Can You Hear Me Now?
Communicating with Gen Y
Jeramy Johnson Academic Programs International (API)
Mandy Reinig Penn State - Altoona
Twitter Basics
Originally a way to send text messages to a group of people
Question to answer: "What are you doing?"
Not a means of telling every move you make
Keeping up with your field; broadcasting updates about your office
Available to anyone; no experience necessary!
Embrace the brevity
It is a "social" medium
Lists
Who is on Twitter
Anyway?
Some studies suggest that young people are not YET as engaged with Twitter.
Penny Schouten, quoting study from PMN suggesting only 1 in 5 “young people” are using Twitter
Others disagree with these statistics
Geoff Cook, Tech Crunch; Others defined “teens” as anyone ages 2-24
Steven Johnson “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live” - not just another fad
Bill Tancer, author of "Click: What Millions do Online and Why it Matters" noted that as late as 2008, the
largest age group on Twitter was 35-44; however, according to a recent Pew Internet and American Life
project, 37% of internet users 18-24 use Twitter, up from in 19% December 2008!
Craig Watkins, a University of Texas professor and author of the book "The Young and the Digital" describes
trend as"...a kind of closing of that generational gap as it relates to technology." In other words, young and old
alike are joining the same networks and socializing in the same spaces. - Sarah Perez - ReadWriteWeb
Twitter
Terminology
Profile
Tweet
Retweet (RT)
Hashtags (e.g. #NAFSA09VIII, PGCPGH4, etc.)
Follow
Direct Message (DM)
@ symbol
Locked Profile
Lists - NEW!
More Twitter
Terminology
Twit - a person who uses Twitter
Twitterverse - the Twitter service and the people using it
Twitterazzi - Twitter paparazzi
Twittionary - Twitter dictionary
Tweetup - meeting (in person) of people you tweet with
Best Practices- Twitter
Be conversational - limited space necessitates degree of informality
Easier to have one-on-one conversations on Twitter
Accepted practice to start a conversation with a stranger
Don’t send a million tweets a day or all at once
URL shortening a must
Direct to external sites (homepage, blogs, news articles, applications)
Monitoring software: Tweetdeck/Monitter/Twetizen/Ping
Best PracticesTwitter
Put authenticity before marketing.
Don’t use Twitter for RSS... too impersonal and “markety”
It’s okay to have multiple Twitter accounts (Zappos, JetBlue, IFSA
Butler, Asia/Euro/Austra-learn, API staff), but be careful of weakening
your message with too many channels, and be sure all on same page
Be nice, be thankful, list, and retweet -- Twitter karma :)
From the article “10 Twitter Tips for Higher Education” - Heather Mansfield, University Business
Sample Twitter Conversation Advising
Sample Twitter Conversation Advising
Twitter
Monitoring
It’s okay to respond to general inquiries
Use your account to post updates
Avoid ‘barging in’ on conversations
Can create special groups to monitor topics or issues
Can monitor who is following you (spam, porn, get rich,etc) and block
them!
Follow more people than follow you
Strategic following... keep on top of those in the field!
Advice...
Try not to spread yourself too thin (identify where your audience is and be there). Join the
conversation, and speak the(ir) language.
Expect growth to be slow, incremental (not “If you build it they will come...”). - but you must
participate to have any growth
Once you have a Twitter presence, USE IT (Gen Y won’t wait forever!).
Don’t overuse it (people may tune you out).
Promote your sites (email signature, business cards, catalog/brochures, website, how did
you hear about us, etc).
“You must participate in the conversations - sometimes it is program promotion and
sometimes it is sharing information or resources, but those who are honest in their
communications or are transparent will be the most successful.” - Penny Schouten
Instant Messaging
Making Advising Easier
Terms
IM - Instant Message
Status
Buddy
Screen Name
Blocking
Accounts
Practical
Considerations
What are the best ways to promote my accounts?
What should my screen name be?
How often should I be available?
Should I set up multiple accounts? i.e. AOL, MSN, etc.
Should I use an IM collection site? ex. Meebo
Example IM Conversation - Advising
Best Practices - IM
Set up multiple accounts
Use a IM collection site (ex. meebo)
Reply back (seems simple but not everyone does)
Be available
Don't be afraid to send links
Post a link to your IM on your website/e-mail
Twitter/IM
These tools don't replace traditional advising - rather, they supplement it
Great example by Mandy of sending a tweet that she was out of the office for the day
but still available to advise electronically...
Saves time
Can direct students as they look at information
Can send/point to links, pictures, forms, videos
Can answer simple questions quickly
Can be used to work with colleagues across the campus or country
What’s Next?
iPhone apps
Geocaching
Interactive orientations
Podcasts
Texting
Something else...
Helpful Resources
"As Facebook Ages, Gen Y Turns to Twitter" - Sarah Perez, ReadWriteWeb http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/as_facebook_ages_gen_y_turns_to_twitter.php
“10 Twitter Tips for Higher Education” - Heather Mansfield, University Business www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1285
“Facebook Driving Mobile Net Usage” - BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8149652.stm
“Generation (WH)Y” - Kim Karalekas, from The Project 100 http://theproject100.wordpress.com/
“How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live” - Steven Johnson, Time Magazine (7.5.09) http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604,00.html
International Higher Education Consulting Blog - David Comp - http://ihec-djc.blogspot.com
“Managing an Online Reputation” - Kermit Pattison, The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/business/smallbusiness/30reputation.html?scp=3&sq=Kermit%20Pattison&st=cse
Helpful Resources
“Social Networks Around the World” - Doug Coleman, ReadWriteWeb - www.readwriteweb.com/archives/post_2.php
“Study Abroad in a Transparent World” - Presented by Penny Schouten and Sarah McNitt at the 2009 NAFSA Conference in
Los Angeles, CA http://blog.academic-solutions.com
“TXT Message - Behavior” - SETI.org podcast series “Are We Alone” quoting BJ Fogg, Ph.D. of Stanford Univeristy’s
Persuasive Technology Lab.
Wikipedia - for definitions on social networking
“Why Don’t Teens Tweet? We asked over 10,000 of Them.” - Geoff Cook, Tech Crunch http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/30/why-dont-teens-tweet-we-asked-over-10000-of-them
8 Why Email No Longer Rules… …And what that means for the way we communicate” - Jessica Vascellaro - The Wall Street
Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970203803904574431151489408372.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter
"Instant Connections" - Mandy Reinig and Penny Schouten - International Educator http://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/novdec09_edabroad.pdf
Special thanks to Melissa Cech (Australearn), Michael Bova (API), Kim Karalekas (API), David Comp, Penny Schouten....
Questions
Thank you!
Mandy Reinig
Jeramy Johnson
Education Abroad Advisor
Penn State Altoona
arr14@psu.edu
Twitter-psuaaabroad
AIM-psuaabroad
Facebook- Penn State Altoona
Education Abroad
Director of Programming &
Communications
Academic Programs
International (API)
jeramyj@academicintl.com
Twitter-APIstudyabroad
Facebook-APIstudyabroad