Alfred Thompson (@alfredtwo) and I have a little standing joke between the two of us. We get a kick from reading blog posts about “Top 10 Educational Blogs” or “Best Blogs to Follow” or the like. You may see a message from one of us to the other typically along the lines of “Here’s another list that we didn’t make…” We recognize that often these lists are written by magazines that have to crank out content but are amused at times with the content. Often, the lists contain the same blogs just shuffled up differently. It’s also interesting to read since some of them haven’t had a post in months and both Alfred and I try to express our thoughts regularly. It’s just fun.
But, there are lists that mean a great deal. On Twitter, you can create your own lists of people to follow. It’s very handy to keep track of people based upon a particular theme. I will have my Seesmic Desktop open and have three lists that I follow daily to stay on top of things. These lists are:
- People I’ve Met – People that I’ve met face to face at one point or another
- Keynotes – People who have given keynote addresses at a conference that I continue to follow
- Ontario Educators – My personal favourite just to find out what’s happening in Education in the province
These are pubic lists and you can click each to see who made my list and who I like to follow.
It’s also an honour to be on someone else’s list. Hopefully, that means that someone has read my stuff and is intrigued enough to want to find out more. Some of these lists are curated manually and others are made by software but, as Alfred and I will attest, it’s just nice to be on a list! As I look through my account tonight, I see that I’m on a few lists.
Now, I’m not under the delusion that I’m about to change the world, but it’s nice just to be asked. As I look through the list of lists, here are some of my favourites!
- @JordanSkole/stevehargadonlets – Wow, to be in the same group as Steve Hargadon
- @elizbtheastman/thought-leaders - Every now and again, I do have a thought!
- @shenlon420/follow-back-list - Yes, I will follow you back if you’re an educator and post interesting content
- @alfredtwo/tech-people - Whew! I made Alfred’s list
- @mrpotter/big-wigs-ii - I need to work harder to get on the Big Wigs I list
- @rmbyrne/ed-tech-coordinators - Glad to be on Richard’s list. Enjoyed meeting him out west last year
- @DoremiGirl/educator-pln – It’s rewarding to be part of someone else’s PLN
- @sallyboone/teachers-who-share – This is what it’s all about
- @JJJENNNNN/essex-county – Even in a global environment, it’s nice to be recognized as a local boy
- @pcwoessner/twibes-technology - Not quite sure what a “twibe” is be I’m on a bunch of technology ones
- and, @dougpete/ontario-educators - Thank goodness I made my own list.
That was a fun walk through the listings. I am honoured that somehow I ended up on someone else’s list. Alfred would be proud of me. Have you checked yourself lately to see who’s listed you?
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You are on several of my lists including a private list I call “must follow” which is the main stream I never miss on Twitter. I check out which lists I am on as well. I am most happy to be on lists that are carefully and manually created by people. It’s one why I find more people to follow BTW. If people are on the lists created by people who mean something to me that is a good recommendation in my book.
Once again you’ve found the words to make something amorphous take a meaningful shape. Thanks for helping your readers understand how beneficial lists can be. And, oh my, am I honoured to even be featured on a certain – which shall remain unnamed – illustrious one.
Very cool to see that my list is one of your favourites!
Thanks for the reminder that I need to update that one.
Favourite lists that I appear on:
· @NHL lists me an an Oilers fan (a list of only 63!)
· @RobBlatt/canada: “Bret Hart, curling and maple syrup. Who wants anything more?” (nice to see that I make that list of very Canadian things)
· 2 different people have me listed under /twibes-cool for “the top cool Twitter people” (not sure how I got there, but according to the twibes site, I’m currently the 67th coolest person on Twitter!)