Twitter X - Dead Social Network? Or Professional Learning Network?

Having never made a Twitter/X account, I had a case of imposter syndrome. Can I even call myself a millennial if I've never tweeted in my life? Considering Twitter/X has gained a bad rep, to put it lightly, is Twitter/X still a viable social network for a professional learning network?

To answer this question, I made my very first Twitter/X. Without further ado...

Image Source: tenor.com

Step 1: Following

In order to develop my professional learning network, I started by following Twitter/X accounts relevant to my profession and my interests. Each account's name and profile description are included below, in case any accounts may be of interest for your own learning network.

Library Organizations:

• American Library Association: Updates from the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries in general.
• ALA Booklist: Book #reviews, readers' advisory, & insight for #librarians & book lovers, from the experts at ALA.
• ALSC: The Association for Library Service to Children, a division of  @alalibrary. Our members engage communities & advocate for better library service to children.
• PLA: Wherever public libraries are working, possibility lives. The Public Library Association helps shape that possibility for public libraries nationwide.
• YALSA: For more than 60 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and library staff to engage, serve and empower all teens.

Intellectual Freedom in Libraries:

• Banned Books Week: Banned Books Week, the annual spotlight on book censorship and intellectual freedom, will be held October 1 - 7, 2023.
• Freedom to Read Foundation: A #FirstAmendment legal organization affiliated with the American Library Association. #FreedomToRead
• IFRT: The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) of the American Library Association provides a forum for the discussion of intellectual freedom in libraries.
• OIF: The Office for Intellectual Freedom is part of the American Library Association. Follow for library news about privacy, banned books and censorship.

Books:

• Children's Book Council: The best in children's and young adult literature and literacy news.
• Junior Library Guild: A collection development service providing libraries with the best new-release books for children and young adults.
• Lee & Low Books: Since 1991, children's book publisher specializing in #diversity. Award-winning + POC-owned + independent.
• School Library Journal: School Library Journal is the largest reviewer of kids & YA content, from books to digital.
• The Horn Book: Independent, opinionated, and stylish: essential multimedia publications for everyone who cares about children's and young adult literature.
• WeNeedDiverseBooks: We Need Diverse Books is a nonprofit organization that strives to create a world where everyone can find themselves in the pages of a book.

LGBTQ+ Books:

• ALA's Rainbow Book List: #RainbowBookList is an annual bibliography of LGBTQIA+ books for children & teens selected by the Rainbow Book List committee of  @glbtrt
• Lambda Literary: Celebrating queer books & writers every day.
• LGBTQReads: Queering up your bookshelves, one rec at a time.

Neurodiversity:

• Reframing Autism: Reframing Autism is run by and for Autistic people and their families and allies. We celebrate and nurture Autistic identity.
• The Autism Books by Autistic Authors Project: Website cataloguing all books about autism/with Autistic main characters, written by Autistic authors.

Ed Tech & UDL:

• CAST: Working to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning.
• edutopia: Sharing what works in education. 
• ISTE: ISTE is home to a passionate community of global educators who use technology to revolutionize learning.
• UCET: Utah Coalition for Educational Technology - an @ISTEofficial Affiliate. We promote cooperative development & effective use of edtech in UT. #utedchat
• UTedChat: We discuss educational topics relevant to Utah and the general education landscape every Weds @ 8pm MST using #UTedchat

Local Organizations & Events:

• Boys & Girls Club of Elgin: Mission: To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as caring, productive, responsible citizens.
• Elgin Public Museum: Our mission is to enhance knowledge of the natural sciences & anthropology through the use of exhibits and interactive experiences.
• Explore Elgin Area: The Elgin Area is rich with exciting and memorable experiences in Northern IL. We are your go-to hub for all the info! Events, Meetings & Tourneys.
• Gail Borden Library: Fueled by the power of community.
• Nightmare/Chicago St: Save the date, citizens. Save the city. Again. Experience the party at the end of the world on 10*21*23.
  *If you made it to the end of this list of resources, congrats! Please note that this final resource is not for my professional network, but for my personal love of all things Halloween.

Step 2: Resources

After following 30 accounts, I was admittedly overwhelmed. There was so much content to sort through, and I had no clue where to start or what to prioritize. In order to curb my completionist tendencies, I set a timer to scroll through Twitter/X for no more than twenty minutes each day. Sometimes, I'd look through my general Twitter/X feed. Sometimes, I'd look through a particular account's Twitter/X feed. Either way, I could spend as much time as I'd like on the resources I'd found. However, I wouldn't scroll endlessly through post after post of book challenges, logging out of Twitter/X after the twenty minute timer. I love learning about book challenges, but it's important for me to maintain boundaries on certain topics, lest informing turn into doomscrolling. Particularly since many of the books being challenged are LGBTQ+ books, it hits me hard as an LGBTQ+ community member.

With these boundaries in mind, I was surprised by how many resources I discovered just by scrolling through my Twitter/X newsfeed. Here are just a few examples of these resources:

• a haiku writing activity (courtesy of edutopia)
• a video on including People with Disabilities in the Workforce (courtesy of CAST)
• In honor of World Cerebral Palsy Day: a booklist of three novels starring queer main characters with cerebral palsy (courtesy of LGBTQ Reads)
• stats on Banned & Challenged Books (courtesy of IFRT)

Image Source: IRFT's Twitter/X & ALA's Book Ban Data

I shared the final resource with my coworkers, i.e. my own Professional Learning Network. My library team had started a Microsoft Teams conversation about book displays for Banned Books Week, in light of the fact that a customer had issued a complaint on the topic. In response, I shared ALA's stats on banned and challenge books in the Teams conversation. Although I haven't had many conversations on Twitter/X thus far, I can say that the resources posted on Twitter/X have opened up conversations with coworkers, as well as sparked ideas for library programs, book displays, and inclusive library services. I also joined a brand new kind of conversation on inclusive library services, thanks to Twitter/X Chat.

Step 3: Twitter/X Chat

For my Twitter/X Chat, I participated in UTedChat. The topic of this chat was #fREADom in schools and libraries. This topic had piqued my interest after seeing so many posts about Let Freedom Read Day. Particularly with Banned Books Week right around the corner at the time of the Twitter/X chat, I was excited to see what other professionals had to say about this important topic. Although the chat with these professionals lasted an hour, it felt like time flew by! Since I only had 280 characters to work with in a given response, I initially felt like each word must be chosen carefully. Then, I realized that my responses didn't need to be perfect. It was a chat, not an interview, after all. Hence, I let myself submit my real time response, giving myself more time to read others' responses. It was interesting how we emphasized different aspects of intellectual freedom, but were all on the same page about the importance of #fREADom. 

Overthinking my responses at the start of the chat

Image source: UTedChat

Enjoying my responses at the end of the chat

Image source: UTedChat

Step 4: What now?

Now that I've gained experience using Twitter/X, I'll take time to discern how I'd like to use the platform going forward. If utilized with clear boundaries, Twitter/X can be a fantastic resource for finding more resources. If the number of posts is daunting, I can narrow down which accounts I follow, limiting my content to the most helpful resources for my learning journey. To further expand my professional learning network, I'd need to branch out into more chats and actively participate in more groups. That said, I'm happy with all that I've learned from month one on Twitter/X. The longer I familiarize myself with this tech tool, the more comfortable and confident I'll become connecting through that tech tool and building that learning network.