Ok, so I had a whinge about Twitter a couple of weeks ago but since then I have had time to use it a little more, even if sporadically. I have been thinking that there must be some kind of way in which higher ed people can use this. It's simple and easy and free.
I noticed on the weekend that the BBC is using it to send out news headlines so I signed up to their sports updates. I have long admired the ability of the BBC's web people to integrate new technologies into their online offerings, they usually do it in a very user-friendly manner that actually delivers interesting content. So, I was intrigued.
The BBC uses Twitter to deliver a very slim amount of content in the form of a headline and a link. They use Tiny URL to make their 'Twitters' even shorter (there's a 140 char limit) and not burdened by a long URL that can be hard on a reader's eye. I have Twitter delivered to my IM client so accessing anything that interests me is easy. If you were receiving via SMS you would obviously need web access via your phone to get the full benefit from it.
In terms of delivering short messages there is potential. This morning I read the Shifted Librarian's take on Twitter for libraries. Like me, Jenny's been thinking that there must be some useful application for it, besides a vanity publishing tool. She came up with the distribution of library alerts and one of the big attractions of using Twitter for such messages is that it's free and would require little technical work to make it happen.
"So here's my theory and the reason for this post. I've already thought out loud about one possible way for a library (or consortium of libraries) to use Twitter, but I think an enterprising library that wants to test out a texting service, especially with teens, could create a free Twitter account and publicize it as an alert notification system. In fact, I think a library could create multiple Twitter accounts and offer a variety of alert services this way."Unis could possibly use it in a similar manner. Yes, it would require recipients to sign up to Twitter but it could be a quick and cheap (if not dirty) solution to a messaging problem or a way in which to trial such a system. It offers multiple channels through which a message can be received (web, RSS, IM or SMS) and is very easy to use. And did I mention it's free?
UPDATE: Deep and sincere apologies to The Shifted Librarian. I had used a quote from your blog and not marked it as such. This may have led people to believe they were my own words. I have now corrected this error.
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