Lecture 6 2012 twitter & science

Lecture 6 2012 twitter & science

• 1.
  Twitter & Agriculture,Life & Environmental Sciences Lecture 6 Dr. Jessica Laccetti
• 2.
  Outline • Review of Twitter • Twitter Search • Twitter Analytics • Twitter & its Role in Science • Activity • Further Reading: Twitter Guidebook • Homework
• 3.
  Twouble with Twitter
• 4.
  Twitter Search
• 5.
  #hashtags
• 6.
  #Hashtag Activity • With a partner: • Search #AgChat on Twitter • Peruse the 10-20 most recent tweets • Discuss: What do you notice? – Who is tweeting – Are there any re-occurring topics? – Are there citations/links to other sources? – Do many tweets include (links to) images or videos?
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  Bora Zivkovic anexpert about scientific blogging and microblogging, and chair of ScienceOnline states that:
• 8.
  Perhaps the bestway to think of Twitter as relevant to science was put forth by James Dacey
• 9.
  Primary Uses ofTwitter in Science (via @DrCraigMc) • Eavesdropping: follow informative people to get information and learn • Dialogue: exchange, discuss, and debate information • Broadcast: used by news organizations and businesses to inform audience about news or products/services • Data collection: e.g. using Tweeting fishermen to monitor fish populations • Accidental journalism: e.g. landing on Hudson river, Mumbai attacks, Iran post-election protests • Mindcasting: following a single story or topic, with links, for a period of time, e.g. my interest in GM food & policy #gmo
• 10.
  Steve Tucker: TweetingFarmer @Tykerman1 “People out in the cities aren't familiar with agriculture like it used to be 100 years ago. They may not have an appreciation or an understanding of what goes on out in the rural side of things…. I just try to be an information source for whoever may be listening.” Quoted in Leslie Bradshaw’s 6 Trends in Social Media & Agriculture presentation.
• 11.
  FACT: Twitter postsare helping bridge the urban-rural divide. FACT: Phones and social media are connecting eaters with sources of food. Content Credit: CNN.com; Steve Tucker (@Tykerman1), Leslie Bradshaw
• 12.
  @SpringCreekRnch “We’ve beenriding cattle trails for a few generations – long enough to build an enduring respect for our land and the food it produces. My name is Kirstin Kotelko and I am a proud member of the fourth generation of the Kotelko family. Today, my dad Bern and my Uncle Mike run our ranch (Highland Feeders) and partner in Growing Power, Canada’s first integrated BioRefinery that produces Green Power and BioFertilizer. I direct my passion to Spring Creek, which we started in 2003 as a means of adding value to the cattle we’ve been breeding and raising for many years. Through Spring Creek, we are able to offer a line of premium beef products that are raised without antibiotics or added hormones to create an exceptional eating experience.” Image and text from: http://springcreek.ca/welcome/our-story/
• 13.
  @SpringCreekRnch connecting with producers& consumers
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  But :: CanTweets be Meaningful? • Yes but – You need to be critically literate – You need to discover what is of interest/pertinent to you & your research – You need to evaluate your sources; whom you choose to follow on Twitter is key to the quality of information you receive (who is tweeting?) • The Library of Congress will archive *every* public tweet since March 2006
• 15.
  Tweets as Meaningful:Jonathan Eisen • Evolutionary Biologist • University of California, Davis • Academic editor in chief of PLoS Biology • Joined Twitter Feb. 2009 • Then: joined to follow Lance Armstrong in the Tour of California • Now: uses Twitter to communicate and share information with other scientists
• 16.
  Activity :: FollowingMeaningful Content • Find a scientist/farmer/someone in your field on Twitter • A useful place to start is TweepML and search for “scientists”: http://tweepml.org/search?query=scientists& x=0&y=0 • Or try wefollow: http://wefollow.com/twitter/scientist • Tell @JessL WHY you chose to follow a particular scientist & HOW their tweets will be meaningful to your studies
• 17.
  Twitter Guide Book FurtherReading
• 18.
  Homework • Tweet twoshort reflections on what you learnt today. Think specifically about case studies of how people in science/ag use Twitter. • Remember to mark all class tweets @JessL and use our #ALES204 hashtag • Read “Why Twitter Will Endure” - David Carr, NY Times, 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekin review/03carr.html