Assignment: Connecting with Twitter Experts
PART 1: Connecting
Because our teacher recently made us create an account on twitter, he also made us become active users asking for information about a subject of our interest to experts. The assignment’s goal was to receive responses giving information about the chosen subject of interest. In my case, I chose the designing of 3D skate parks to later create one of my own on sketchup.
Here is the list of the people I followed:
@SketchUpBryce @easysketchup @3DWarehouse @shapespark
@3DPrintWorks @3D_Squirrel @interiorslab @THF @SketchupLovers
@JigSaw_73 @3Dimensional_ @skptrainer @
architectmark @SketchUp
Overall, I chose to follow those accounts for the same criterias. The first one was obviouvlsy that their account related to my topic. In other words, their account had to include tweets or re-tweets about the topic. The second one was that the account had to follow and be followed by accounts that are also related to the topic. The last criteria was that the account had to be active, meaning that their last tweet had to be from maximum a few days ago.
My initial idea for this project did not involve linking it to my Genius Hour project number 2 (read the previous post about Genius Hour 1). However, once I started to get several interesting responses that I figured out would really help me, I decided that my Genius Hour number 2 would be about creating a 3D skate park.
When it came to asking the experts information to learn more, I really had two main gaps in my knowledge. The first one was to create a round – type figure that would be used a “roll in” on a skateboard ramp. The second one regarded skate parks engineering which I exactly knew who could help me with. I was following this old pro skater on Instagram called Tony Hawk and I knew he had created a foundation that were creating public skate parks in the U.S. As a result, I followed the THF (Tony Hawk Foundation) and asked them what the perfect skate park would include (in terms of obstacles).
As with the formatting of the questions, I made sure it was professional but also specific to that one person. I first started with the polite words “hello @Account” or “Dear”. After that, I explained that I was working on a school project regarding a 3D design and needed help with it. The next step was to ask the actual question, which slighty differed from expert to expert. Lastly, I mentioned the ISD and DC9 twitter accounts as a “proof” that I was part of a class. Here is on example of my tweets: “Hi @easysketchup, As I told you before, I am currently working on a sketchup project. My goal is to create the perfect skatepark. Do you know any techniques to create wave -shaped objects ? #isdDC9 @isdDC9 “
Because I knew that not all the members from my list would answer me, I asked similar questions to them. and if by chance most would have answered me, I wasn’t going to get all the same answers, therefore learn more. Using the shown tweet as an example, knowing what, in their opinion, the perfect skatepark would include would give me a sense of what I should do and what I should not do. Fortunately, THF responded and this is what they told me: “That’s a good question! In our opinion you only need two things. 1) A good mix of street and transition. 2) Concrete. (For good design tips, study the pros and go to http://www.publicskateparkguide.org/ “.
As you can see, they even gave me a link that is very useful. Know that I know more about the topic, I know that my 3D skatepark will be better that if I hadn’t got this response.
Part 2: Reflecting
As previously mentioned, I did get several responses, however I wished for more. Because I continue the conversation with most who answered me, I was able to learn quite a lot. Here are all the responses I got to my requests:
From @easysketchup =>
- “Hi Leon – Are you having any trouble with your model! Let me know if you have specific issues – Thanks!”
- “Couple options – probably the easiest is to draw the profile and extrude it out with push pull”
- “If you get real crazy, you might use an extension like curviloft or soap skin and bubble to generate faces”
From @THF =>
- “That’s a good question! In our opinion you only need two things. 1) A good mix of street and transition. 2) Concrete. (For good design tips, study the pros and go to http://www.publicskateparkguide.org/ )”
I then started to create my 3D skate-park and shared with them a screemshot of it to get feedback. Here is what they said:
- “Great start!
“
- “That’s a great start! Keep refining and learning from current designers. You’ll find your own style soon – and we’re excited to see it!”
To be honest, I did not think that I would get that many responses. But the people were very helpful and I am glad they could even help me at all because experts don’t always have time to help students while they are working. While they did not follow me back, they did like my tweets and proposed extra help if needed. Using their response I am now able to create the best 3D skate park I can. Using this modern connecting system, I know can learn more about a topic without googling it or asking a teacher, but a twitter expert.
Part 3: Bonus – Steps to create a 3D skate park (this is a simple one)
- Choose your online platform (this might be sketchup or other)
- Create a list of obstacles you want to include
- Create a base
- You are free ! Design using your own style and have fun !
Here is what mine looks like right now (not finished yet):
Works Cited
Bourdeaux, Leon. “Here is what my 3D skate park looks like.” Sketchup. 2018. Accesed on January 20, 2018.
Clker-Free-Vector-Images. “Twitter.” Pixabay. 2012, https://pixabay.com/en/twitter-tweet-twitter-bird-312464/. Accessed on January 20, 2018.
Hassan, Mohamed. “Feedback.” Pixabay. 2017, https://pixabay.com/en/feedback-communication-business- 2294109/. Accessed on January 20, 2018.
Ramadan, Anas. “Question Noun Project.” Wikimedia. 2012, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Question_Noun_project_2185.svg. Accessed on January 20, 2018.
(472301). “Checklist.” Pixabay. 2014, https://pixabay.com/en/checklist-clipboard-questionnaire-1622517/. Accessed on January 20, 2018.