Generation Y and Twitter

According to Derek Baird Teens Don’t Give a Twit About Twitter. Is this a surprise?

Facebook and other ‘friend-based’ social network tools are the preferred domain of choice for the discerning online teen, and Twitter has already been identified as having an audience with a Twitter average age in the thirties (whereas Facebook is most definitely a teen-orientated network; Facebook average age in the upper teens).

So, as Derek asks;

“If Gen Y (Generation Y/Millenials) really doesn’t give a Twit about Twitter, should educators be trying to integrate it into the curriculum?”

While Derek doesn’t go into any detail about whether we should be trying to integrate it or not, he does provide some good links to other online resources, urging us to read and make up our own minds.

So, here’s my two-penny’s worth … yes, we should make the effort. If we make the effort now, with Twitter, then we are in a position to start to understand what is happening with the Internet, and starting to modify the way we think and how we think we can incorporate new technologies and ideas into our teaching.

If we can do this with Twitter, or SlideShare, or games, or Diigo, or Delicious, or anything, then we are better placed to meet the next fad or craze head-on. We, as we considered the ‘older’ generation, will be capable of being proactive with changes (instead of reactive) and this can only benefit the learning environment we set for the students.

We are the ones who set the goals for the learning, but it is the students who set the expectations for their learning, which we must meet. If we can’t do it now, then we have little hope of bridging the divide next year, or the year after, when it will be even wider.