A finger double-taps against a screen, leaving it aflutter with tiny hearts. Likes are the niceties of the 21st century, a tip of a hat in an impersonal world. But despite the introduction of the Facebook Like button in 2009, attempts to broaden our online emotional range have been met with resistance. Only recently did Facebook announce consideration of a Dislike button [1], however this sentiment was quickly abandoned as Mark Zuckerberg did not feel that it was “good for the world” that people be able to express free speech in his domain [2].
Shortly after Facebook recanted on their dislike button a peculiar thing happened on Twitter. After nine years of constancy, the ability to save favourites was removed. Gold stars were replaced by pink little hearts, and our “favourites” now became our “likes.” Users were irate---the connotation of all of our saved tweets had changed overnight. No longer had you simply filed away certain tweets into your favourites for future reference, you had now liked them, regardless of context.
Pretty sure I just woke up frm #gunshots down the street #williamsburg #bushwick then a car accident and all kinds of sirens it's going down
— Ali Mulcahy (@acmulcahy) November 4, 2015
Marking a tweet as "liked" may not always feel appropriate.So why would Twitter alienate its audience? A press release by the company claimed that the hearts are more expressive and universal [3], however the grim reality is that Twitter is falling behind other social media platforms [4]. Growth and user retention are low [5,6,7], and Twitter’s user base has recently been overtaken by Facebook’s brain-child Instagram [8,9].
Low user retention statistics say a lot about Twitter---it’s unforgiving---and the lack of a Like button has been instrumental in shaping what it is today. Facebook offers up Likes as “an easy way to let people know that you enjoy [something] without leaving a comment” [10], thereby actively discouraging meaningful interaction, while on Instagram Likes for Likes is its own hashtag where Likes are traded as currency. Twitter on the other hand has never handed out participation awards to its users. Users are rewarded by users for the creation of valuable content or conversation, and it is for this very reason that many people have trouble fully embracing Twitter as a platform.
Despite its social awkwardness, Twitter continues to top charts as a resource for content creators [11,12], catering particularly to writers [13]. While a 140-character limit might seem constricting to some, it is the concise nature of a tweet that makes it so effective. The details that are included, or in some cases excluded, define interactions on Twitter. Unlike Facebook, Twitter has never relied on Likes as a means by which to avoid the act of writing. Words have always been the currency of Twitter, and this is what makes it such a great tool in education.
give love a try in the least romantic way possible
— NYT Minus Context (@NYTMinusContext) October 31, 2015
The impact of a tweet can depend on what is omitted.A tweet is the perfect vessel for which students to boil down an idea into its basic components---perspective, context, and purpose---in order to communicate it effectively. However, it is not always possible for a single tweet to contain all of the pertinent information to an argument. Students must therefore develop an understanding of the different aspects of writing in order to be able to choose which is most beneficial to their purpose.
Twitter goes much deeper than the shallow practice of simply liking posts and having posts liked. Sometimes the most effective tweets are the ones that completely forgo all punctuation in order to add an extra adverb, sometimes they use up characters on line breaks, and sometimes the inclusion of a hashtag completely inverts the sentiment of a tweet. Twitter is an endless collaborative conversation that hinges on open dialogue rather than positive reinforcement, and it is a great environment for students to hone their skills as writers.
For Sale: Baby Shoes, Turns Out Babies Can't Walk. Also Their Clothes Don't Need Pockets, Thank's
— Drew Tipson (@dtipson) October 27, 2015
for sale: baby shoes, never worn. im not sure why i thought they would fit
— madeleine (@madeleinedoux) November 9, 2015
!FIRE SALE! - BABY SHOES - DUE TO SHIPPING ERROR WE AT DISCOUNT WAREHOUSE ARE CURRENTLY !OVERSTOCKED! ON UNWORN BABY SHOES - !MAJOR SAVINGS!
— russell alton (@Choplogik) November 10, 2015
Variations on a writing prompt.In addition to being a tool for students to develop writing and communication skills, Twitter also has vast resources for inquiry for both educators and students. Hashtags are a convenient way to categorize and research posts in a particular field. Numerous hashtags exist where teachers can share with like-minded individuals and explore resources, however Twitter itself is a vast informational resource. Teachers might ask students to explore information related to a certain hashtag, use a tweet as a writing prompt for an activity, or condense a critique into 140 characters or less, and could even write learning goals and expectations as tweets to match.
Twitter can be a valuable resource for teachers of digital learners. It is a means of making literacy collaborative, and engaging social media in a responsible manner. It emphasizes the creation and curation of the written word through uncompromising and concise character limits. And above all else, it is a platform that is built around the idea that we all want to have meaningful interactions with one another. People have a great emotive range that goes well beyond superficial pink hearts tapped out an app. Let us empower our students as writers by letting them explore the most social of social media, and if it doesn’t work out they can always just tweet little pink heart emojis.
