Jennifer is 优蜜视频鈥檚 Marketing and Communications Coordinator. She works closely with 优蜜视频鈥檚 social media to regularly connect with parents and educators of gifted children.

In a previous post, I mentioned that and discussed the ways in which Facebook can be used in this manner. In this post, I will cover a social network you might not be as familiar with using but that has many extremely helpful applications for you to network and find resources on giftedness 鈥� Twitter.

140 characters may not seem like much, but Twitter is a gold mine of information, resources and support for parents of gifted children.

Getting Started on Twitter

If you have not used Twitter before, 聽 and the both have excellent tips for getting started.

Once you have an account set up, find Twitter accounts that interest you just like you did on Facebook. , so be sure to follow us during this process to see the gifted news and resources we share there. You can also see the Twitter users we follow for ideas of other people and organizations to look at.

If you use your Twitter account for personal reasons or follow accounts that are not related to giftedness, I suggest you use the 鈥渓ists鈥� feature to create lists based on the type of content each Twitter user posts. Twitter displays tweets in real time, so if you are looking at your home page, you will see the most recent tweets, no matter who sent them. Lists help you see the most recent posts by the type of account so that if you are looking for gifted news and resources you won鈥檛 have to sort through 100 tweets about where Ashton Kutcher ate lunch.

You can also search Twitter using keywords or hashtags that are of interest to you. You will find many resources and articles falling under that topic. #Gifted is a great place to start.

Engaging on Twitter

As with Facebook, you will get much more out of Twitter if you engage with others on the network.

To direct a tweet at another user, begin your tweet with @[Twitter handle]. You can also retweet (RT) what other users tweet and suggest other good Twitter accounts to follow using the popular Follow Friday hashtag (#FF).

RT 鈥� Simply press RT button or copy and paste the tweet into a new tweet with letters RT @[Twitter handle] previous to their tweet if you鈥檇 like to add commentary, which adds value for your followers.

#FF 鈥� Once you have followed some organizations and people you know on Twitter, you may start to see Follow Friday (#FF) tweets. These are recommendations of people to follow. In addition to being a helpful way for you to find new accounts to follow, you can use it as a nice way to say you appreciate the people in your network.

#gtchat

Twitter chats are something unique to Twitter that the gifted and education communities have really embraced. These real-time chats are scheduled and typically occur at the same time every week or month, allowing you to plan for the discussion ahead of time. #gtchat is a popular chat about giftedness that is worth a look.

This weekly chat was created by Deborah Mersino to connect parents and educators of gifted children with each other and discuss topics of interest. The chat is now run by Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented (TAGT) and moderated by Lisa Conrad, but the spirit of the chat remains the same. Chat topics are often voted upon earlier in the week, so you have a say in what you鈥檇 like to discuss. Chats usually take place on Fridays at 4pm Pacific, although chat times are changed or added occasionally to accommodate international participants. For more information about the chat or to see transcripts of past chats, which are excellent resources, visit the .

#gtchat is an excellent forum to discuss issues related to your gifted child, and we highly recommend participating. However, the fast-paced, real-time chat can be overwhelming at first. I suggest looking through the transcripts of previous chats before participating. Once you see the chat in action and get the hang of it, you will love interacting with this great group of people.

When participating in any Twitter chat, it is often helpful to use the tool available at TweetChat.com to see the chat in real time, as it is specifically built for this function. You can view the chats on Twitter, but it is often a bit slower and more difficult to work with. If you do not use TweetChat, make sure you add the chat鈥檚 designated hashtag (e.g. #gtchat) to the end of every tweet you want to show up in the chat.

#gtchat is also a great hashtag to follow throughout the week, as is the .

For more great information about how to use Twitter for advocacy and learning, take a look at these posts from Deborah Mersino:

Gifted Education and Twitter: How Social Networking Can Propel Advocacy and Learning

How have you used Twitter as a resource on giftedness? Please share your experience in the comment section below.

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Jennifer is 优蜜视频’s Marketing and Communications Coordinator. She works closely with 优蜜视频’s social media and connects with parents and educators of gifted children regularly through social networks.

Social networks seem to be everywhere, with new networks and tools popping up all the time. You are probably using social networks already, but did you know that they are more than just great ways to connect with friends from high school? They are also excellent gifted resources.

Why Social Media for Gifted?

We know that gifted children bring both joy and unique challenges. As the parent of a gifted child, you need support and resources tailored specifically to gifted children. It is also valuable to interact with other parents of gifted children to recognize that there are others out there going through similar challenges. Sometimes, especially if you live in a rural area, these parents and resources can be difficult to find and connect with in person. That鈥檚 where social networks come in.

Social networks allow you to connect with other parents and teachers of gifted children across the country to share stories and suggestions, form support groups, and advocate for gifted children!

Plus, there are many gifted advocates, experts, and organizations using these networks as platforms to connect with you and provide you with the resources and support you are looking for.

The most popular and generally most valuable social media for gifted parents are:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Blogs

Here, I will discuss how to use Facebook as a resource. Other social media will be discussed in future posts.

Getting Started on Facebook

Since many of you are on Facebook already for personal reasons, this is a great network to start with. The same reasons you use Facebook already 鈥� networking, staying in touch with people you鈥檝e met or who do not live near you, connecting with brands you like for news and information 鈥� can be used to your advantage for navigating the network as a gifted resource.

Start on Facebook by liking pages you think will be helpful. Search Facebook for any gifted organizations or groups that you are familiar with already. Make sure to click the 鈥淟ike鈥� button on those pages so that you will see some of their updates on your news feeds. where we offer gifted news and resources and provide a forum for discussion on giftedness, so be sure to during this process.

