2+2=5 Team*WORKS

We all know what kind of role social networking has played in changing the landscape in which we work and play. Facebook, MySpace, twitter, and wordpress, among others, have all reshaped the way we use the internet, the way we give and get information, and the way we interact with others.

These social networking tools have become popular; in fact, according to cnn.com, twitter just had its 10 billionth tweet.  I personally can’t beleive some of the information that people share with complete strangers online but its this kind of sharing of information that has advanced learning  exponentially in recent years. Which side of the fence are you on? Some people are very concerned with internet privacy, marking their accounts and posts private while others are perfectly willing to tell you about their recent doctor appointment or the status of their home loan application. As I was writing this very sentence and see what I could find on twitter to support my claim… take a look at what I found in under 3 seconds…

@doctorslounge I'm trying to get information on kidney disease's. I have protein (800mg) and micro. loin pain at times.

Now one could wonder why someone would write things like this for anyone to see. Much different landscape even just a year or two ago. But some random person out there might be dealing with the very same thing and have the perfect advice, or talked to a doctor that can help, or at the very least provide some sort of support group. This is teamwork in action…. Not at work where we might expect, not on the ballfield, where we might expect… right in front of us, in our own little online communities.

I have to think that these social networking tools are only going to continue to change the way we learn, the way in which we interact, and the way that teamwork impacts our lives everyday. The more people are willing to share, the more we can all consume, and learn; for example, the use of trending topics on twitter. As more and more people are talking about a topic, the more accessible the topic becomes.

So what was the 10 billionth tweet, we’ll never know. The user was marked “private.”