If you think Twitter is only for pop stars and preteens, think again. Its millions of users include a large number of students, academics, and others who follow campus issues. For a university president looking to connect with increasingly far-flung and time-challenged constituents, breaching the sacrosanct personal-professional boundary can be a game changer.
My own foray into the Twittersphere began in 2010, soon after I realized that social media were simply where young people were flocking. I wanted to connect with them in a more nimble way, and four years into this experiment I have gained over 30,000 followers and made some 300,000,000 potential impressions. And although I can’t say definitively how to tweet well—I’m still learning myself—I have some ideas about how to avoid doing it badly.
Authenticity is the soul of the thing. So say or share what comes naturally in the course of your day. As a college’s chief cheerleader, it makes good sense for a president to trumpet institutional successes or shine a light on deserving people and programs. Others want to learn more about presidents as well. Part of it is a thoughtful curiosity about the uncommon nature of our jobs. Another aspect is a sincere interest in those last few lines of our biographies, regarding our hobbies and interests.
Much of this applies to any Twitter user: If you’re a foodie, pick a restaurant of the month. If you’re an avid reader, tell us which books to buy or avoid. If cycling is your passion, let us know why. Being personable isn’t the same as surrendering privacy. And while it’s true that Twitter is informal by nature, be assured that forced informality, like its opposite, will ring hollow. In short, be brief, be regular, and, above all, be yourself.
One objection to Twitter that I hear frequently is “Who’s got the time?” And it’s true that I invest a fair amount of time in it, often between meetings and events, during lulls in travel, or when my family is asleep. But there’s no requirement that tweeting take over your day. I handle 99 percent of the tweets myself, with help only on some institutional announcements that can be scheduled.
Tailor it to your own rhythms. Make it work for you, your schedule, and your message. Who thought they had time for email before it positively changed the work day? Technology has a habit of recalibrating our lives, like it or not. Perhaps the more pressing question is: Can you afford not to take advantage of this far-reaching platform?
The facts are tough to ignore. No fewer than 90 percent of Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 frequent social-networking sites, according to one study. Meanwhile, Fast Company tells us that the 55-to-64 age bracket is the fastest-growing demographic on Twitter. Even the Modern Language Association has recognized the force of Twitter’s tailwind and provided guidelines for citing a tweet in scholarly works.
What’s important to remember if you’re considering making a run at tweeting is that not only will you reach students, faculty, alumni, donors, parents, or whoever your peers are, but they’ll reach you. It’s a two-way street, and meant to be. Others will tell you what they think—from the mundane (restock Cheez-Its in the dorm vending machine) to the serious (install a security light in a stairwell) to the clamorous (please cancel school because of the impending snowstorm)—and you should be ready for that.
Twitter also enables me to connect with several hundred prospective students each year. They typically want to know what campus is like beyond the standard scenes in the viewbook, and more often than not I end up welcoming those same students to campus in the fall. Having this level of connectivity and building a broader set of relationships can also come in handy during times of controversy and difficult decision-making. When our football coach departed abruptly in the fall of 2012, Twitter allowed me to promptly let constituents know that I understood the issues, heard their concerns, and was working toward the best outcome. We rapidly found a great new coach, Tommy Tuberville. It’s only 140 characters, but a well-crafted tweet can calm choppy waters. Of course the opposite is true, too.
I’d also encourage you to allow for serendipity. One unplanned Twitter conversation I had with an alumnus last fall led me to visit NASA’s Ames Research Center, in Silicon Valley. That visit resulted in the historic signing of a Space Act Agreement between NASA and the University of Cincinnati. Our faculty and students will collaborate with NASA experts to drive research and innovation in key interdisciplinary areas, ranging from intelligent systems and structures to analytics and cybersecurity. It’s a big win for both institutions, and it all started with a single tweet.
Another example involves the hashtag that I casually created for our school, #HottestCollegeinAmerica. Our community uses it to tag all sorts of good news related to the university. It’s gained considerable traction on Twitter—with an estimated 86,000 references—and served as the brand for my annual alumni tour across the nation. Even Ohio’s Governor, John R. Kasich, joined the fun and passed a Twitter-based resolution last fall recognizing the University of Cincinnati as the #HottestCollegeinAmerica.
Let me be clear: Tweeting doesn’t supplant phone calls, visits, letters, and email. It merely adds to the repertoire. So if the community you need to reach is waiting by phones or mailboxes, by all means connect to them that way. If they’re standing next to your lectern, talk to as many as you can. Shake their hands, give out your card. But the realities of technology, and the stubborn facts of logistics, restrict these numbers to a range somewhere between intimate and vanishing. For those of us in the connectivity business, Twitter can indeed be a powerful tool for broadening our reach and deepening our base. What do you have to lose?
