Introduction to twitter and blogging

           My name is Mariah Boone. I am a Stockton University graduate with my BA in Criminal Justice. I am currently in the process of applying for the social work masters program here at Stockton, and have chosen to take courses in the meantime to boost my grade point average. I want to pursue a career as either a juvenile probation officer or a clinical social worker, hence the two degrees in completely different fields. I am twenty two years old, but find myself to be old fashion and a little technologically challenged. I use network sites primarily for socializing so a lot of this is new for me, but I know this course will teach me how to connect with professionals and help prepare me for my career field.
            Chapter 6 has already began teaching me the importance of a personal learning network. It gives great tips on how to adapt to professional learning communities and deeper learning. The chapter explained how to get the most value out of who we choose to connect with. This has showed me how to build my networks through bloggers and twitter as a new user. Once you began following people of interest and gaining followers your relationships will grow and the network becomes more significant. It is important to nurture the network. It is also important to establish a sense of community and know the steps to developing a healthy community. Community and network connections are equally important and serve a great purpose when collaborated. Community members must have roles and responsibilities that evolve overtime, including leadership.
            An article by Steven Hughes discusses a great way to gain twitter followers. He begins with suggesting that as a new user, you choose a profile picture and post a short biography about yourself, which will make it easy for people to find and learn about you. You must be active on twitter and consistently tweet throughout your day in order to build followers and show that you are serious about connecting with professionals. Hughes mentions that you should follow people who are more likely to follow you back based on their followers to following ratio. Also in regards to that, you are more likely to receive a follow back from someone who shares the same interests as you. I can understand Hughes reasoning for that suggestion. Twitter will not be as much use to you if you do not find anything on your timeline interesting. You also want to communicate with your followers through mentions and retweets. I agree with all of his approaches when it comes to followers and these are all great ways to build a foundation on twitter.
           Utilizing twitter lists was an informative article for me. Even though I have a new twitter account that I intend on using for only professional purposes, I am not new to twitter. I have in fact had a twitter account for years and have never utilized twitter lists. Apparently viewing a list timeline will show you a stream of tweets from users on that list. This is a very useful feature when you have a large number of followers, as mentioned in the article. I found it helpful that the article included links to the twitter help center, as well as a YouTube tutorial on how to get started.  The author also referenced and included the link to another blog that discusses helpful tips to new twitter users.
               Another very useful resource on livebinder was the 100 perfect twitter accounts for teachers. Even though the twitter accounts were those of educators, it is a good start for any student to begin connecting with professionals. They were not just teachers, but authors, and professionals who focus on leadership. On the list were many technology coaches who could help those of us who are new to blogging and other networks. All of these articles can help us expand the quality of our PLN!