Video Response - Nate Phillips

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Twitter is a very useful social networking tool and Nathan Philips is taking advantages of all the uses Twitter has to offer. Twitter is a tool to connect with other and to express yourself in 140 characters. In his video one main way Nathan Philips is using his twitter is to connect with colleagues and community. He does this by following groups and Twitter accounts of his interests or ones that he works with. He also connects with colleagues by simply tagging then with the @ symbol follow by their account names on other tweets or articles that he likes to share directly with them. Another way Nathan Philips can do this if it is more of a private matter than a public tweet is to Direct Message the person he would like to privately communicate with. It is similar to messaging on Facebook rather than writing it on your status or a wall post. 

Nathan Philips also uses his Twitter to share what's happening in classes which is also good to share especially if his followers are within the same networks to be inspire or updated on his classes. Not only does he share what is happening in class but he also live tweet during conferences and other presentation events. I think that is a great idea and it is the popular trend right now. Live tweeting allows people who couldn't attend a chance to still know what is going on. The only problem with this is that it can be bias and he can't really tweet everything that is said or happening at these events. So another way to improve on live tweeting is maybe a live stream of the event, which he can do through Facebook and maybe tweet out that he will be live streaming through Facebook. Sharing the ongoing collaborations, day to day work process, upcoming events for youth, teachers, and researcher which is a great way to keep his network updated if they are collaborating and working with him. He also shares publications, showcase UIC college of Education work, grad student, and faculty. Finally he also read, watch and learn which is what many also do on Twitter, so I think that Nathan Philips is using Twitter to the fullest. 

I personally liked how Dr. Phillips implemented Twitter as social media outlet as an effective way to engage in conversation and participate in online spaces. I strongly believe that the variety of methods Twitter is offering plays a major role in engaging the right audience. Sharing information to the public and making it accessible to the right people is important.

Participating in chats, connect with colleagues and communities using the same hashtag, retweeting posts from people of the personal network, or posting a picture of what Is going on in class are certainly good ways to share knowledgeable messages to the right audience. In my opinion, the focus should lie on the audience and what they make out of these posts. Dr. Philips does a great job in implementing these strategies. The lines between both online and physical engagement are more and more blurring. Therefore, sharing interesting Twitter posts during a conference for the people who are not present is a supporting way to engage the interested virtual audience for offline topics.

To my mind, the key term in using social media tools effectively is consistency. As a media scholar, nothing is wrong with posting the progress in a group project. Especially for the youth, I think that posts like these are encouraging and animating. Still, the way we share information or engage in the online conversation should fit to the audience. Therefore, taking on a flexible role in online interaction is elementary. 

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