Twitter Prompt

Tweets Due: Weekly on Fridays by 11:59 pm (except for Week 9 and Week 15 – these are due on a Wednesday)
Percentage: 15%

General Overview

Twitter is popular in the Digital Humanities (DH) community and has been for awhile. It’s also a good way of practicing being concise and informative while talking to a public audience. And it’s a great alternative to discussion board posts! You’ll be setting up an academic or professional Twitter, meaning you might need to create a new profile if you already have a personal account. If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, check this out.

You should be posting on Twitter at least twice per week about the readings and/or projects we’re working on AND replying to or retweeting (with a comment) one of your classmates at least once per week. There are a couple of special instructions listed below.

You’ll then submit Tweets to me (including replies/retweets with comments) via Scholar each Friday by 11:59 pm. To submit your Tweets via Scholar, you’ll need to take screen shots. I’ve listed some resources and instructions under “Resources.” I’ve also included instructions for sumbitting your tweets under “How to Submit.”

We’ll be using the hashtag #cnuengl350. Please use this hashtag! All my classes are using this hashtag this semester, so it’s also a great way to see what everyone else is up to.

You can certainly use other hashtags as well! Just don’t overdo it. Hashtagging most words is difficult to read. I tend to favor saving hashtags for the end of my tweets, although you can certainly incorporate them when appropriate. But know–more hashtags (and tagging people outside of class) means more people will (possibly) see your tweets. It’s perfectly fine to do so, but you should be aware that other people may notice and even comment or like your posts.

Please tweet throughout the week as readings are assigned. That means you should be posting before class. If you want to get really fancy or you like to read ahead, you can use Tweetdeck to schedule tweets.

Assignment Breakdown

Week One

First thing first, you’ll set up your new Twitter (if necessary). If you don’t have a Twitter profile yet, go to Twitter.com and follow the instructions. If you need a second account, follow these instructions.
- Choose a professional username
- Try to keep your username under 15 characters
- Personalize your profile! If you don’t feel like adding a profile picture of yourself (see FERPA notice on the syllabus), that’s fine. Find some kind of profile picture though. And a cover image! And a bio! If you need help with your bio, check out this list of tips. But, of course, keep it all appropriate.
Add your first name with last initial and Twitter username to the appropriate Google Doc in our class Google Drive. Follow me and everyone else in the class (you’ll have to come back if you’re not the last one).
Post your first tweet introducing yourself! You might say your major and why you’re interested in DH! Again, only share as much personal information as you’re comfortable with and see the FERPA statement on the syllabus.
Reply to someone else’s introduction. We’ll be doing About Me posts later with more details, but this is your first time meeting your classmates (digitally–but still!).
Make sure you take screenshots of your two posts AND (this week only) your Twitter profile. You’ll submit all three to me this week by Friday, January 22nd at 11:59 pm. Usually, you’ll have three tweets total, but this week is short and I want to see that profile. So, to be clear, you’ll need to submit a screenshot of a tweet introducing yourself, a tweet responding to someone else, and your profile.

Week Two on . . .

Post at least two substantial (see below) tweets a week AND reply/retweet with comment (these should be substantial too!).
Submit your three tweets via Scholar each Friday by 11:59 pm. (See “How to Submit” below.)

But if there was a blog due the week before? Do this! (I’ll remind you)

At least one of your tweets the week after a blog is due should be responding to someone else’s blog. There are a few reasons for this: 1) blogs shouldn’t just be read by me–they’re for a broader audience; 2) you get to engage with each other more; and 3) you’ll be exposed to even more DH projects and ideas.
These posts should still be substantial (see below), BUT also kind. All of the links to each other’s blogs will be posted in the Google Drive, so you can skim a few and then choose one to respond to. This isn’t meant to be a critique, but rather a conversation. What did you enjoy about their post? Explain what you liked best. What did you learn? Tell them (and the rest of us!) what you gleaned from their post. Are there any questions you were left with? Ask them! Any parts that you didn’t understand? Request clarification.

Week 9 and Week 15

These weeks are short, so I will only be requiring one tweet and one reply/retweet with comment.
You’ll submit tweets via Scholar on Wednesdays these weeks (March 17th and April 28th).

Finals Week

No tweets required! Yay! That means your last tweet is due in Week 15 on Wednesday, April 28th by 11:59 pm.

Evaluation Criteria

You must submit screenshots of your tweets/retweets/replies each week to get credit. (See how in “How to Submit” below)
I will grade your tweets as pass/fail each week
- If you don’t submit at least three tweets total (including one reply/retweet with comment), you get a 0 for the week.
- If you submit three tweets but they are UNsubstantial (see below), you may receive a 0 for the week.
- Again, please tweet throughout the week as readings are assigned (so, before class). If I only see you posting during/after class, I reserve the right to give you a 0.

Each week amounts to 1% of your final grade in the course. It doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up!

Examples

An UNsubstantial tweet: I really liked the reading, but I still have questions.

What reading? Why? What questions?

A better (but still UNsubstantial) tweet: Kirschenbaum attempts to answer “What is the Digital Humanities?” but I’m still not sure if he actually answered the question for me.

More specific but I still have questions about your questions. Add some more detail (understanding that you only have so many characters!)

A substantial tweet: Kirschenbaum attempts to answer “What is the Digital Humanities?” but I’m wondering what makes the digital humanities different than the humanities now that most things are done digitally? He was also writing ten years ago, so what has changed in the field?

Note that you don’t always have to ask questions. You can make statements too! Or answer questions!

An UNsubstantial comment or reply: I agree with your questions! Ten years is a long time!

A substantial comment or reply: Ten years does seem like a substantial amount of time, but I think defining DH will always be hard. Technology is constantly evolving, so I’m not sure we can even really define DH in any lasting way.

A substantial comment or reply to THAT reply: I disagree. I think technology is advancing, of course, but the principles are the same. As long as people are doing humanities scholarship digitally, isn’t that DH? I think the blurring really comes when we ask what is humanities work to begin with?

Note that it’s fine to disagree! Be collegial, but you don’t have to have the same thoughts as everyone else. It’s also okay to change your mind over the course of the semester – or even over the course of a day! You might even change your mind several times. I might change my mind too. That’s what humanities education is for in my opinion – it helps us to understand how we view a thing and also how to question those same views. That’s how we grow as students, academics, and people.

How to Submit

Go to the “Twitter Posts” link in Scholar, click on the appropriate week, and then hit “Create Post.” Once there, add a title and then upload your screenshot(s). Pretty simple!

Please post all three tweets as a single journal entry.

Resources

(Mostly Free) Screen Capture Software

You might consider using your phone to use Twitter and then take a simple screenshot. If you’d rather use a computer, here are some resources:

How-to on Mac
How-to on Windows
Greenshot - free on Windows and $1.99 on Mac
TechSmith Capture - free for both Windows and Mac (but I haven’t tried it!)

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