Keep calm & tweet on
Posted on: September 1, 2012
I am quoting @tucksoon for his response to my comments about #edsg trending in the local Twittersphere thanks to our community chats on Tuesdays.
Glad to see that we trended again. But let's not get carried away. If the quality is good, the numbers will come. #edsg—
Ashley Tan (@ashley) August 28, 2012
Focusing on trending is like only looking at grades (the product) & not critically examining or learning from the process
#edsg—
Ashley Tan (@ashley) August 28, 2012
Simply put, educational tweeting is about the quality leading to quantity, not the other way around.
I am adding this thought to the one I had earlier about MOEsg seemingly playing the numbers game in the edu Twittersphere. I still think that exercise sends the wrong message.
The number of Twitter followers can misleading.
Some follow or follow back because that seems to be the thing to do to increase follower count, never mind whether there is any relevance or a clear connection between the two parties.
Some “followers” are marketers, bots, or fake accounts. These leverage on your account to get your existing followers to follow them.
Followers are not necessarily active contributors. They are not necessarily even lurkers (active listeners) particularly if they belong to the two categories above.
There are also followers that set up test or alternative accounts, during workshops for example, who follow but then abandon those accounts. The accounts become dead or inactive.
You can tell how many are active when you have a community event like #edsg every Tuesday, 8-9pm Singapore time. You can also tell if you use a tool like Fake Follower Check to determine how many are dead weights.
BTW, despite my attempts to filter and block, I still have 3% fake followers. That said, I have a high percentage of active followers.
In playing the marketing numbers game, it helps to say that you have a high follower count in Twitter or friend/like count in Facebook. But that does not mean they are listening or contributing.
You need an extremely high number of followers to get small portion of legitimate followers to do something unselfishly.
In the case of educational tweeting you need a core mass of passionate individuals to maintain or grow the community that interacts, develops, and helps. You get that core by interacting with them, developing them, or simply helping out from time to time.
I have learnt that educational tweeting is about educating first. It is about simultaneously nurturing and learning. It is about interaction, not mere dissemination. It is about being passionate, sharing, and reflecting. It is about having a voice and making a difference.
So I remain unrattled by those who choose to play the game differently. I choose to honour the code of education (not schooling, lecturing, or marketing). I keep calm and tweet on.
