Each month 200 million people log on to Twitter and 1.1 billion people log on to Facebook. With all the users and content out there, it’s important to know how to utilize the opportunities.
Ohio University offers a wide array of Twitter and Facebook accounts that you can follow and use to interact with teachers, administrators and OU services in ways that were never possible before social media.
“It’s Twitter for me,” said Jenny Hall-Jones, dean of students at OU. “It helps us be more accessible to students and makes this big place more accessible. … We’re not just nameless, faceless administrators. If people get to know us through social media they are more likely to (reach out).”
Jones said that the students and faculty combined make for a supportive community that continually interacts with each other in innovative ways.
However, she stressed that students need to know what’s appropriate to post on social media sites. Pictures, tweets and status updates about drinking or any questionable behavior should be avoided at all costs because it’s simply unprofessional.
“Social media is not private,” Jones said. “If you wouldn't want your mom or your grandmother or your little brother or sister following you on Twitter, then you probably shouldn’t be tweeting out what you’re tweeting.”
She added that the first thing employers will do when they see your name on an application is search it and find out what you’ve been posting.
Employers want to see that you’ve been having discussions about schoolwork or discussions with people of similar fields, which is why it’s important to use hashtags to find topics that relate to your brand and then get in on the conversation.
Although you want to be careful about what you tweet, Jones said students should not go so far as to protect their tweets. Twitter is a social place where things should be shared freely, not restricted.
But social media isn’t just a professional tool, it can also be fun. There are plenty of Facebook pages and parody Twitter accounts about the bobcat community such as Ohio University Memes, @OUCrushes and @OU_Confessions.
These parody accounts can be fun, but Karen Riggs, professor of media arts and studies, said they can be damaging to a student’s reputation if people get too wrapped up in rumors.
“Parody accounts I suppose can be fun but overall tend to damage the purposes of having a positive experience,” Riggs said. “They can be really hurtful.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
