Librarian by Day - Latest Comments in Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Gina (@yagrrb) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:01:20 -0000

I totally see your point, then again, we kind of can use these tools any way we want. I currently use my personal Twitter account to keep up to date with library/tech news/local news. This means that I participate in conference tweeting (when my library can afford to send me to a conference!), I get to feel like I'm in two (or more) rooms at once (and yes, I am paying attention), and favorite links/tweets that I can revisit later. (One time I left a lackluster panel in favor of another because of enthusiastic tweets from across the hall). I've also discovered many non-library conferences out there that are worth paying attention to.

As for other options, well, Evernote never stuck and I don't carry a notebook around. But I do carry my phone with me wherever I go. These days I don't tweet very much (I'm a newbie librarian with 2 jobs and a pretty full plate right now), but with Twitter, I feel more connected to my library community than ever.

Thanks for all you do!

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Buffy Hamilton — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:22:24 -0000

I would respectfully disagree---quite honestly, I learned more new ideas and material I can apply to my library program from four hours of Tweets at ISTE yesterday than I did in four days at ALA Annual. Although I could not physically participate in ISTE in Denver, I could still learn and find new ideas and resources to explore. I do try and use the conference hashtag (which you can usually easily Google and find out about if you don't know what the conference is) so that people know I'm not just randomly Tweeting.

I personally would rather see a stream of conference Tweets than some of the drivel and narcissistic Tweets that dominate some people's Twitter streams (which has resulted in my not following them anymore). I would say if it really bothers you, then temporarily unfollow that person or use some of the filtering tools within something like Tweetdeck to filter the Tweets.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Andromeda — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:21:06 -0000

I use Selective Tweets, which lets me only dump, well, selected tweets to my Facebook (the default is not dumping). So the things I tweet that are appropriate for both audiences can be in both places, but my Facebook crowd is spared, e.g., the lovable madhouse that is ALA.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

kellybrannock — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:40:45 -0000

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Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

petercoyl — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:37:12 -0000

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Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Jeff Scott — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:36:00 -0000

I guess I am the opposite. When I can't go to a conference, I really enjoy someone providing highlights via twitter. If it's a conference I've never heard of, but there is good content, I will go find out what it's all about. I was disappointed more people weren't doing that at ALA. I found more people talking about partying then conference programs. Which is fine, I was just disappointed.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

sonorandragon — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:34:54 -0000

@librarianbyday During big library conferences... I just shut down. There are days I don't open Twitter at all for these very reasons.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Julie — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:12:26 -0000

i'm late to the comment party here but AMEN SISTER! Twitter is not a notetaking or transcription device.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:17:29 -0000

YMMV = your mileage my vary

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Lori Ayre — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:49:54 -0000

I have to plead guilty to the Twitter/Facebook link while twittering a conference...bad idea and I've broken the link for that purpose. It was my first attempt at "reporting." I did, however, get a thank you from a FB colleague who hadn't been able to attend the conference. My personal friends weren't so appreciative though.

What's YMMV?

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Leslie Norman — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:02:06 -0000

The SLA 2009 Conference is my first time using Twitter. Due to unemployment and a cautious attitude about 2.0, I don't have a phone good for texting nor do I have a laptop. I'm not a Luddite but I can't afford to keep up with social networking. However, I was able to get an answer from SLA about classes from a Twitterer that I couldn't get myself with an email.

I will use Twitter to look for recommended websites and papers. But I really don't want to detail the minutes of my boring unemployed life going through a series of medical procedures.

However, I applaud those who find Twitter to be a productive tool. Once employed again, I hope an upgrade to a 21st century phone and a laptop will lead me into 2.0 land.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Maurice Coleman from T is for — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:42:53 -0000

Thanks Bobbi for calling me a smart person. I really appreciate it.

Yes, I did set up a separate twitter feed (@confbaldgeek on twitter) for the express purpose of separating my conference tweets from my regular stream of thought and promotion. I did this because I found that I was swamped by tweets filling up my twitter screen from conferences.

I personally was very good at "live blogging" a conference session, but a) I found that my notes for a post resembled tweets anyway b) sometimes I moved on from the session and did not blog about it even though it was well done and valueable. Also, I don't and can't write that fast any more but I can type fast and capture and summarize presenter thoughts.

Twitter allows me to create short notes that stand on their own or that serve as the basis for a blog post or report that may or may not happen.

Thanks for writing a very well thought out post and to the poster for creating conversation, (which is why we should be blogging and tweeting!)

Viva Tweeting and Blogging!

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Terry Doherty — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:19:20 -0000

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Your suggestions are not only reasonable, they offer some respect for the speaker. My question: if you are typing for twitter because you won't "get back to" a blog post, why not just type the notes into LiveWriter and send to your blog? Put the hashtag in the title, and when it feeds to Twitter you're still in the game.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:28:34 -0000

I would say it's that "going overboard" issue that inspired this post!

