Real-Time Research: Twitter & Jaiku

“Follow your friends” and “mini-blogging” services like Twitter and Jaiku have been characterized as everything from social networking “light” to the coolest way to share thoughts and stay in touch with friends and colleagues. For the purposes of this post, I’d like to consider how these real-time messaging services might impact scholarly teaching and research.

A screenshot of the Jaiku interface.

For those unfamiliar with the “twitting” phenomenon, here are a few words of introduction:

“Twitter is a community of friends and strangers from around the world sending updates about moments in their lives. Friends near or far can use Twitter to remain somewhat close while far away. Curious people can make friends. Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool. Developers can use the API to make Twitter tools of their own. Possibilities are endless!” (Official Twitter FAQ)

To let others know what you are doing or where you are at any given moment using these services, you simply create a mini-blog post by either 1) sending a text message from your mobile phone 2) typing a message from the Web site 3) instant messaging from AIM, Jabber or Gtalk. A number of third-party applications (desktop gadgets, system tray tools, browser plug-ins) are also available for facilitating message posting. Posts can be shared publicly or limited to selected contacts or friends. Feeds of your posts are instantly sent to interested members of the community, keeping them updated on your activities or whereabouts.

“Presence updating” tools and feeds are quickly being introduced into larger social networking applications like Facebook. At the recent Harvard Academic Computing Committee’s Workshop on the Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning, Harvard undergraduates described Facebook as the center of their social and academic universe. Being able to see where classmates are at any given moment is useful for coordinating study groups, catching up on missed classes and notes, asking each other homework questions, collaborating on class projects, etc.

In addition to helping students social network, services like Twitter and Jaiku could be leveraged to aid researchers with projects where the transmission of timely information or “real-time” communication is essential. Some examples might include reporting “in-the-field” survey results, monitoring environmental conditions from diverse locations, coordinating academic conference schedules, and developing distributed research projects across institutions.