Author: Barbara Nixon

COMM 2322 Students Only

Our One Week of Twitter assignment begins on Thursday, January 28, and will end at midnight on February 4. Your blog post about this experience is due before class on February 9. It will count as your Topic of the Week for Week Five.

Setting Up Your Twitter Account

1. Go to Twitter. Click Get Started, and sign up. I prefer it if you use some version of your first and last name as your Twitter ID. (Avoid putting numbers in your Twitter ID, or you may appear like a spammer.)
2. Upload a photo or avatar.
3. Write a brief (140-character or fewer) bio. It’s good to mention that you’re a PR student.
4. Send a tweet saying “I’m a student in @barbaranixon’s #COMM2322 class”. Be sure to include the #COMM2322 indicator, with no spaces between the hashtag (#), letters and numbers.
5. If you haven’t already done so, complete my form that tells me your Twitter username.

Setting Up Your Following List

1. While you are logged into your Twitter account, visit my Twitter List for COMM 2322. Everyone you see in this list will be classmates of yours at Southeastern University.
2. Click the “Follow This List” icon just above the list. Voila! Now you are following the list. To easily/quickly follow your classmates as individuals, see my TweepML list.
3. Follow at least 20 (why not all?) of the people or organizations in my Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students.

Using Twitter

1. Over the course of the next week, send at least twenty tweets (Twitter messages of 140 characters or less). Tip: Rather than tweeting that you’re having ramen for lunch, instead consider what might be of interest to your classmates and followers. Perhaps point others to something interesting or funny you read online. Share a fact you learned in a class. Maybe you could even pose a question that you’d like others to answer.
2. In addition to the twenty tweets that you originate, respond to at least five of your classmates’ tweets. To respond, click on the arrow after a tweet. Or you can type the @ symbol followed immediately by a username (such as @barbaranixon).

Additional Information

1. Review my tips on how college students can use Twitter to their advantage and Choosing Whom to Follow on Twitter: My Strategy.
2. Review Prof. Sam Bradley’s College Student’s Guide: Twitter 101.
3. I find using the web interface for Twitter to be clunky. I prefer using TweetDeck, a free Adobe Air app that works great on PCs and Macs.
4. I’ll occasionally post information on Twitter and use the hashtag of #COMM2322. By using this hashtag, I’m indicating that I want students in this class to pay special attention to the tweet.
5. OPTIONAL: If you’d like to publicize your blog posts via Twitter, you can it automatically in WordPress.

Blog About Your Experience

After the week is over, add a 250-word (minimum) post to your blog about the experience and what you got out of it. Be sure to include at least one way you might find value in continuing your account in Twitter. This blog post is due before class on February 9. (This post will count as your Topic of the Week.)

Questions? Just send me a DM (direct message) or an @ (reply) in Twitter!

NOTE: Many thanks to Kaye Sweetser and Karen Russell for their ideas prompting this assignment.

If you are a student in one of my classes this semester, please let me know your Twitter username using the form below. Fill this out even if you know that I am already following you.