Twitter-Phobia

I found Franklin’s post to be extremely relatable. I know I’m part of the generation that is supposed to know how to use every single technology about 5 seconds after it’s released, but I am yet to have figured out how to use or navigate twitter.

I made my twitter around 2007, when it was still relatively new. I only made it because my more tech savvy friend had heard about it and wanted a friend to have it too. The few hours after creating it, my friend and I “tweeted” back and forth to each other, using it as if it were an instant messenger. We were each others only followers and I didn’t log back on for over a year.

Now, I have tried to use twitter at least once a year and each time I fail. I’ll post something along the lines of “here I go again”, follow a couple of friends I’ve made in that year and then immediately get bored.
What I found relatable about Franklin’s post was the fear of those 140 characters. I find myself not posting because I honestly don’t understand how it works. I still don’t know the difference between re-tweeting and using an @ in the text… I am afraid to post because I have no idea where to start.

With this in mind, I think that sponsorship in digital literacies is just as important as the sponsors I had when learning to read and write. I got help and guidance from parents and teachers and friends while learning to write. The only way I got over my fear of writing was by having someone who supported me, and would read my work and help me to be better. Franklin had someone helping them with twitter literacy- someone she could go to when the # got too confusing, and to read her posts and give constructive criticism. I want a twitter literacy sponsor!