Volume 26

Only a month has passed since we last connected, but so much has changed in the world of social media. A new platform has emerged, and another is falling. On July 6, Meta launched Threads, and over 100 million users joined in just four days. On the flip side, Twitter changed its name to X and imposed limitations on the number of tweets that users can see and the number of DMs they can send each day, which has further motivated more educators to flock (pun intended) to other platforms. Many educators are feeling safer on Threads than on Twitter and they are finding ways to circumnavigate Threads' limited features to connect with other educators. While there has been a lot of hype around Threads -- don’t count out rivals Mastodon, which has more than 10 million users and a healthy list of EduTooters, or Blue Sky, which has been growing with intention since February. Despite it requiring an invite to join, Blue Sky has over 1 million downloads and a growing group of educators taking root.

So the billion-dollar question is: Which platform will win and which will sunset and go to the resting place where MySpace, Friendster, and Google Wave live? Ah... memories! Fun fact about me: I love gambling, and if I had to place a bet on winners, it pains me to say that my money is not on Twitter. Like many educators, I am beginning to let go of my love for Twitter. For over 14 years, I was addicted to the pulse of educators connecting and collaborating with each other. Now, that pulse is fading.

The future remains to be seen with the other micro-blogging platforms that have emerged. Given how young these platforms are, it’s really too early to make any guesses, but if any of these platforms want to truly attract the masses (and in particular educators), they’ll need to have more features that allow educators to expand their networks and form their PLNs to collaborate. Right now, these platforms have a ways to go until educators see a clear reason to start up in a new space.

I can’t wait to see what next month unfolds.

Talk soon,

PS: Looking for educators to connect with on Threads? This crowdsourced spreadsheet by @ericcurts has 1,000+ educator accounts. You can also follow educators on Blue Sky (Android | Apple) using Alice Keeler’s spreadsheet. Need a Blueky invite? Reply to this email.

the first few pages of our edtech planner, including the title page and a few months of events, conferences and birthdays.

Back-to-School Success with our EdTech Planner

We just updated our popular EdTech Marketer’s Planner for back-to-school. Use this free resource to plan for more events and timely conferences in August - December.