Microblogging

Cartoons & logos for X, Mastodon & Bluesky

Icons for X (Source: SeekLogo, 2023, rb.gy/kc4tn, free download), Mastodon (Source: Rotchko, E., 2018, bit.ly/3FFpoG3, under GNU Affero General Public Licence), and Bluesky (Source: SeekLogo, 2026, tinyurl.com/4rh34tf3, free download)

Microblogging is a classic web 2.0 tool which exists at the intersection of blogging, social networking and social sharing. It involves the rapid exchange of concise information, often including images, videos and/or weblinks. There have been a number of microblogging services over the years, but many have now disappeared. For a long time, global microblogging was almost entirely dominated by Twitter which, after a change of management in 2022, was officially renamed X (see icon above left) in 2023. Many users who were discontented with the new management and the reduced controls over content switched to the decentralised Mastodon (see icon above centre; it dates from 2016) or Bluesky (see icon above right; as an independent service, it dates from 2021). Another longstanding alternative is Plurk, dating from 2008, while Meta’s Threads entered the field in 2023. In China, where X is inaccessible, there are some highly successful alternatives including Sina Weibo (微博). Because they involve quick, succinct sharing, microblogs are often accessed in an app version on mobile devices and thus may be linked to mobile learning.

The points below refer to microblogging services in general, but note that there are some minor variations between services. On microblogging services, it is typically free to set up an account, after which you can:

- follow those whose posts (originally called ‘tweets’ on Twitter) you are interested in reading, ranging from actors and singers through to politicians, scientists and authors. Once you have done so, you can see their posts, their replies to others, and posts they have shared, in your constantly updated newsfeed. Note that unlike on social networking services, where friending requires a mutual connection, microblogging services permit you to follow anyone with a public account, with no obligation for that person to follow you;
- search for posts on particular topics by typing a hashtag (introduced by the symbol #) into the search box;
- post your own comments, consisting of some combination of text, photos, videos, animations and/or weblinks. These can be viewed by others who have chosen to follow you, or who search for any hashtags you have used;
- reshare others’ posts that you find interesting with your own followers;
- send private direct messages to anyone with whom you have a mutual connection (i.e., you are both following each other).

In education, microblogging platforms have been used for a number of purposes, but bear in mind that usage of social media services, including microblogging services, by school-age students may be subject to age restrictions (for more details, see the Digital Safety & Wellness page). When teaching younger students, teachers may sometimes set up a whole-class account managed by the teacher and shown to the class from time to time. Some typical educational uses include:

- backchannel conversation: during presentations or seminars, audiences can use a hashtag (introduced by the symbol #) to link together their questions and comments, leading to a real-time backchannel discussion between audience members. This could also be of interest to others who are unable to attend the live event. Indeed, it is very common nowadays for conferences to set up an official conference hashtag. When an official hashtag has been set up, presenters may sometimes display a live feed of comments and questions at the front of the room, usually by using a second data projector and/or screen, and address them at appropriate intervals or at the end of the presentation. A similar backchannel approach can be used in the classroom to gather students’ questions and comments during a lesson. However, nowadays many educators prefer to use LMS or videoconferencing platform chat windows, or polling services with questions inbuilt in presentation slides;
- polling: a microblogging platform can be effectively used as a polling service;
- building personal/professional learning networks (PLNs): by finding and following experts, colleagues and/or peers on a microblogging platform or platforms, teachers and students can keep up with the latest developments in a given field of study or research, since many people use such platforms to focus primarily on their professional interests (see for example the data visualisation of themes derived from keywords in Mark Pegrum’s X/Twitter stream in the image below; note however that Mark switched from X to Bluesky in 2025). Microblogging platforms can thus be used to spread information virally in many professional and academic contexts (as well as entertainment, social and commercial contexts) as part of a PLN. For ideas on education- and technology-focused microblogging accounts to follow, see the Feeds to follow page of this website;
- quick updates: a microblogging platform provides a channel through which students, parents, guardians or carers can receive quick educational or administrative updates from teachers or institutions, and where they can pose questions or send replies. Again, nowadays many educators prefer to use institutional LMSs for this purpose;
- online communication: succinct self-expression on a microblogging platform may form part of a literacy exercise for students. Such platforms allow a number of different kinds of online interaction between students, ranging from collaborative story writing to cross-cultural pen pal partnerships as part of collaborative online international learning (COIL) or virtual exchange (VE) initiatives;
- developing information/attentional literacy skills: given recent concerns about the spread of misinformation, disinformation and ‘fake news’, as well as about attention overload, on social media services, a microblogging platform may in fact be an ideal tool through which to draw students’ attention to these issues and help them develop the necessary digital literacies to deal with them.

Visualisation of Mark Pegrum’s Twitter themes 2022 (Source: Tweet Topic Explorer, goo.gl/IrZZ6s; note that this tool no longer operates with the new X)

A service with similarities to microblogging platforms is Scoop.it, which displays excerpts of shared materials in a magazine-like format; for an example, see the widget from Mark Pegrum’s Ubiquitous Learning Scoop.it embedded on the mobile learning page of this website.

For more guidance on how to use microblogging platforms in education, including for professional development, see the following:

Twitter/X >