What has fascinated me since I started my education company, which is when I stepped into this virtual community, are the different ‘personalities’ and behaviours that seem to exist there.

Stereotyping is considered narrow-minded and inaccurate – but I decide to do it anyway and with a tongue firmly in cheek, categorise what I’ve observed.

Do you recognise any of these ‘Twitter Animals’ in the Education world?

The Gorilla: Like any Silverback this tweeter needs to be noticed. Chest beating and signalling frequently and loudly to the world, this animal dominates a lot of twitter-space and is duly followed by large numbers. There is an unmistakably enormous ego with this tweeter and although there might be some bits of wisdom to be had, followers will often resort to ‘blindly following the leader’ – never daring to challenge him: yes, usually male, although the occasional female dominant gorilla does appear.

The Squirrel: a slightly nervous tweeter that won’t stay long on any forum or thread of conversation. Pops up, looks round, gathers a few ‘nuggets’ and disappears as quickly. Doesn’t share what it has gathered and will forget where the nuts are and do it all over again somewhere else.

The Carp: A serious fish that can be relied on all year round. Going round in circles gathering all the latest news for everyone and happy to be repeatedly ‘caught’ so we can all keep up to date with the world of education, without having to sift all the ‘ponds of information’ for ourselves. A very understated but reliable tweeter which would be missed if it wasn’t there.

Dumbo Octopus: Say no more. They are allowed to stick around because of the curiosity factor: ‘Can anyone really be that stupid and work in education?’

Snake: Slithering around all over the place unseen the snake is only focused on serving their own needs. They might not even have an honest profile, or will shed that ‘skin’ regularly to stay undetected. They forage for the titbits of ideas, never contribute any of their own and wouldn’t think twice about swallowing someone else’s idea whole and passing it off as their own.

The Dolphin: Friends to everyone, the Dolphin will eagerly welcome any newcomers, generously and sincerely. They are complementary to everyone’s ideas, will be generous with their own, contributing extensively to forums and chat evenings. They don’t really mind if they never receive full acknowledgement for what are often brilliant, practical, sound and very useful ideas, as they have no debilitating ego that gets in the way of their generosity. They have large brains and have no problem multi-tasking, tweeting to lots of people at the same time – as well as posting photos of their latest hobby/holiday/pets/children/on Facebook & Pinterest at the same time. Faithful, loyal to their fellow tweeters and when well-trained, have impeccable manners. These are more usually female I find.

The Limpet: Although traditionally thought of as clumping together in water - so hard that no-one can shift them - the Twitter Limpet tends to gravitate towards gorillas or carps. There is something of the desperate about them, only able to survive by clinging to the perceived strength and knowledge of their ‘host rock.’ Their brain is obviously miniscule.

The Elephant: Confident and with no known predators, this is a tweeter that is comfortable in their own skin and highly intelligent. They will assertively (not aggressively) stride around the Tweetersphere, being circumspect and thoughtful most of the time. However, they are not afraid to gently challenge the validity of others’ thoughts and opinions and have been known to stimulate some interesting debates; not always expecting that there will be a ‘right’ answer, but happy to chew the cud with a range of different people. Aside from the rough bull elephant both male and female elephants are seen from time to time; it is their maturity and thick skin that is more distinct than their gender. Elephants are more of a rarity; not sure whether they have been shot at too many times. But of course, they never forget and therefore don’t make an appearance as often as they should.

Twitter land needs more elephants I say. I do hope they don’t become extinct any time soon.

Image Credit: Flickr

What kind of Twitter animal are you? Are you of a different kind? Let us know in the comments.