With more than 5 million active users, social networking sites like Twitter have grown increasingly popular. Twitter, similar to Facebook, is a site where users can update their statuses and even upload photos.

Shortly after the launch of Twitter, businesses started creating accounts to share sales, promotions and general information with their clients. Now, in a new revolutionized way, is the idea that college campuses are now “tweeting” away to the same tune.

UW-Oshkosh joins the many college campuses across the nation on Twitter. Currently, Oshkosh has three main Twitter accounts: one for updating general institutional news and special events, a second for promoting Engage, the University’s alumni magazine and lastly, an account for UW Oshkosh Today, which is used to distribute news tips for each story posted to UW Oshkosh Today, our on-campus news portal.

Despite having multiple Twitter accounts, many students may not be aware of Oshkosh’s Twitter pages, or how to even operate Twitter. Junior Corey Much believes that Twitter is a good tool to use but doesn’t have an account.

“Personally, I do not own a Twitter account, but it could be useful in some cases,” Much said.

Much is one of the many students who have heard of Twitter but still prefers other social networking sites like Facebook.

“Twitter seems too simple, and Facebook has more to offer,” Much said.
Many students, on the other hand, have heard of Twitter and like senior Hilary Simon, use it daily.

“I try to use it every day, but if I don’t have something new to tweet about, I try to do it three times a week,” Simon said. “I will check every day to see who I’m following and what’s new – like the advertising and public relations industries; they are a majority of the people I follow.”

Simon believes Twitter could potentially open doors for her future career.

“I didn’t want to use Twitter at first,” Simon said. “I just saw it as another thing online and thought of it as a new craze, a new thing to do. My advisor encouraged me to use it because of all the networking opportunities it can provide.”

Many employers are on Twitter, “tweeting” about internships, tips to improve resumes and skills, and even scheduling interviews with those that follow them on Twitter.

“What I am trying to get out of it is job searching; there are a lot of postings on there,” Simon said. “I wouldn’t have known about a lot of the opportunities otherwise, and there are also a lot of resources and networking on Twitter. It will also help (me) get ready for graduation.”

Other students have also benefited from Twitter. Junior William Campbell uses Twitter for networking purposes and also to receive news and updates.

“I wanted to follow other Twitter accounts and networks,” Campbell said. “I mostly use it to follow the accounts of politicians, writers or musicians who update their own Twitter.”

In addition to updates, Campbell said he was willing to follow Oshkosh on Twitter, because he thinks it could be helpful.

“It’s useful when schools send out important updates regarding things like weather or class cancellations because I get updates through my phone,” Simon agreed. “It’s a nice way to keep students up-to-date with minute-to-minute updates about information about campus.”

Despite its growing popularity, some students do not feel Twitter is the correct medium to relay important information. Shane Arman, the student communications specialist for the Integrated Marketing and Communication department thinks that though Twitter can be useful, it may not benefit students in emergency situations.

“It would be interesting to find out how many students on this campus have Twitter, but I don’t think enough students have Twitter for it to be used as an emergency notification system,” Arman said. The University currently has a semi-high tech means of alerting students, Titan Alert, which can be sent directly to students’ mobile phones.

Many think that Twitter may be helpful in certain situations over others.

“I think Twitter can be useful for media relations, connecting with leaders and relationship building in high education,” Arman said. “It can also be effective for more efficiently spreading the word about an event or news item.”

Twitter is all about spreading the news. Currently, several specific areas on campus regularly use Twitter to inform students and their readers about upcoming and happening events.

Kate Unger, marketing manager at Reeve, uses Twitter for many functions.

“We use it to communicate programming and event announcements, dining specials, grand openings, job openings, projects we are currently working on and just regular daily status updates,” Unger said.

Unger believes using social media is beneficial to the University.

“We use social media and Twitter to enhance social relationships with our students, faculty and staff,” Unger said. “Social media allows for the creation and exchange of user generated content. It’s like having a candidconversation with your customer, or in our case, the student, in a coffee shop, except in this situation the conversation is online, and the coffee shop is a social networking site like Twitter.”

Campbell also thinks Twitter has dual benefits for spreading the word.

“It’s a great advertising tool once you have enough people following your Twitter,” Campbell said.

Along with Reeve, specific departments on campus, such as the journalism department, find it beneficial and somewhat crucial to understand and utilize Twitter.

Sara Hansen, an assistant professor of strategic communication in the journalism department believes Twitter is a positive mode of communication for students, faculty and the University in general.

“This University cares about communicating with different audiences, such as students, employees, alumni and the larger Oshkosh community,” Hansen said. “Twitter appears to fit in as another great way to reach people – quick, short messages can easily be sent and read by students, who can keep up with important University deadlines or get informed about upcoming events.”

The journalism department will soon be launching their very own Twitter.

“(It) is launching a social media initiative, which includes and expanded social media presence through a new blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter,” Hansen said.

“Journalism careers center on media, which demands our students to gain familiarity to proficiency with social media so they can compete in the marketplace.”

Students in general are encouraged to use Twitter to become more familiar with the benefits of it, especially within business and daily life.

“I absolutely believe Twitter is beneficial,” Unger said. “It’s real-time data sharing about any topic that you could possibly want to know about, (and) each Twitter account and user is different.”

Along with being beneficial, Hansen thinks Twitter is convenient.

“Microblogging through Twitter connects you to people via short messages that you can send or receive from your computer or mobile phone,” Hansen said.

With this opportunity, more people can become connected, especially when a computer is not available, but a mobile device with Internet access is on-hand.

Much like Twitter, social media is always changing. Alongside Facebook, Twitter is growing in popularity.

“The more students can experience different forms of social media – while always safeguarding personal information – their minds will be open and more prepared to the next phases of social media in our society,” Hansen said.

Like Hansen, Arman agrees that there is room for improvement for Twitter.

“Purpose is the biggest key to social media; knowing when to do what, to whom and for what reason,” Arman said. “Like many universities and companies, UW-Oshkosh’s IMC (Integrated Marketing and Communications) office is still learning how to best utilize social media.”

Oshkosh is moving along the path of social media. Keeping students informed by Twitter is another way to send information throughout this generation’s audience.

“Twitter communication can increase transparency and credibility through direct dialogue with people interested in particular companies or organizations,” Hansen said. “Our advice is to sign up for Twitter and give it a try by connecting to friends, the University, favorite bands, and even favorite stores or brands. The best way to learn about Twitter is to experience it and see how it may impact your life as it currently is impacting many others.”

Jennifer Droese

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