Basics of Twitter
If you are unfamiliar with Twitter, watch this video to get a basic explanation:
A Primer on How to Register and Set-up Your Account
Basic Resources to Get You Started
I'll admit...I wasn't (and still am not) convinced that Twitter is the next big thing. This sentiment has recently been increased due to the creation of a Facebook API which has the functionality to do what Twitter does but better and on a platform that everyone already uses.
How Can Advisors Use Twitter?
Twitter could assist us in getting messages out to our students in an age where they are receiving most of their information from their cellular phones/smart phones rather than traditional email. It only allows 140 character messages so it requires that we are succinct with our information. We could alert them to registration deadlines, new classes being offered, reminders about materials that need to be submitted...the possibilities are endless.
The issue, however, is that students don't seem to be flocking to twitter as fast as IT professionals are. There is a bit of a learning curve for its use and many just can't understand it. It may be awhile before we see students truly embracing this technology (if they ever do).
Twiter may be a better tool for advisors as professionals rather than for us with our students. You can "follow" other advisors and receive messages from them, what they are working on, problems that they are having etc. This fosters great collaboration and makes it much easier to stay in touch with those we meet at conferences etc.
Advising Centers/Professionals On Twitter
These are just a few examples of how our profession is beginning to use Twitter.
You can see that some of these centers are trying to target their student populations. Columbia seems to be doing the best job of this so far that I have found. They have approximately 200 people following them via Twitter, but its impossible to know how many of those are actually students. Even at 200 student follows, that is a very small percentage of the general student population.
If the Twitter Bug has bitten you, I recommend the article How To Live Inside Twitter and Still Be Productive! It's very information and gets into the nitty-gritty on things that Twitter is capable of.
No comments:
Post a Comment