Twitter – My resource guide

Last week I had a revelation after two women from another university called me to inquire about Davenport University’s Facebook page. They explained that their school is currently starting its first Facebook page and had questions about how I accomplished a few things on ours. After talking with them on the phone, they asked “How did you learn all of this? Was there a website that helped you? A book?” I was stumped and then it came to me. Most of my knowlege comes from Twitter.

That’s right, Twitter is my resource guide. Whenever I have a question about higher sducation or social media, I turn to my many contacts on Twitter for help. Sure, I could Google a lot of this stuff, but why weed through thousands of pages that won’t help me, when I can just ask someone I trust if they have a solution.  Almost immediately after asking the question, I recieve filtered answers that are way more valuable then what Google could ever offer.

I was discussing this with my hubby yesterday and he said Twitter has been a major help to him in his career as well. He is studying IT right now and follows many IT pros out there. As a result he said he feels on par with many of his professors in terms of helpful resources.  In fact, the information he recieves from Twitter is sometimes more helpful than what he gets in the classroom. He suspects that’s because he’s connecting with real life professionals who are living, eating and breating IT. As an aside, it’s amazing seeing him talk so positively about Twitter, when just several months ago he said it was time-waster.

Not only can Twitter help out in professional situations, but it can help out in personal ones as well. Meet Edgar.  He was one of four baby bunnies living in my backyard last summer. During their uninvited stay in the middle of the yard, one of my dogs chased little Edgar out of his nest. In order to protect him from the perilous jaws of my hounds, I was forced to pick him up and return him to the nest. This resulted in extreme anxiety for me because I had heard that if you picked up a baby bunny, the mom would reject him. Instantly, I hopped on Twitter and asked around for help and clarification. And wouldn’t you know it? I got replies from several people who had encountered the same problem. Where else can you get help like that? Again, I could have Googled an answer, but it probably would have taken me hours to find something useful!