured, and the learners and the class as a whole engage the larger web-browsing community regarding that site. That leverages the community and encourages participation by others - much like public blogs and wikis do.

I originally stumbled across Xpanity at Jane’s e-Learning Pick of the Day

When I first looked at Twitter, I didn’t really “get it.” I think that’s because it wasn’t integrated into my regular browsing experience. The more I’m required to visit a separate unique site, the less likely I’m going to keep up with it consistently. My news and tools, like many other users, come to me; I spend more time in Google Reader than any other site and work to minimize how much time I spend just “browsing around.” So, when I discovered several tools that integrated Twitter directly into Firefox, I had renewed interest in it. That interest has led to 61 updates in the last three days; some people should never be given a PA system, particularly one that spans the globe (grin).

Rather than re-hashing what others have written and explaining what Twitter is and how it may be used in the classroom, take a look at Educause Learning Initiative’s 7 Things You Need to Know About Twitter.

With the Firefox add-ons I’ll describe below, Twitter provides a social network fully integrated in the browser which makes it easier to engage. The micro-blogging element is enjoyable, and the, in essence, “persistent, always on, group IM session” provides a great opportunity for networking with colleagues. And, as Jeff Utecht noted through Twitter yesterday, his Twitter network is “by far the largest community [he] belong[s] to.”

The Firefox add-ons I’m using currently are . . . (if there are some I’m missing, please note them in a comment!)

TwitBin vs TwitterFox. Both tools make it possible to review network posts and to post updates to personal accounts. I discovered TwitBin a week or so ago, and Nick Noakes (twitter: nnoakes) highlighted TwitterFox in an update yesterday. TwitBin resides in the browser sidebar with an update entry form on top and automatically refreshing network updates extending the length of the screen. TwitterFox resides in the lower right status bar and pops up with updates; the form for entering an update works better than Twitbin. On first impression, I believe I prefer TwitBin; the larger interface and persistent sidebar are important to my personal browsing habits.

TwitterBar and TinyURL Creator. TwitterBar adds a small green plus sign to the URL address bar; a simple click posts the current URL to Twitter as a note that the page is currently being browsed. I often want to add a short note other than the URL; TwitterBar doesn’t allow that functionality AND it copies the full URL which takes up most of the allowed characters. Instead, I’ve taken to using TinyURL Creator to right-click and paste the TinyURL for the current page into TwitBin with the note I’d like to add.

Others have also written about Twitter-Bots which provide additional functionality for Twitter which I’ll be exploring in more detail as well. This Lifehacker blog entry describes Twitter Timer and Remember the Milk.

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Update: This same task can be accomplished by aggregating a number of RSS feeds using RSSMixer.com. RSS Feed: Chris Duke Reads/Writes the Web
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As an educational technologist working with a large number of faculty and staff, a significant challenge has been to find a way to share with others in a relatively simple manner the worthwhile information I find while sifting through a ton of useless information, posts, news items, journal articles etc. I mentioned the range of reading and writing I do on the web in a previous post, “Sites of Interest (AKA I read & blog too much).”

I know other educational technologists have written about PageFlakes previously, including usability critiques, but I realized I can very easily publish all of my shared news feeds I tag in Google Reader, my bookmarks, my blog posts, and my twitter entries to a single PageCast. That publicly available PageCast shares, in one fell swoop, everything that I’m publishing and reading on the web.

Actually, as I’m thinking about PageFlakes, the PageCast can address an issue I’ve experienced in the Intro to Computers class I teach plus the need for classroom blog aggregators to make the blogging experience more useful in the classroom. See: Blogs vs Discussion Boards, and similar post/comment thread in the EduBlogger Ning Community.