My PLN is always growing. I love connecting with new educators and getting inspiration from their sharing. I recently passed a milestone of 10K followers, which is very flattering. However, this amount of connections makes Twitter increasingly challenging to manage. I need to make use of some lesser-known features in order to manage the high volume of tweets and notifications. These are features that I have only recently discovered and I wish I had known about them sooner! I hope that these tips are useful to you.
Here are four invaluable functions for managing Twitter activity:
Add Tweet to Bookmarks
I often see tweets that interest me but I don’t always have time to engage with them straight away. I don’t want the pressure to immediately engage but I also don’t want to lose the content. Thankfully, I can add them to my bookmarks. Using bookmarks also allows me to manage my notifications. I don’t like to ignore or miss content that is aimed at me, so adding them to bookmarks means that I can check them later without losing track of my other notifications. Again, it removes the pressure to respond straight away. At the time of writing, this feature is only available on the mobile app.
Mute this conversation
Often, I am part of long conversations on Twitter and sometimes included in many tweets that I don’t need to be a part of. Usually, it’s when I am mentioned in tweets with many other people and, therefore, part of the replies. This is great, but I don’t always need to see everyone else’s replies and they sometimes cause clutter in my notifications. If I feel that I don’t need to see replies any longer, I can mute the conversation. That means that I no longer receive notifications when others reply. I can still see the replies if I find the thread, and I can also unmute any time, but this feature allows me to take control of my notifications when they are getting out of hand.
Note: In group discussions, we can be more mindful of who receives notifications by replying only to specific people. Click the usernames above the text box to select and deselect the right people.
Lists
In a PLN of 10K educators, I need a quick way to access certain groups and individuals. I don’t want them to get lost in the feed. By making lists, I can group educators together and see only their tweets in one convenient location. This is most useful for my VSA colleagues. We have a Twitter list that shows the tweets from VSA staff. This is a great hub of positivity for our school. Lists also allow you to see tweets from people without following them. For example, I made a list of political figures to keep track of the news. I don’t want to follow these politicians because I don’t want politics mixed up in my edu Twitter, but I can click on this list whenever I want an update. Lists can be made public for others to subscribe to, or private if you’d prefer. I am also part of the #SYD19 Twitter List with my fellow Sydney Google Certified Innovators. By the way, you should click on these links and then ‘Members’ and add these awesome educators to your PLN!
Push notifications settings
I recommend turning push notifications off for work emails and social media. The apps are there when I need them, but in my own time when it’s convenient. This small change makes a huge difference to wellbeing and in-person relationships. Even if you’re not willing to turn them off completely, Twitter allows you to adjust the settings for different kinds of notifications. You could turn them off for one feature, such as likes, and keep them on for others that seem more important, like mentions and replies. To customise your push notifications, head to the notification settings (the gear icon on your notifications page).
Twitter continues to be my platform of choice for connecting, sharing and learning with my PLN, but it has to be carefully managed in order for it to maintain its quality and purpose. I strongly recommend these Twitter features to help. What other tips do you have for managing Twitter? Do you take advantage of third-party sites? Please leave a comment below if you have any additional advice.
To receive blog updates, find the ‘Follow’ icon (below or in the sidebar) or ‘Like’ my Facebook page. Your ongoing support and encouragement are very much appreciated.