The day you read this article, there will have been over 90 million tweets posted on Twitter. In access of over 750 tweets will occur each second it takes you to finish this editorial. These statistics, courtesy of Twitter Inc. & Wikipedia respectively as of October 4th, 2010 will more than likely be outdated by the publishing of this blog entry. Fellow professionals, Twitter has changed the landscape by which people communicate. In particular, students within our fraternal communities have embraced Twitter as another means to socially interact with their peers. It is with information we must adapt our daily work and ways in which we communicate daily with our students.
So where do you begin? First, you must understand Twitter and its purpose. Simply put, Twitter is, “a real-time information network powered by people all around the world that lets you share and discover what’s happening now” (Twitter, 2010). Tweets are similar to texts with the limitation of 140 characters that are posted on the originators profile page.
Now that you have an understanding of Twitter, you can learn to use it in your day to day work. To begin, you need to create a username that will be simple to remember such as @FSLProfessionals. Next, you need to commit to posting on your Twitter account daily. Why is this important? It’s because that is the sole reason people (i.e. students, stakeholders) will “follow” you on Twitter. They become intrigued with your tweets and want to know what is going on in your office or with your respective organization. If you neglect your Twitter account, it will be like anything else you neglect, its purpose will be lost and the value of the account will lose merit. Once you have established regularity with your tweet posts, you can then focus on the content of your tweets. An example of a tweet might be, “NPHC Step Show in Perspectives Hall at 7pm. Tickets are $5 at the door” Tweets must be 140 characters and at times, abbreviating words is needed. Finally, as your tweet content becomes impactful you can begin to get creative with the use of your Twitter account.
This is where the fun begins! Are you sick of sending emails? Send a tweet. Want to remind students of a meeting? Send a tweet. Want to hold a contest with the winner receiving a free registration to the AFA Annual Meeting? Do it over Twitter! Forget your camera at the fraternal event you are at, take a picture on your phone and post it on Twitter. You can reach out to potential new members, businesses, and other campus colleagues if you so desire. The sky is the limit with Twitter’s capabilities and as new and improved API’s (application programming interface) are created, you can bet there will be even more unique and fun ways to utilize Twitter.
So how does this impact your interaction with your students? First, it shows that you are willing and able to adapt to the culture of students’ today. While some of you may be anti-Facebook or anti-Twitter, you’d be amazed at the impact opening an account or starting to tweet can have on your relationship with students. Sure you don’t have to do it, but it’s that small step that shows you are willing to relate to your students.
Second, it enables you to inform students quickly about whatever you desire. As I stated earlier, if you want to remind them about that all-presidents meeting at 6pm, send a tweet. Depending on the type of phone you have, you can easily do this via phone if circumstances take you away from your computer. This can save a lot of time and make your work more efficient instead of sending hundreds of emails.
Next, for the personality gurus reading, Twitter allows the quieter/introverted members of your community to have a voice. You can do daily polls, weekly chats, or leave questions for members to answer on Twitter. AFLV is one example of an organization that utilizes weekly chats they call #GreekChat to engage professionals in dialogue and discussion about a topic that is voted upon by AFLV’s followers. For students, this is yet another method to reach out to those that wouldn’t normally make it to a meeting or speak up in a large group discussion. One teacher at the University of Texas Dallas uses Twitter in the classroom as a way to spark conversation and reduce student apathy (Teacher, 2010). This is another example of how professionals have embraced the cultural change and invited technology into the workplace.
Finally, Twitter impacts your relationship with your students in recognizing that it is engaging as well as resourceful. You can post fun pictures of your students at an event (as long as they are appropriate of course). You can tweet thought provoking comments about what you are doing (trying to discover the meaning of Ritual). Specific to Inter/National Headquarters, you can provide a glimpse into your world so that students from afar can identify with you. An example of this could be posting a tweet about upcoming changes to National policy or posting day-to-day progress on a current initiative. In addition, you can follow other fraternal organizations or campus institutions and gain new ideas for your Twitter account. You can post important announcements or news. You can squash rumors when needed. Most of all, you can control what is stated and post something at any hour of the day.
In conclusion, Twitter can be an effective and fun tool to apply in our profession when used correctly. Most of all, it can be used to reach out to our students and fellow constituents which in turn shows that we are willing and able to adapt to an ever changing technological culture.
For more information on Twitter, visit their website at www.twitter.com.
References:
Twitter: www.twitter.com
Teacher: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_one_teacher_uses_twitter_in_the_classroom.php
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