When I first read Elisabeth Grant’s “Five Ways for Historians to Use Twitter” I found myself initially unimpressed. As someone who has been using Twitter both socially and academically over the past three years, I expected much more detail from the blog’s title.
     However, after reading it a second time, I realized that Grant’s article wasn’t geared towards an audience like myself. Grant’s article does do an excellent job initiating the conversation of how Twitter can be a professional tool to those who were previously unfamiliar with the platform. 
     Her list consists mainly, though, of extremely specific instances. I feel that for this reason she doesn’t leave a lot of room for expansion on her points. 

    For example, while Grant does explain that Twitter is great for tweeting or retweeting an academic conference, she doesn’t compound that with the fact that historians can also monitor other meet-ups through these same hashtags. It does not necessarily have to be restrained to a strictly professional or organizational setting.

    I think the best example of this was shown with the recent Arab Spring and the London riots in the media.  In a recorded interview with talk radio host Arlene Bynon, GigaOM Senior Writer Mathew Ingram brings the example of the protests being organized in Egypt as well as the riots in London as displaying how Twitter plays a role in organizing the political movements. I think it is also important, though, to remember that as historians these movements organized through social networking leave us with a documented trail the spread of movements that can be influential in changing a country’s government. In a quick glance a historian could see a tweet and instantly know who the message was spread from, how many times has it been retweeted, what kind of reactions is the tweet receiving by those who are spreading the hashtag, etc.  While we may be used to the idea that important movements in history are studied years after they occur, now historians can draw some evidence as the event is still unfolding. And these messages and lines of communication can ultimately be the sources that will be cited in later research.

    Grant also failed to mention one use for Twitter that I think could especially benefit historians and history students alike. As more recognizable professionals and personalities join Twitter, it allows those who may be familiar with those individuals’ work to reach out on a personal level either with a question about the person’s work or for guidance. With utilizing Twitter’s feature to mention other profiles, those who read a historian’s book and find either a flaw or point for discussion now have the option of sending the author a tweet. While it is not guaranteed that the author will reply, it does open the lines of communication for the author either to immediately defend their work or to answer a question in a timely manner. Even if there are geographical barriers between the two parties, it is still possible to develop a discussion or even a professional relationship through real-time communication.

   The last point I’d like to add in supplement to Grant’s article is that aside from using Twitter to look for job listings, historians should also be aware of how their twitter feed could also market themselves and their image as a possible employee. If a historian is going to use social media or digital media in their projects, which I imagine in a society of digitally dependent audiences is unescapable, then your online presence in a way could also be viewed as an extended resume.  Does your Twitter feed provide links to your websites or to works you either reviews or contributed to? Can you use it as a way to advertise that you are aware and keeping up with the latest publications on your specialty? When a potential employer researches candidates they could easily check the internet for said person’s online presence a way of screening controversial candidates- much like how students were told that colleges could see our facebook profiles- but rather than allowing your social media presence to hinder your possibilities, why not use it as a tool to elevate your image?

   I think these just represent a few of the undiscussed possibilities and uses for Twitter. Obviously the topic is still new to many historians. I think Grant does an excellent job of listing just enough reasons for historians to sign up for a Twitter, but it important to continue the list of possibilities if you want to create an active historical community on Twitter that realizes its own potential.