Connections That Last: An Investigation Into Continued Engagement in a Synchronous Twitter Edchat

• In Event: Social Networks and the Building of Learning

Abstract

This paper examines the interactions between 30 participants of a single synchronous Twitter chat focusing on education (edchat) over 11-months. The objective of this paper is to examine edchat participant interactions to determine possible factors related to continued engagement. These interactions were used to 1) identify differences between the group of participants who continued to interact compared to those who did not, 2) examine differences in behavior during synchronous chats between those who continued to interact compared to those who did not, and 3) examine differences in behavior after synchronous chats between those who continued to interact compared to those who did not.

Authors

• Elyssa Stoddard, Oregon State University

• Hilary Smith Risser, Montana Tech

• SueAnn I. Bottoms, Oregon State University