CoSN 2010 - All A Twit About Twitter

All a Twit About Twitter: Using Twitter as a School and District Communications Tool
March 1, 2010

Twitter’s Explosive Growth
World Wide Web = the global information network where people increasingly spend their time learning, socializing and playing
Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media tools on the Web
Unique visitors increased by 1,382% from ‘08 to ‘09 (Nielson)
12th most popular Web site in in the U.S. based on visitors (Alexa)
50 million tweets/day (Twitter)

Implications for Schools/Districts
School stakeholders are already communicating online via Twitter
Fastest growing Twitter user demographic is 25 years old and above
Median age is 31
Likely that your school/district, staff, administrators already being mentioned in conversations on Twitter
Journalists increasingly use Twitter to find sources and information, ID trends

Implications for Schools/Districts
Twitter, like other social media sites, allows for more authentic, two-way communications than traditional media
This is key for:
Building community and trust
Fostering collaboration
Improving relationships with parents, community members, journalists, staff, and other stakeholders
Providing outreach critical for a successful educational system

Twitter Survey Overview
In February 2010, CB&A surveyed educators on the CoSN Conference pre-registration list
Survey explored educators’ personal use of Twitter and school/district use of Twitter
Emailed survey to 172 educators
35 percent participated in the survey
Feedback helped inform discussion taking place during the CoSN 2010 conference

Educators’ Personal Use of Twitter

Educators’ Personal Use of Twitter
Reasons for using Twitter include:
Networking with colleagues
Share education-related information
Follow industry news
Reasons for not using Twitter include:
Other forms of communication are more effective
Not interested in sharing my thoughts with others
I don’t have time

School/District Use of Twitter

Key Survey Findings
More than 50 percent have a personal Twitter account, but don’t use it often
More than 50 percent said their school/district has a Twitter account, but only 8 percent tweet on a regular basis
These findings seem to indicate that many have a Twitter account, but struggle with how to use the communication tool effectively

Twitter as a School/District Communications Tool
Build credibility and trust among stakeholders
Share student and staff successes
Alert parents, community members, and media to school events
Emergency notifications
Recruiting teachers and staff
Build support for key initiatives, programs
Create community of supporters critical for launching future projects, garnering feedback, and soliciting help during crises

Examples of School/District Use
Personal, offers thank you, alert to new event
Shares student success
Real-timecall-to-action
Alerts others to upcoming event

Shares student projects, links to more on district Web site
Offers link to interesting education article
Important alert for parents and community
Encourages feedback from followers

Event notice, linked to engaging online chat hosted on district Web site that informs, encourages feedback

Shares link to video district has created to highlight staff

Twitter background communicates “brand” of district; informative profile bio with key messages and link to Web site

Steps to Get Started
Establish goals for Twitter use (i.e., how often to tweet, what types of information to share on Twitter, results you’d like to see from using Twitter, etc.)
Set up an account and familiarize yourself with Twitter uses, capabilities, and terminology
Start tweeting as soon as possible
Build up your feed to establish the organization as committed to this communications method
It is essential to start conversations and share information that potential followers will find useful
Identify community members, organizations, education leaders, media, and others to follow and learn from

Tips for Twitter Success
Track conversations to understand which topics engage your community in conversation
Twitter search - http://search.twitter.com
Track influence: Twitalyzer, http://www.twitalyzer.com
Count Traffic & Links:
bit.ly, http://bit.ly/
ow.ly, http://ow.ly/url/shorten-url
Review goals and progress on a regular basis to adjust strategy and tactics as needed

Guidelines for Twitter Use
Be community-minded (i.e., retweet, share helpful info, answer questions)
Post regularly and respond in a timely manner
Don’t tweet excessively, or tweet only about you/your school or district
Don’t communicate like a robot; offer personal insights, comments; be authentic

Tools to Save Time, Enhance Use
CoTweet– A free and easy tool for managing multiple Twitter accounts – up to five – with a single login; it also allows brand and keyword monitoring through Twitter search
Hootsuite– A professional Twitter client offering a wide range of features including the ability to manage other social media accounts, schedule tweets, and track Twitter statistics
Mobile Apps – Post updates to Twitter from anywhere; options include OpenBeak for Blackberrys, Tweetie and Echofon for the iPhone
Twtpoll – A feedback tool that helps you to conduct polls/surveys on Twitter, or any other social media site
Twtvite – An event manager tool that helps you organize Tweetups and make meaningful connections through social media.
Twapperkeeper – A free tool that allows you to archive and organize your tweets based upon hashtags; useful for events

Questions?
Kristen Plemon & Emily Embury
Kristen@cblohm.com, emily@cblohm.com
@kplemon, @emilyembury
C. Blohm & Associates
www.cblohm.com
@CBlohmAssoc

CoSN 2010 - All A Twit About Twitter

by C. Blohm & Associates, Inc. on Mar 01, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 3

Statistics

CoSN 2010 - All A Twit About Twitter — Presentation Transcript