Are you on the Twitter? I am (@SociologySource & @NathanPalmer1) and I really think you should be too. It’s an essential part of how I teach.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up checked Twitter and found a video or news story about the very sociological topic I was preparing to teach that day. Using these in my classes gives the sociological concepts we discuss a sense of immediacy that is priceless. I follow a pretty eclectic bunch of sociologists and educators who feed me the latest news, media, and perspectives on what’s going on right now.

I’ll stop selling you on Twitter. If you use Twitter than my explanation probably sounds like someone explaining how a rotary phone works and if you don’t use Twitter I’m hoping you are officially sold on it now.

#TeachSoc and #LearnSoc

The reason I bring all this up is to make a modest suggestion to the sociological Twitter community. What’dya say we create a hashtag[1] for resources for teaching sociology (#TeachSoc) and learning sociology (#LearnSoc)? This would help all of us and it would make finding the best resources for your class less dependent on serendipity.

I’m in the middle of a redesign here on SociologySource and one of the pieces I’m going to add is a feed of all the Tweets marked with a #TeachSoc or #LearnSoc. So I’m putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak. I hope you’ll join me.