Barbara

That being said, tweeting during a talk doesn’t automatically make you an impolite audience member. I’ve been to plenty of conferences where the audience was writing notes, typing on laptops AND tweeting and most people were still engaged with the speaker and listening closely. In fact, when I’m tweeting from a talk, I often pay more attention, b/c I want to catch the best info and record it accurately.

It seems that the view from the stage would be pretty similar regardless of how people are taking notes – a sea of people, some with heads down recording information. So why should the speaker care? The only difference with Twitter is that it erases the idea of a captive audience. If the speaker isn’t effective, people can use Twitter to virtually escape the room. But that, in my opinion, is the fault of the presenter, not the technology.

Thanks for posting these questions. My thoughts match with Bill’s above. I am not attending NCA this year, so receiving Tweets allows me to keep up with some panels and ongoings from afar, almost a “distantconferencing” via Twitter. In regards to listening, we are slowly adapting to new technologies and adapting our listening behaviors and cognitions accordingly.

Technology use, listening, and ethics would be a great panel/paper presentation at the ILA convention. And, now for a shameless plug for the 31st International Listening Association (ILA) Convention: Albuquerque, NM Mar. 25-26-27, 2010. Check out http://www.listen.org. Deadlines for submissions are in December.

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Why? They think social media is a fad, the CB radio of this decade, and they don’t know how to blend theory and practice in the classroom.

So, when I saw that this conference was for an organization of educators and researchers, it all clicked. They don’t want Tweeting because they aren’t used to teaching in a room full of Twitterers–no electronic devices are allowed in classrooms because many students use the technology to cheat. And academicians are too often guarded about their research and don’t want to share anything until it’s peer-reviewed and published. In a world where your survival depends on “publish or perish” you play your cards very close. Academics are not drumming up business, looking for business contacts or potential clients when they’re talking at a conference, like professionals are. They’re protecting their turf.

The “No-Tweet” rule is based on fear. If these speakers went to more actual professional conferences, like PRSA and IABC and participated in the local chapters in their towns, and actually interacted with professionals in the field, they’d know that Tweeting during presentations is a good way of getting your message out, and getting feedback immediately. As one commenter said here, looking at the hashtag feed later is an excellent means of self-evaluating the presentation.

I agree it can be rude to sit with your head down staring at your mobile communications device. But not every statement is Tweetworthy, so look at the speaker, and only look down when you need to Tweet. I also try to approach the speaker ahead of time, introduce myself, let them know in general who my followers are, (students and professional contacts) and tell them I may Tweet a few comments. Then I don’t sit on the front row, so as not to call attention to (and make them nervous about) every Tweet I send.

A little common courtesy and some good manners will go a long way in all social media settings.

I have a quick question for the group – for context when is it not okay to tweet?

As to the individual speakers, I think they may request whatever they want (everybody give me $20) and it’s an individual decision whether to comply or not.

What worries me is that so many communication researchers dismiss or ignore significant changes in society, when it’s their job to study them. I interpret the “no tweeting’ request as a desperate attempt to fight back change & control audiences, and a total disinterest in keeping up with the times. Am I reading too much into it?

On the other hand, if I was at a PR conference, or a formal dinner/presentation, I would expect everyone to pay attention to the speaker and not tweet.

If you can write notes you can tweet. Your head will be down either way. If that is a distraction to the speaker, then the speaker needs more speaking engagements.

I appreciated being able to go through the backchannel on twitter and read the comments regarding my presentation. It allowed me to see both the strengths and weaknesses of the presentation itself, as well as my delivery. Since my coworker and I were asked to present our session again two more times on the last day, I was able to use the criticisms to my advantage and address them while we presented again, to help clear up any confusion or to get feedback from the next two audiences.

As an aside, I think it would be a very interesting study to capture a tweet stream and compare those with someone who is taking notes in the session and then compare it to all the facts shared by the speaker (capture that with a recording).

Finally, for what its worth, I am okay with tweeters and any other tech in our session so long as they sit in the “tweeter’s section” (back two rows with the smokers) .

-Bill
http://www.twitter.com/billhandy