Using the simple four-word question What are you doing?, the social networking Web site Twitter reaches millions of users every day. Whether eating a sandwich, stuck in traffic or posting a breaking news story, users have 140 characters to tell the “Twitterverse” exactly what they are doing.
Twitter was started in 2006 as a short messaging service in San Francisco, Calif., and has since grown into a service reaching multiple countries and available on multiple devices including cell phones, Internet, PDAs and computers.
The company’s Web site states people like Twitter because “it makes it easy for folks to stay connected.” Recently, it has grown from personal accounts to business and professional accounts with organizations like the FBI, The Wall Street Journal and Comcast using it to connect with readers and clients across the world.
In the past few months, Twitter has begun to pick up users from the Mississippi State and Starkville community. MSU organizations, including the Student Association, Alumni Association, Athletic Department, Music Makers, University Libraries and Lab Rats, have accounts, as do Starkville-area groups like Starkville Eats, Grumpy’s, Old Venice and Starkville Daily News.
Sheri Pape, marketing and communication coordinator for the MSU Foundation, said the Alumni Association’s Twitter account (MSStateAlumni) has been active since March.
Pape said she initially thought Twitter was a glorified version of Facebook status updates, but realized it was a simple way to quickly and effectively notify followers.
“I started researching Twitter from a business/PR perspective and realized what a great medium it is for messaging,” she said. “So many different types of organizations are utilizing this media source as a means to distribute messages to their audience.”
The Alumni Association’s account tweets MSU trivia, gameday news and upcoming events. Pape estimates about 70 percent of the account’s followers are MSU alumni and said the account follows other campus organizations to help stay informed.
MBA student Owen McGuire helps runs the Alumni Association Twitter account and has his own personal Twitter account (pom5). He said it initially took him a while to get “noisy” on Twitter, and a friend had to convince him to sign up for the site. Now, McGuire said he updates his account three to four times a day and sometimes includes pictures through a program called TwitPic.
“If I’m doing something that I think is fun or out of the ordinary, then I’ll post it,” McGuire said.
While he uses an application called Tweetie, enabling him to run a mini Twitter feed on his iPhone, McGuire said he receives automatic text messages from a select few friends when they update their Twitter accounts. He checks the rest of the updates via Tweetie or through a computer.
McGuire said he likes to post questions on Twitter because sometimes he gets an answer faster than sending out a mass text message. He cited a recent example where he asked, “Anyone know why are there five fire trucks at Griffis?” on Twitter. Within a minute, McGuire said a friend “tweeted” back, explaining it was a routine fire drill.
“It’s definitely a good way to find quick information, and I like that it’s short,” McGuire said. “It’s got a newsworthy purpose, it’s got its entertainment value and it’s so easy – you can update from your phone.”
Stephen Cunetto, MSU Libraries system administrator, said the libraries account (msu_libraries) has been active for about six weeks. He said multiple librarians contribute to the account, posting everything from links to research guides to workshop opportunities.
“We see it as a way of not just pushing information to students, but listening to them and helping them as well,” he said.
Amanda Powers, virtual reference librarian, contributes to MSU Libraries’ account and also has a personal account (AmandaClay). Powers, who has used Twitter for two and a half years, said Twitter helps the library build community.
“It’s sort of a listening thing for me,” she said. “I’ve been able to respond to some people with different things the library offers. Building community is a lot of what I do.”
Powers said she has used Twitter to help students, citing an example of seeing a panicked tweet from a student who needed to learn a computer program for class. She sent a reply to the student referring her to a workshop teaching the program.
Sarah Stone, SA executive assistant, said the SA has announced events like True Maroon and Bulldog Bash on its Twitter account (msstatesa).
“We’ve just used it as an outlet for big announcements,” Stone said. “Hopefully in the future we’ll be able to use it to remind students to vote [in student elections and Homecoming Court].”
University Relations research writer Robbie Ward runs a Twitter account (msstateresearch) documenting different research done around campus. While the account is fairly new, Ward said he hopes it will continue to complement and expand the university’s traditional media.
“This is another outlet to help tell the story of what we do here at Mississippi State,” he said.
With the rising popularity of social networking sites, Ward said it is important for the university to stay plugged into sites like Twitter.
“Through Twitter and Facebook and other digital media, it enhances our ability to explain to people the research on campus,” he said.
Johnny Kelly, geosciences alumnus, said he uses his account (stormchaser4850) to provide weather updates. He first began using the service about eight months ago, but said he had no idea how popular the service would become, especially during his time as an undergraduate in Starkville.
Kelly, who only uses Twitter to post weather updates, said he posts four to five times a day, but updates more frequently when there is bad weather approaching or in the area.
“I use Twitter to connect with others for weather updates in their areas if severe weather is ongoing,” he said. “I would encourage everyone to use Twitter – it is a place to get instant information and it has become widely popular.”
He said he occasionally gets weather questions from students and Starkville residents and has received multiple messages thanking him for keeping the community updated.