Twitter can feel like a unruly place and sifting through tweet-noise can feel overwhelming. However, faculty can also leverage this online platform as a way to engage students in discussions that enhance faculty-student dialogue.

1. DISTILLING SOCIAL MEDIA:
LEVERAGINGTHE GOOD INTWITTER
TO PROMOTE FACULTY AND
STUDENT INTERACTIONS
!
Dr. Rebecca Hong
Director of University Assessment/Assistant Professor
rebecca.hong@biola.edu
Biola Digital Conference 2014

2. ROADMAP
• Impact of social media
• Social media power users
• Leveraging Social Media for Faculty
• Study Findings

5. WHAT DO WE KNOW
ABOUT KIDS AND SOCIAL
MEDIATODAY?

6. it’s complicated

7. WHY DOTEENS SEEM SO STRANGE
ONLINE?
• Intended audience matters
• Context collapse
• Unaccounted invisible audience
• Self-presentation and impression management

8. WHY DOYOUTH SHARE SO PUBLICLY?
• Public by default, private through effort
• Filtering is up to the audience
• Controlling access to meaning rather than privacy

9. WHAT MAKESTEENS OBSESSED WITH
SOCIAL MEDIA?
http://thetechieguy.com/2013/08/29/adults-vs-teens-on-social-networks-adults-are-from-pinterest-and-kids-are-from-facebook/

10. USED INTERNET FOR
RESEARCH OR HOMEWORK
0
22.5
45
67.5
90
Frequently Occasionally Not at all
82.1%
17.1% .8%

11. USAGE OF ONLINE
INSTRUCTIONAL WEBSITE
31%
39%
30%
Frequently
Not at all
Occasionally

12. TIME SPENT ON ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS
(FACEBOOK,TWITTER, ETC)VERSUS
STUDYING & HOMEWORK
None
< 1 hr
1-2 hrs
3-5 hrs
6-10 hrs
11-15 hrs
16-20 hrs
> 20 hrs
0 10 20 30 40
4.6
6.4
10.6
22.3
30.4
17
7.8
0.8
2
3
6
16
30
26
11
17
SN HW

13. SOCIAL MEDIA INTHE
CLASSROOM

14. JOSE BOWEN
Don’t be an alien

15. WHY FRESHMEN?
• 94% of first year college students use social
network websites (Higher Education Research
Institute)
• Pew Internet reports U.S.Twitter users as
younger, with greater popularity among minorities
and urban dwellers (Smith & Rainie, 2010; Smith,
2011)

16. www.thecampuscompanion.com

17. WHY FRESHMEN?

18. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

19. SOCIAL LEARNINGTHEORY (BANDURA, 1977)
OBSERVATION
RETENTION
REPRODUCTION
MOTIVATION

20. 1. SEPARATION
!
2. TRANSITION
!
3. INCORPORATION
!

21. ASTIN’S INVOLVEMENTTHEORY
http://www.geekosystem.com/author/erin-podolak/page/3/

22. METHODOLOGY

23. METHODS
Heard of Twitter
Never Heard of Twitter • Sample
• FirstYear Seminar: Elementary
Education
• 27 Freshmen Students
• Two Sections
• 12 Weeks

24. !
Twitter Account Holders and Usage
Non-User User
0-1 2-4
5-7 8+
Out of those who had a
Twitter account
!
• Only 36% of the students
tweeted more than 5x a
week
!
•27% of student tweeted less
than 1x a week
Twitter Users

25. TWEETING PARAMETERS
• Set up individualTwitter account
• Following and Followers
• At least 5 tweets per week
• Tweeting categories
• #Hashtags #biolafys
• Instagram
• WeeklyTop 10 tweets

26. TOPTWEETS OFTHE WEEK!

27. TOPTWEETS OFTHE WEEK!

28. TOPTWEETS OFTHE WEEK!

29. TOPTWEETS OFTHE WEEK!

30. TOPTWEETS OFTHE WEEK!

31. TOPTWEETS OFTHE WEEK!

33. ALL MYTWEETS

34. STUDY FINDINGS

35. !
Let’s Do
the
2521
numbers
Total Tweets
0
100
200
300
400
Tweets
Class/Studying
Campus Events
Dorm-Life
Home & Family
Friends
what are we
tweeting?
breakdown
of tweets by
type
hashtags
#1105
biolafys
one hundred fourteen
per class section
a week

36. #TOPHASHTAGS
#college
#tired
#disneyland
#biola
#ohwell
#procrastination
#blessed
#studying
!

