Should Vassar embrace the Twitterverse?

Warning: This article exceeds 140 characters. You know you've heard of Twitter, so let's just hash[tag] it out. First and foremost, students utilize it as a form of broadcast text messaging. Greg Shapiro '12, tweeted why he embraces the movement: "It allows you to interact with people on campus who you don't normally see/have class with/hangout with." Student organizations are starting to use the platform to disseminate their message and organize a following. Perhaps the most revolutionary use of the medium on campus is its ability to have events "go live," allowing users to actively tweet from events so that their followers can receive instantaneous updates as demonstrated at Vassar's Fall Convocation earlier this month.

Even Vassar College itself has officially joined the Twitterverse. The accounts "VassarNews" and "VassarInfo" blast events and headlines from the Info Site while Main Building's account is operated by a student who tweets on behalf of its residents. While some accounts are active tweeters, other potentially useful venues remain dormant, such as the "VCCampusDining" account managed by Director of Marketing and Sustainability for Campus Dining Kenneth Oldehoff, which hasn't been updated since April 27. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the student blogger in charge of the popular Mads Vassar Blog is known to tweet several times a day, linking to full blog posts and utilizing the power of Twitter as a broadcasting tool. The "anonymous" student blogger relied on Twitter last semester while his blog was on a temporary hiatus.

The Miscellany News itself, as well as the Vassar Student Organization (VSA), both take advantage of Twitter as yet another means by which to interact with Vassar students. The 2010-2011 VSA Executive Board made transparency a goal for the year, and Vice President for Operations Ruby Cramer '12 recognized social media as the perfect tool. Cramer also sees the account as an opportunity to promote any good publicity Vassar receives, noting, "There are so many fantastic things that members of the community are doing on a daily basis, and while news organizations on campus can only report objectively about Vassar news, Twitter gives the VSA the opportunity to get the word out about all of the world changing accomplishments going on at Vassar." The College's Twitter scene is definitely expanding, and it is encouraging to see Vassar's students and organizations contributing to this development.

In addition to Twitter's usages are also its pitfalls. Any activity on Twitter is instantly transmitted to millions of users. Furthermore, there is no way to confirm that a Twitter user is exactly who they claim to be, a potential hazard that has even encroached on Vassar's borders. This past summer, students were excited by the emergence of the news that Vassar administrators were proactively tweeting on a personal level. Accounts tied to college administrators whimsically joined the twitterverse, only to be hastily proven false. In hopes of regulating similar problems, Twitter offers "Account Verified" seals of approval, coded by a blue check mark symbol next to an account name that verifies that Twitter has recognized the veracity of this individual's identity.

Although trends are pointing to expanded usage of Twitter, the campus is a far cry from becoming entirely plugged in. Professor of English Amitava Kumar succinctly comments via his Twitter account: "Is there a Twitter culture at Vassar? It hasn't announced itself to me."

As Twitter's prominence in popular culture rises, Vassar can expect to see the social tool utilized in new ways. Though Vassar is certainly getting there, its Twitter presence is not nearly as emblematic of the campus as its Facebook and YouTube counterparts. It is likely that any tool that attempts to simplify the nuances of interaction and communication would be met with skepticism at an institution of higher learning, but the fact remains that as Twitter's global potency continues to rise, Vassar will either have to jump on board or be left behind.