UniversitiesandColleges.org, an online directory of colleges and universities, ranked Miami University 54 out of 100 colleges for most followers on Twitter. The site took into account how institutions of higher educations were using the Web site.
Twitter, a social networking site, allows users to update 142-character statuses. The site has become popular with news sites and institutions, enabling followers to stay in tune with updates.
According to the rankings, Miami has 842 followers and 13.6 tweets per day, ranking 60 for average tweets.
According to Arlene Werts, director of marketing communication and associate director of university communication, Miami is taking action to expand its use of Twitter.
"I think Twitter has a good future," Werts said. "I think people are trying to figure out the best ways to use it. I see a lot of opportunity for faculty members to share current research, a check out this link kind of thing. I see opportunities to help people who want to know more, to provide them links to information."
According to Werts, the university hired a marketing intern who is looking at how the university can use social networking sites to communicate with a wider audience.
"Right now she is doing a competitive analysis to get on paper what Miami as a whole is doing on social media, particularly Facebook.com, YouTube and Twitter," Werts said. "She is looking at what Miami is currently doing and what some best practices might be for other universities, organizations, and companies."
Werts said working with social media is beneficial for the university.
"It hits all those audiences without expenses of mailing," Werts said. "We are learning what is possible and our plan is we will start capitalizing on these opportunities in a cohesive manner. We want to get all the entities around campus using these sites so we can have more of a portal so our audience can connect to the areas they are most interested in."
However, some doubt a younger audience is available on the social network.
"My experience has been that I do not see that many students on Twitter," said Cheryl Gibbs, acting director of the journalism department. "What I hear when I talk to students is that Twitter is for older people."
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Kathleen Ryan, associate professor of journalism, agrees. Ryan has been working with her Journalism 101 classes to introduce Twitter to a young audience and into the classroom.
"I had students rank Twitter and they seem to cautiously like it," Ryan said. "It works with that generation. But,
demographically it tends to skew to an older audience."
Therefore, Ryan believes Twitter can be directed at an older audience.
"I would think it would be good with alumni," Ryan said. "That is the demographic that you have."
Miami has been working with Twitter to communicate with alumni, according to Suzanne Clark, Web author of advancement services.
"Well we actually have a Twitter account for the alumni association, as well as Alumni Weekend, the campaign for love and honor, and the Bicentennial Student Center," Clark said.
Clark said the MiamiAlum Twitter account has 633 followers, most of whom she believes are alumni. She added they are looking to increase their Twitter activity.
"For the Alumni Association, we don't tweet as often as I would like to," Clark said. "Maybe once a week about what is going on. We do have big plans to increase our numbers and raise ourselves on that list."
According to Clark, the Alumni Association tweeted all Homecoming week, including posting updates for the house decoration contest, the awards dinner, Tailgate Town, LegacyFest and the football game.
Despite these steps, Clark still does not believe Twitter is their main source of communication.
"We don't depend on it that heavily because there aren't as many followers as of course we would email," Clark said. "But, I like to think it would pick up speed. Right now, I'm not so sure it's the tool we would use."
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