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:26:53 -0000

I agree with you on the Facebook Twitter thing Lori, I usually only notice if someone tweets a lot, but then I hide them. ;-)

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Ab — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:23:26 -0000

Thanks for this interesting post (and Vicki Owen for tweeting it). I just attended a conference and did some liveblogging and some tweeting and am not sure what I think about either one. I don't particularly like reading liveblogged posts; I find tweets a lot more interesting. Best of all IMO would be to take notes privately and write them up selectively and thoughtfully as a blog post later, but sometimes I never get back to it. And posts are not aggregated in the same way that hashtags allow, even with tagging and blog search tools.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

David Hamilton — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:07:14 -0000

I'm gonna have to disagree on this one. I don't find much time to read blogs any more and Twitter is my primary source of staying current. I *really* like hearing about conferences I can't attend or especially those I wouldn't even know about otherwise.

And for the record-- as someone with A.D.D. and my particular learning style, I am definitely paying much more attention by staying active (typing) while sitting in the audience.

I think the conference stream is a great idea for some-- but I'd still prefer to see the tweets in my friend stream so I can enjoy the serendipitous discovery. :)

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Bill Drew — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:02:51 -0000

A few over generalizations that I disagree with, I think the one assuming people are twittering via phones may be overstated. Other tips are good. I do disagree with your hashtags statements though. You could always use a Twitter client with filtering capabilities.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Tom — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:59:00 -0000

I tend to agree, although I find conference twittering easy enough to ignore unless someone is going overboard. I do enjoy finding out about a conference I didn't know about and finding out who is attending what, but I do dislike when someone is totally flooding twitter trying to relay everything that is being said. Just the occasional pithy point would suite me fine.

I also agree that I would rather read a coherent blog post later. People claiming blogging is dead because of twitter give me fits. They are different tools each with their own purpose.

I don't normally twitter much during a conference other than to make lunch plans and crack jokes about bad presentations :-)

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:44:08 -0000

I did point out Maurice’s suggestion of a second account for people who do want to tweet, and I think its a great one. But of course I don’t’ follow his or your conference accounts ;-)

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Alison R Miller — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:29:28 -0000

I do both - takes notes and send out interesting info or tweets that I think others will appreciate. This way, while I am typing my notes, I copy and paste the points that I think are good to share. Sometimes, if it seems very interesting, I may tweet more than others, but generally, I try to keep it brief. In terms of a separate conference account, that is somewhat difficult - individually. I think the social v. professional idea works better (at least for me). I do like the idea of conferences having hashtags to look for info. This is definitely good to keep in mind though! :-)

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Vicki Owen — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:17:59 -0000

I would have to (embarassingly) admit that I see both sides to this and am currently sitting on the fence...I can't decide which way I'm going to fall. I love Twitter and its capabilities to connect people to conferences in real-time that they cannot attend but similarly it can be quite annoying when delegates go way to OTT with their tweets!!

I think for me personally the 2nd account road is definitley one to go down, allowing your followers the choice to follow your tweets or not.

I will be at a conference next week - think I'll set up a seperate 'conference' account and try it out!!

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Chester Mealer — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:05:04 -0000

I do like following conference streams, if I'm not attending, or not attending that session. I agree the repetition factor is annoying, but I chalk that up to "nature of the beast."

I also think there is a definite space for back channel discussion. Instead of talking/passing notes during class, I would use the analogy of reading the next chapter or starting on the homework while still in class. It allows some to be able to enhance their understanding or develop ideas beyond what they would otherwise get from the speaker.

I think I also have a "camp mentality" on the issue. If I'm not learning from or getting inspired the speaker, the back channel may keep the session from being a total waste of my time.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Kathryn Greenhill — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:02:20 -0000

I think it all comes down to there being no "right" way to use Twitter.

I would say very different things to people who are tweeting conferences. I am *very* happy to get a flood of tweets from some event that I would not otherwise know was happening...I love the serendipity and it lets me make up my mind what I find important in what is being reported - often I don't actually *want* it filtered by what the twitterer thinks is important.

If I think people are being too noisy I could tweetsnooze them. But I don't because Twitter being used like this works for me.

I don't think that they are losing me as a follower. If I don't find that event interesting, I just tune out during that tweetstream. It's no biggie to lose any diamonds among the dross by not paying attention, as I often have long stretches in the real world where I don't catch up with all the shining diamonds on Twitter anyhow.

I do have a second , unprotected account that I use almost exclusively for tweeting conferences, have done for months. Again, that's because of the way I personally want to use Twitter.

I think the issue is very much a YMMV. Thanks for raising it though.

Re: Why I’m over people twittering conferences, meetings

Lori Reed — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:57:48 -0000

I somewhat agree. I think if it is limited it is ok. I do often wonder if anyone reads the tweets and I appreciate it so much when they reply to say they are enjoying them, but I typically limit mine to 5 or so per session. I can't type much faster than that AND pay attention.

I also really enjoy the feedback as a presenter. I like going back and seeing what people found interesting during the session.

A pet peeve - people who automatically update Facebook status via Twitter. STOP! It's a different audience, different message and especially stop if you are Twittering during a conference!