From [[http://cpsquare.org CPsquare]], the community of practice on communities of practice.

... part of the technology for communities project, started off by the authors of [Digital Habitats], Etienne Wenger, Nancy White, and John D. Smith.

Project Contributing Category

Contents 1 Definition 2 Video Intro 3 Uses in communities of practice 4 Polarities 5 Key features 5.1 Hashtag choice 5.2 Platform features 5.3 Etc. 6 Related tools 7 Tool use in combination 8 Resources

Definition

A microblogging aggregator gathers microblog messages (e.g., Twitter) into a chat. It may provide an interface for contributing to a chat as well as for seeing what others have said. Typically a hashtag is used to identify messags that belong in the chat.

Video Intro

If available a video introducing the tool would go here.

Uses in communities of practice

Many groups gather around a Twitter hashtag, which can be just as viable for community formation as "reply-all" in email. Examples of regular chats include:

• http://www.npcons.net/
• http://www.kmers.org/chat
• http://twitter.com/#!/saved-search/%23phdchat

Although groups often begin very casually, they synchronize around a specific time and register on a public Twitter chat list.

Polarities

• Together / apart, Synch / Asynch: Twitter is a synchronous medium first, but an aggregator stretches it toward the asynch end of the spectrum.
• Participation / Reification: Twitter chats are an easy way to participate in a discussion. A key issue for communities is keeping an archive for future reference.
• Individual / group: Surprising how groups form around a hashtag and how people extend their networks of individual connections.

Key features

Hashtag choice

• Declaring a hashtag names the topic and gives the aggregator the way to collect all relevant Tweets
• There several considerations in the choice of a hashtag including memorability, intuitiveness, length, exclusivity.

Platform features

• Ability to label a collection of tweets explains how a conversation came to be and why future chats might be relevant
• Ability to produce a downloadable extract are important because microblogging aggregator platforms can easily go out of business, leaving you with no record of a community's conversation.

Etc.

• What else?

Related tools

• Microblogs
• some other tools?

Tool use in combination

• Useful with tool X
• Useless with tool Y
• More exhaustive "straddling pages"

Resources

• About
  • http://joitskehulsebosch.blogspot.com/2010/03/facilitating-twitter-chat.html
  • http://www.fullcirc.com/2011/03/10/crosspost-from-nwwcop-twitter-chats-and-tweetups/
  • http://www.meryl.net/2009/06/24/how-to-run-a-successful-twitter-chat/
  • http://mashable.com/2009/12/08/twitter-chat/
  • and others: http://www.delicious.com/smithjd/twitter+chats
• Examples of tools (tags include: twitter, archive, aggregator, search)
  • http://tweetchat.com/
  • http://wthashtag.com
  • http://search.twitter.com
  • http://www.twibes.com/
  • http://www.sapweb20.com/blog/powerpoint-twitter-tools/
  • http://twapperkeeper.com/index.php (uggly but effective)
  • http://tidytweet.com/
  • http://visibletweets.com/ makes a word cloud that's evocative, not archival
  • http://twitter.com/about/resources/widgets displays recent tweets on a website
  • http://archivist.visitmix.com/
  • http://keepstream.com/ making "a report" from a Twitter stream
  • http://storify.com/ construct "a story" from social media
  • Marc Smith on NodeXL explains how to schedule a social network graph from Twitter. Captures all Tweeters, maybe all Tweets.
  • http://twtpoll.com/ polling is a kind of aggregation

Potential resources for archiving Twitter chats discussed here http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10_ways_to_archive_your_tweets.php (Note: trusted technology expert recommends Twapper Keeper: [1] )