Twitter Finds Its Place on UAM Campus

Managing Editor

   Tweet tweet … Is there a bird in the room? 

   Well, no. But with the millions of people tweeting on the social networking service known as Twitter, you’d think there were birds in the room.

   Now you’re asking, “What is Twitter?”

   On the service’s Web site, that question is answered, “Twitter is a real-time information network powered by people all around the world that lets you share and discover what’s happening now.”

   Again, you’re thinking, “What is Twitter?”

   What started out as a simple answer to the question, “What’s happening?,” similar to the updating of Facebook statuses, soon turned into a global communication system.

   Twitter allows users to compose messages (140 characters or shorter) to keep their followers up to date with their lives or to say something to someone. 

   So how do they stay in tune?

   Twitter is mobile. Tweets can be posted on the Internet, through text messages, through applications on cell phones and iPods, from other social networking sites like Facebook and more.

   Businesses and organizations use Twitter to promote offers and services, news sources use it to break news; even celebrities use the service to keep in touch with their fans.

Tweeting on Campus

   Even students and faculty at the University of Arkansas at Monticello use Twitter.

   Melina Long, a first-year P-4 Early Childhood Education major, said she set up an account five months ago.

   “I use Twitter to talk to friends and family, as well as to see what my favorite artists are up to,” she said.

   Aaron Etue, a first-year English major, puts some of the many add-ons of Twitter to use.

   “I enjoy the add-ons Twitter has. They have Tumblr, which is a blog where you can upload photos, music, videos, quotes and journal entries. I also like daily Booth which is a photo blog of your life,” he said. “Anytime you update these it gets sent to your Twitter.”

   Other add-ons include services like Twitpic and Twitvid, which allow users to post pictures and videos to their followers. When using Twitter on the Internet, a box appears in the top right corner that features a random add-on with a definition each time the page is refreshed.

   Martin Marusich, a Fullbright foreign language teaching assistant in Spanish, uses Twitter to keep in touch with colleagues and friends.

   “I think it's great that you can follow interesting people and/or organizations,” he said. “You can request info from different sources.”

   Students not only use the service for fun, some are taught to utilize Twitter.

   Training Coordinator Lindsay Henry of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center at the UAM College of Technology in McGehee encourage clients to use the social media service to progress their businesses.

   She said she uses Twitter to keep followers updated on what ASBTDC does, as well as what is going on in the business world.  

   “We use it to keep the lines of communication open between our center and our clients,” Henry said. “Twitter (social media in general) is about relationship building and communication.”

   She said it is a must have in today’s world.

   The Office of Admissions uses Twitter to make prospective and current students aware about the university, awards and scholarships.

   According to Admissions and Student Recruitment Specialist II Josh Rauls, Twitter is new media and he uses it to reach high school seniors and help increase enrollment at UAM by attracting people to the university.

   “It is another form of communication,” he said. “It’s as big as you make it. I think it is an amazing tool for our university.”

   He said he plans to explore it in the most aggressive way and will announce the university’s use of Twitter through UAM’s television, radio and print advertisements.

   He also said Admission’s Twitter account, @UAMAdmissions, appeals to current students as well as scholarship news and deadlines will be announced there.

   The Athletics department at UAM also utilizes Twitter.

   Brian Ramsey, sports information director, set up a Twitter account to reach an audience that would not normally visit the athletics Web site. <uamsports.com>

   He said the UAM sports account, @UAMSports, allows other colleges and universities in the same conference to become followers, which allows their fans to become followers as well if they choose. 

   He said he believes Twitter gives UAM’s athletics programs more visibility.

   “I think it is a very valuable tool in the current push towards ‘new media’,” he said. “I still want everyone to visit our athletics Web site, which is evident in almost all tweets having a link to the site.”

Tweeting the News

   The Voice, UAM’s news source, even uses the service to announce new issues of the newspaper. Editor-in-Chief Linna Jones asks followers of the UAM Voice, @TheUAMVoice, what they would like to see in The Voice.

   Former Editor-in-Chief Danielle Kloap said she created the newspaper’s account after seeing how Twitter worked for The Log Cabin Democrat by posting short news updates to readers. She said she thought the social networking site would get more people involved and offer a new way to interact.

   “It provides a way to get those quick news updates today's news consumers crave. It's a way to tell students, for example, (if) there was a fire in a dorm and then give all of the specific details in a news story when the paper comes out,” she said. “It also provides a way to truly involve readers by giving them a way to more actively participate in the news content, whether its submitting news content or giving feedback on a particular piece of news.”

   Various news sources across the state use Twitter as well.

   KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock uses its Twitter account to post news updates in between newscasts that link to stories on the stations Web site.

   Each of KATV’s reports also has a personal account which allows followers to give feedback on stories, get updates on news stories and more.

   Twitter also gives meteorologists the ability to post frequent weather updates.

Twitter for Entertainment

   Many celebrities have set up Twitter accounts to post news about album releases, tours, new movies and more.

   But more importantly, the service allows them to interact with their fans.

   Long said she follows many artists such as the reigning “American Idol” from Arkansas, Kris Allen; Taylor Swift and Reba McEntire.

   McEntire told AOL’s The Boot that she tweets many things such as news, vacation photos and even what she eats for breakfast. She even named her followers “Tweebas.”

   “It's amazing how the digital age has changed the music business,” she told them. “And I am thrilled to still be a part of it ... it's keeps things fun and interesting for me to see what they'll come up with next!”

   Long said she also enters contests that her favorite musicians have on Twitter.

   Many celebrities have given away tickets, meet and greets and other items away through contests on Twitter.

   Actress Melissa Joan Hart joined Twitter before she danced as a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2009. 

   She used the service to reach out to her fans and voters. Throughout her run on the show, she held trivia contests about her previous roles on “Sabrina, The Teenage Witch” and “Clarissa,” as well as films like “Drive Me Crazy.” The first person to answer the question correctly would receive and autographed picture from Hart and her dancing partner Mark Ballas.

   Hart frequently communicates with those who tweet her.

   She said Twitter gives celebrities quick replies from their audiences and lets people know “the real you.”

   Rauls, Ramsey, Henry and McEntire all mentioned a digital revolution of social media. The new media they described, such as the global communication system known as Twitter, has affected the entertainment industry, businesses, individuals and even the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

   Do you tweet?