Then, search for pages or groups that you are not yet familiar with. This will help you widen your network. Try typing the search term 鈥済ifted鈥� 鈥� or any keyword that is important to you 鈥� in the Facebook search toolbar. You will come across many pages and groups, so explore the ones that seem interesting and pick a few that look helpful and engaging to 鈥渓ike.鈥�

Posts from the pages you follow will start to appear on your news feed. See what types of content are being shared and what is being discussed.

Engage

It is easy to sit back and watch for resources and interesting conversations on these networks, and that will be beneficial for you. But, to get the most out of the resources, you鈥檒l want to engage with others.

Here are some great ways to engage with other people in the field of gifted on Facebook:

• Comment on articles posted.
• Join discussions in progress.
• Ask questions.
• Share your experiences.
• 鈥淟ike鈥� articles and posts you find interesting.
• Share posts you think your friends would like on your wall.

Keep in mind that the rules of good networking apply to social networks, as well. Make sure to offer your advice, stories, and experiences when possible. These are communities built on collaboration, so do your best to offer something in return for the great advice and support you receive from others.

You should also make sure to keep the information on your personal profile page up to date so that people you are interacting with on other pages can see who you are. It鈥檚 always nice to know who you are talking to!

Continue to Build Your Network

When you meet people in real life that can be part of your gifted social network 鈥� parents, teachers, experts, advocates 鈥� don鈥檛 forget to friend them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, or connect with them on LinkedIn later. This is especially true when you meet people at conferences and support groups. If you want to keep your gifted network separate from your other networks, create a special friend list for these contacts. That way you can post things specifically for those friends you think will be most interested.

Like any network, the more you build your social network, the more you will get out of it. There are many parents of gifted children looking to connect with other parents of gifted children on social media. There are also many gifted professionals on social media looking to create or provide a personal learning network (PLN) online. Take advantage of social media as a resource for support and learning about your gifted child.

How has using Facebook as a resource on giftedness helped you? Please share your experience in the comment section below.

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Every gifted child has a unique story. The following story is part of a series of posts highlighting gifted children and adults we have found through 优蜜视频 programs, depicting the many faces of gifted. 优蜜视频鈥檚 – mentioned in this story 鈥� links gifted high school students from across the country with mentors who advance each participant鈥檚 skills through the application of knowledge and exposure to real world experiences.

Garrett Marcotte
优蜜视频 Apprentice at Avery Research Center in 2004
Software engineer, Facebook

鈥淛ust go for it, because the earlier you gain experience, the greater the benefits you鈥檒l reap from that experience later on. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone, and never be discouraged by failure. Learn from it and do better next time, because you will improve.鈥� – Garrett Marcotte

As a high school sophomore, Garrett participated in 优蜜视频鈥檚 Apprenticeship Program, working with Avery Research Center. Today, Garrett is a software engineer at Facebook, designing and writing the code that makes the popular social networking service work.

After high school, Garrett attended Princeton University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science and Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering and minors in Computer Science and Robotics. While at Princeton, Garrett took every class he could in all subject areas because he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 want to miss out on any of it.鈥�

Garrett has worked in a variety of jobs, including internships at JPL and Google, a research position at USC, and as a teacher鈥檚 assistant and grader at Princeton. He also spent a summer trying (unsuccessfully) to launch an internet start-up company.

Garrett has been at Facebook for about 18 months and enjoys the work very much. He hopes to get involved again in a start-up company someday. 鈥淚鈥檓 particularly interested in applying technology to education, politics, non-profits, and global issues, so I could easily see myself doing something in that area. But there鈥檚 so much exciting innovation going on all around me every day that I鈥檓 really just trying to keep pace with all the opportunities and go wherever I can have the most impact and really make a difference in the world.鈥�

Although a Facebook IPO is looming, Garrett focuses on the task at hand:

What really attracted me to Facebook was the opportunity to touch the lives of hundreds of millions of people on a daily basis, to contribute to a product that has changed the world, from the individual level of reconnecting friends and families up to the international level of helping millions organize for a common cause. In the Silicon Valley tech world there’s a strong belief that if you build a great product then you will be rewarded accordingly. Facebook is no exception, so the focus of all the employees that I know, from Mark Zuckerberg on down, is the same as it’s always been: to make Facebook the best that we possibly can and a real force for good in the world.

Garrett credits the Apprenticeship Program with giving him a huge jump start on his life path in several ways:

First, it helped me evaluate my interests. The fact that I signed up for a chemistry program but ended up spending most of time programming and working with electronics made it pretty clear where my real passion lay. And it was due to the diversity of projects available and freedom in selecting a project that I was able to reach that realization. Second, the program was a stepping-stone to future opportunities. The experience of owning a project, driving an end-to-end solution, and working within all the constraints of a real-world environment formed a central part of my college applications and job interviews for several years after the program. Finally, I jumped several years ahead of the curve in the field of signal processing, and in particular the most important software program in that field, Matlab. Most of my peers had no exposure to either of these until college, and because of that I was prepared for higher level courses and more advanced opportunities at a younger age. For example, I鈥檓 certain that I would not have been able to intern at JPL right out of high school if it hadn鈥檛 been for the skills I picked up during the Apprenticeship Program.

Although Garrett doesn鈥檛 see the other Apprentices on a regular basis, their paths have crossed a few times. 鈥淭he shared experience of the Apprenticeship program really is a common bond that ties us together even after several years.鈥�

For more about Garrett’s Apprenticeship at Avery Research Center, read聽.听

There are still聽spots available for our Apprenticeship Program in Los Angeles and San Diego. !

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