Growing your PLN with Twitter

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1. Many people have more than one account so they can keep their personal Tweeting separate from their professional. It's a great way to stay organized, and if you have a lot of Twitter activity already having a separate handle for your PLN might help you use it more effectively.
   
   When you sign up you can look up Twitter accounts of people, organizations, education newsletters, etc. that you already are familiar with and start adding following. You can choose whether or not you want a notification for each personal or organization you follow. I recommend turning notifications off for most of those you follow so you don't get overwhelmed.
    

2. In my last post I talked about creating a Twitter account to use for growing your PLN. The next step is to find the right people to follow. This can be tough because we are all so busy and don't want to waste time reading irrelevant posts. I suggest starting by browsing this list of 100 Education Hashtags for Teachers and EdLeaders. Choose one or two hashtags that have the most relevance to where you are today and search it in Twitter. You can search more than one hashtag at the same time by using OR like this "#edchat OR #edtech." Look at posts in both the Top and the Latest tabs.
   
   When you see a post that speaks to you, look at the page of the poster. Do you see more posts that are relevant to you? If yes, go ahead and follow this feed. If not, move on. The goal is not to follow as many people as possible; the goal is to find ideas, inspiration, and so on that helps you where you are right now.
   
   In the next post I will talk about sharing on Twitter.
    

3. I want to share a few words about sharing online. When I was taking classes for my doctorate, I learned the importance of sharing. My professors explained that when you do research and keep it to yourself, it is like you are robbing the educational community of knowledge. That is why everyone is required to publish their research.
   
   You have knowledge and ideas from your experiences that will benefit others. Twitter is a wonderful place to share, but please don't feel like you need to stop there. There are blogs, podcasts, LinkedIn articles, and more. One of the things I like best about blogging is you can keep it to yourself if you just want to vent or write something to think through something that's on your mind. Then you can publish your thoughts if and when you are ready to share. 
   
   I have written on a variety of topics on my blog site, 5 Minutes in the Mind of an Educator. Perhaps something here will inspire you to get started. =)