Student government uses social media website to connect, network

How do you tweet? For IU Student Association, the ever-expanding website Twitter is both a marketing tool and a way to connect with constituents.

IUSA’s use of the website was first a way to promote its initiatives and has expanded since.

On Oct. 19, after the Bloomington Faculty Council approved a new 2012-13 calendar to include one day of fall break and a longer Thanksgiving break, the organization tweeted, “FALL BREAK PASSES — IUSA ACHIEVES FALL BREAK FOR STUDENTS!!!!”

IUSA Chief of Staff Neil Kelty said he sent that specific tweet from the floor of the BFC’s meeting. More specific tweets, he said, with more lower case letters followed that initial energetic exclamation.

On Oct. 21, an IUSA tweet stated, “People are missing one of the best parts of the new #IUFallBreak — the new summer schedule — take a class in as few as 4 weeks.”
On Nov. 21, IUSA also tweeted, “Still got class this week? Thanks to @IUSA, you won’t have that soon.”

Kelty said he used Twitter to spread the news of the BFC’s new calendar.
“Fall break bounced around the Twitter sphere quite a bit,” he said.

Kelty is the main voice behind IUSA’s Twitter account. He said he uses his phone, computer and a Twitter client called Seesmic Web — which allows users to manage all Twitter accounts from a single platform. A few other staff members sometimes participate in the tweeting as well, he said.

IUSA also views the Twitter account as a way to follow campus news, Kelty said.

The account is currently following 32 other “people,” — typically campus organizations such as the Kelley School of Business, IU Alumni Association, School of Informatics and Computing and more.

The student government’s use of Twitter has also played into the iUnity administration campaign platform “iConnect,” an initiative promising to link student
organizations.

Kelty also uses the account to retweet relevant news articles and to laud accomplishments. A Nov. 24 tweet supported IU’s basketball program when it declared “Congrats to @TomCrean and team for the 5-0 start.”

Finally, Kelty said he hopes the site will serve as a way to connect with students. On April 21, IUSA tweeted “Hate something at IU? Let us know and we’ll fix it. http://iuideas.com”

Although the number of IUSA’s twitter followers is still relatively low, Kelty said he aims to elicit responses from constituents.

In fact, with 224 followers, the administration itself has fewer followers than IUSA President and senior Michael Coleman.

Coleman said he created his account after the spring election cycle and said the IUSA account is still relatively new.

Kelty said because the IUSA account strives to tweet and retweet only positive information, there haven’t been any complaints so far.

For Coleman, who said he protects his tweets, there are fewer concerns about privacy.

“I tweet basically how I feel or what I think,” Coleman said.

To follow IUSA, visit www.twitter.com/#!/IUSA.

— Claire Wiseman