Twitter for Liaisons
Outreach and Engagement through Social Media
Not Intro to Mechanics of Twitter
maybe another day...
Twitter: Why bother?
-or-
Twitter: What's in it for me?
So (too?) Many Ways to Contact Us:
- RefDesk, Email, Phone
- Text, Chat, Online Appt Scheduling
- Roving Reference, Dpt Office Hours, Embedded Instruction
Folks Use It Many Different Ways
A few possibilities...
Follow Topics that Interest You
(Twitter spreads news fast)
Respond to (Direct or Indirect) User Frustration/Questions
Even use it to interact with your class
Live Tweet or Follow Event Tweets
Follow What Interests Your Students/Faculty
Say and Share What Interests You:
I don't get it. Nothing's happening
It's just a tool to communicate
But, there is a huge, constant conversation going on
(social media)
Some key characteristics of this social media tool:
- Has to be short (pithy, point to longer content)
- Casual
- Fast (before official announcement, news item, blog post)
- Democratic and encourages interaction
- Organic (more interesting = more followers)
- Embeddable (post as an example, feed to enliven sporadic site)
Think about what you want it to be
for you
Something Distinct from Official Channels
- @bostoncollege
- @bclibraries
- @burnslibrary
Building Your Network:
- Institutions, Organizations, Media
- Authors, Artists, Politicians, Journalists, Actors
- Your Peers
- Your Faculty/Students?
Building Your Brand:
- @brapple: I tweet and share about #OpenAccess, Higher Ed Administration, and interesting new #poetry compilations.
- @lhomzie: I follow changes in the fields of #Communications, #GenderStudies, and sometimes retweet about mothers of #multiples.
- @bmento: All things #Econ, #Math, #Data, and #Maps!
Google Your Faculty, Grad Students
Often include Twitter links via other profiles
Make a list