An investigation of State Educational Twitter Hashtags (SETHs) as affinity spaces

Abstract

Affinity spaces are digital or physical spaces in which participants interact with one another around content of shared interest and through a common portal (or platform). Among teachers, some of the largest affinity spaces may be those organized around hashtags on Twitter: These spaces are public, largely unmoderated, and thriving, yet very little is known about them, especially those based in geographical areas such as American states. This paper examines these potential affinity spaces by providing the first large-scale study of them in the form of an examination of 47 State Educational Twitter Hashtags (SETHs). Collecting over 550,000 tweets over 6 months, our analysis focused on who is participating in SETHs, how active participants are, and when participation occurred. We found support for two of Gee's tenets of affinity spaces, in particular many interactions through a shared portal. Though the content of tweets were not the focus, this study’s findings lend support to efforts to identify which particular SETHs will be best suited to subsequent analysis of their content and what times subsequent analysis might most productively focus on. We discuss implications for how we conceive of teacher professional development and suggest directions for future research focused on the content of tweets associated with SETHs.

Idle chatter or compelling conversation? The potential of the social media‐based #NGSSchat network for supporting science education reform efforts

“…While past research about professional networks and social media in education have pointed out their independent benefits, #NGSSchat seems to demonstrate how the characteristics we explored might work together to support a nationwide reform effort. Consequently, another implication of this study concerns what those who are supporting other networks (including face‐to‐face networks) might do differently in light of the roles of networks like #NGSSchat that are supported not by geographic proximity, but, rather, an affinity between individuals (Gee, 2004; Rosenberg et al, 2016) and their collective participation in conversations about the NGSS and science education (Garet et al, 2001). In particular, such networks may profitably incorporate multiple stakeholders and provide them with opportunities to interact on more equal grounds—whether that be through social media or carefully designed questions (such as those used by the moderators of #NGSSchat to structure the chats) to interact in any setting.…”

“…We focus on three features of online professional networks, and #NGSSchat specifically, that have the potential for supporting coordination across educational systems necessary for successful reform implementation: fostering substantive conversations (van Bommel, Randahl, Liljekvist, & Ruthven, 2020); being accessible to and foster balanced participation among educational stakeholders from different professional roles (Macià & García, 2016; Rosenberg, Greenhalgh, Koehler, Hamilton, & Akcaoglu, 2016; Spillane et al, 2015), instead of involvement dominated by one or two professional roles; sustaining participation in online networks (Greenhow, Galvin, & Staudt Willet, 2019). …”

How and why are educators using Instagram?

“…Educators employed Instagram to acquire and share knowledge, as well as to exchange emotional support and develop community. Similar to teachers’ Twitter use, hashtags appeared to be a common way to find and connect with content and people of interest ( Rosenberg et al., 2016 ). By providing teachers a window into many other educators’ worlds, Instagram may serve to combat the isolation that has characterized the teaching profession ( Lortie, 1975 ).…”

“…However, some educators—such as the one quoted above—have apparently found ways to utilize social media both in student activities ( Carpenter & Justice, 2017 ) and for professional learning ( Xing & Gao, 2018 ). Research has previously investigated educators’ uses of other social media, including Facebook (e.g., Kelly & Antonio, 2016 ), Pinterest (e.g., Schroeder, Curcio, & Lundgren, 2019 ), Twitter (e.g., Rosenberg, Greenhalgh, Koehler, Hamilton, & Akcaoglu, 2016 ) and Reddit (e.g., Staudt Willet & Carpenter, 2020 ), and has described multiple benefits and challenges. However, despite being the second most widely used social media platform in the United States (U.S.; Perrin & Anderson, 2019 ) and fifth most used in the world ( Statista, 2020 ), Instagram has received only limited attention from education researchers to date.…”

“Why Haven’t I Tried Twitter Until Now?”: Using Twitter in Teacher Education

“…The widespread use of hashtags (keywords preceded by the # symbol) is a Twitter convention important for understanding the platform's usefulness to educators. Hashtags have been employed to create "affinity spaces" (Gee, 2004), such as #literacy or #enviroed, where educators with common interests and needs can share ideas and resources and engage in conversation (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014;Rosenberg, Greenhalgh, Koehler, Hamilton, & Akcaoglu, 2016). Live chats make the platform popular with many educators.…”