As part of the work I am doing for some of my clients, I daily monitor literally hundreds of Twitter accounts that deal with international education. I have the opportunity to see how many organizations are using Twitter. Most, unfortunately, are not using it to their best advantage.
But there are some that are. These are some of the Twitter accounts that are some of my favorites, that I think are doing it best and that international educators can look to as models. What makes them among the best, in my opinion?
- There is obviously a human being running the Twitter account and that human being has a personality.
- They post on a regular basis and share helpful information above and beyond simply marketing their organization/programs or using them for public relations.
- They respond and engage in conversation with their followers on a regular basis. In other words, their Twitterstream isn't only "outbound" social media.
- They pass on TwitterLove by retweeting valuable and fun information.
These are in alphabetical order:
- @APIStudyAbroad and @AspireAbroad (both part of the same organization)
- @BorenAwards
- @ConnectStateGov
- @DavidComp (although he's recently announced that he's cutting back on Twitter)
- @EdUSATips
- @ELIPrograms
- @Geovisions
- @PeaceCorps
- @TEFLIntl
- I'd like to be able to list a 10th, but I couldn't find any other international education Twitter accounts that met my criteria! Will yours be the 10th?
Of course, I also think that @GoAbroad and @rmsylte do a very good job -- but I'm involved personally with both of them, so didn't include them on the list.
Related articles
- Profiles in International Education: Lisa Niver Rajna (wanderingeducators.com)
- Profiles in International Education: Karen Smith Rotabi (wanderingeducators.com)
- Ten education journos worth following on Twitter (b2bsocialmediaguide.com)
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
@Ruth ~ Thanks for the mention! I think I will post the same amount to Twitter as I always have and I should have clarified this in my posts. I’m changing the way I follow people as I miss much with the 1,335 people/organizations I follow.
@David I have found Twitter Lists to be very helpful in categorizing and following others. Some lists I make public because I think others may find them helpful. Others I make private because they are for my personal / professional use. When you have a large amount of accounts you’re following, it may take you a while to categorize all of them — but it will be worth it. I would suggest planning your categorization first — and remember that you can place accounts on multiple lists. I hope this helps!
Thanks for the list! Although I must say, the list looks a bit US-centric for an ‘international’ education list…
Eric, that’s very true. However, I follow lots of non-US international education twitter accounts as well — including some in languages that I cannot understand! Based on what I was looking for, it is relatively easy to see if a twitter account met the criteria I set. In general, the vast majority of international education related twitter accounts (no matter the location or language) did not.
Ruth…thank you for listing @GeoVisions in this list. We also follow a few of the Tweeps you list here and of course to be listed with them is humbling. We try hard to keep an eye towards some of these leaders and learn from them. To blend information of interest, something that is usable by others, and always with a smile that although unseen, can be felt is the goal of each Tweet. I’m glad to know the formula works more times than not.
What was even better, Ruth, was letting our Community Manager know about the list. Thank you again and this will only cause us to work harder. Happy New Year.
Hi, how about http://twitter.com/#!/navitasnews? Navitas is a global education provider and we try and keep the flow of education news going via our twitter account. We also like to share stuff that amuses us. Have a look anyway and see what you think.
Wondering if there are more twitter users that tweet for International Students in the US. Know of any? Would also love to know what IE professionals are on foursquare … find it facinating where people in the profession are “checking in”.
There are a number of Tweeple who tweet for international students in the US, such as @intstudent. And there are a number of international education people on @Foursquare as well — but many limit connections to friends because of privacy issues.
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