Follow celebrities, friends, family and people of the unknown. Twitter has become a well-known website used to "follow" people and their updates. The University of New Hampshire uses Twitter in many different areas to update and inform their students. Using Twitter, check who won the gymnastics meet at UNHGymnastics, or check up on the football team at NewHampshireFB. Business majors could be interested in the summer marketing page at UNHsummermktg. Twitter helps organizations relate to students on a less formal level, through technology that sums up the point in 140 characters or less.
For example Health Services, which is at UNHHealth, uses Twitter to update students on certain events or health-related issues around campus.
"Condom broke? UNH Health Services sells Emergency Contraception for $25," said their latest update. "Visit our Pharmacy to purchase. No prescription needed."
Dawn Zitney, office supervisor at UNH Health Services, started using Twitter only about a week ago.
"It's just another way to reach students," said Zitney. She said she made a Twitter account "to meet students where [they] are."
It's an extension of the Health Services website, and since more and more students are starting to use Twitter, it can help direct them there.
Zitney updates every morning about interesting events and services that students might not be aware of, such as meditation sessions, Earth Day events and other current events.
"The Internet is geared [toward] college students," said Zitney. "It's another way to connect us to students."
Zitney participated in a "Tweetup" event in Portsmouth at The Red Door, hosted by David Gallant, a former geography major at UNH who is on Twitter, with the username of DavidGallant. A "Tweetup" is a real-world networking session between two or more people who know each other through Twitter.
"I didn't know a lot of people, but it was a good turnout," said Zitney.
Gallant originally thought Twitter was a waste of time, but changed his views soon after. Being a blogger, joining Twitter seemed inevitable to him.
"I quickly became Twitter friends with many of Boston's SEO/Web 2.0 folk in order to follow new trends and discover new services" said Gallant, who was also a computer information technology minor and contributed to the UNH student technology blog. "I saw a 'retweet,' or re-post… about a job opening and I began to investigate."
Twitter helped the job application process to run more smoothly. Having social networking devices already public allowed his personality to shine through. After seeing the job opening, Gallant said he was able to send an e-mail with his résumé and cover letter right away.
"My blog and Twitter account proved that my lifestyle was aligned similarly with that of the agency looking to hire me, and that I would provide skills that they were looking to acquire," said Gallant.
Gallant's advice is to "be social." He recommends writing about anything positive, whether it is about oneself, things of interest or even someone else.
After obtaining a job, Twitter can still be put to good use.
"Connecting through Twitter also offers very easy access to upper level management and the proper people to communicate with when trying to forge a bond with a company," said Gallant. "It is also very easy to see who these same elite people are conversing with, and conversations can easily be hijacked to tailor to your own purposes."
Using Twitter can help understand a person and figure out social connections. Before conversing, one can get key points to bring up and captivate their social interests. "You must have something appealing and intriguing to talk about with these people, or you will fizzle quickly," said Gallant. Other than using Twitter for career motives, many students use Twitter socially. They update their statuses and say whatever's on their mind.
Rachel Quarrell, a junior at UNH, joined the Twitter community about six months ago and has 87 followers, and follows 80 users. "Twitter is cool because I have a short attention span and get annoyed if someone tells me a story in more than 140 characters," said Quarrell.
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