Using games to disrupt the conference Twittersphere

Social media tools are changing practices in many industries, including academia, and the Twitter platform is widely recognised as the ‘tool of choice’ for microblogging. Academic conferences often use social media to provide conference ‘backchannels’. This article describes a conference game using...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inResearch in learning technology Vol. 26; pp. 1 - 10
Main Authors Jones, Rosie, Shields, Emily
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Jarfalla Association for Learning Technology 01.01.2018
Subjects
Communities of practice
Community Relations
Conference
Conferences (Gatherings)
Games
Information literacy
Networking
Playful
Professional Training
Social Media
Social networks
Society
Toys
Twitter
Unconference
User behavior
Cleveland Ohio
United States > US
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Summary:Social media tools are changing practices in many industries, including academia, and the Twitter platform is widely recognised as the ‘tool of choice’ for microblogging. Academic conferences often use social media to provide conference ‘backchannels’. This article describes a conference game using toys as alter egos, driven through Twitter. We found that the soft toy game format was participated in by a majority of the attendees, with early posts in advance of the conference a good signal of engagement. We look at what the organisers learnt from the game and how such games, including Twitter elements, could support wider networks beyond the conference itself.
ISSN:2156-7077
2156-7069
2156-7077
DOI:10.25304/rlt.v26.2036