37. TWEETING
HABITS
0 12.5 25 37.5 50
4
11
41
19
26
SeveralTimes/Day 1x/Day 1x/Every Other Day 1-2x/Day 1x/Week

38. TWEETING
TOOL
Fall 2013
11%
89%
Smart Phone Computer
Fall 2012
40%
60%
Smart Phone Computer

39. SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT
0
15
30
45
60
Facebook Pinterest Instagram Blogging
4
56
7
33

40. TWITTERTO COMMUNICATE
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
41
44
11
4
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree
Strongly Agree

41. PROFESSOR - STUDENT CONNECTION
0
15
30
45
60
30
52
11
70
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree
Strongly Agree

42. LEARNINGTHROUGHTWEETS
0
17.5
35
52.5
70
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree
Learning About Classmates’ Freshman Experience
Enjoyed Learning About Peers
85%
78%

43. THE “I” INTWITTER
Loved sharing about
their freshman year
experience through
Tweeting
71%
0
7.5
15
22.5
30
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree
Strongly Agree
Openly Share
Activities
&
Events
0
7.5
15
22.5
30
Strongly Disagree Neither Strongly Agree

44. SENSE OF COMMUNITY
33%
33%
22%
11%
Classmates College Community
30%
30%
30%
7%3%
StronglyDisagree Disagree
Neither Agree
Strongly Agree

45. Had FunTweeting
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
44
30
15
11
0
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree
Strongly Agree

46. 0
10
20
30
40
37
22
26
11
4
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree
Strongly Agree
!
I’m Here and I Matter
benefits of learning about my freshman experience

47. TWITTER VS. FACEBOOK
• Quick
• Minimal
• Isn’t an extensive profile
• Tailored to what you want
• Great for smaller classes (less than
30)
• Great alternative to emailing your
professor
• Better option for reminders
• Groups work well for large classes
• Awkward for student-professor
relationships
• Too extensive to share with others
• Easily a time waster
• Profile could change your view of
the person
• Good option for reminders

48. twitter experience
awesome
it was interesting to see that they [professors] were normal people
helpful when i had questions
new but fun
great way to learn about others in my
class and community
cool to get to know
others and find common
interests
i already do enough
social networking
inconvenient assignment
enjoying seeing other people’s tweets and to
see similarities and differences during our
freshman year
I felt like I was getting to the
know the people outside of
class, and almost talking to
everyone indirectly
it allowed me to have the knowledge
of when I should reach out and
encourage one of my classmates
great way to know
what was going on in
the Biola community
and branch out to
different events

49. what to tweet
my mood
what was interesting and exciting in my life
what i found important or
memorable during the week
what i was currently doing
whenever i thought,“i need to tweet this!”
what i thought others would want
to hear about
something that could benefit other
students
food at the cafe
being sick
something that was meaningful to me
something on my mind that i can’t
share on facebook

50. influence your experience as a new freshman on campus
It helped to see how other freshmen were
doing at a new environment and so I didn't
feel like an alien.
made me not doubt
myself as much
helped me see that i wasn't the only one
sinking under all the stuff we had to do
I knew more about my
professor in this class than I did
in others
constant communication
throughout the week
with this class
helped me see more of the
activities on campus along with
what everyone else was doing
good reminder to myself that I am not the
only one going through these things as a
freshmen and that others are stressing and
having fun along with me
enjoyed the sense of community
this experience brought
learned that we all do stupid things because we are freshman!
helped me make new friends this first freshman
semester

51. Twitter Lessons
!
1. Clarify purpose
2. Explain parameters
3. Ensure followers
4. Regularly interact
5. Hashtag
6. Let them know you’re
“listening” (Favorite, RT,
Reply)

52. thank you