Three ways Twitter is used in academic studies and research

Twitter is a kind of micro-blogging on which users can send and receive short public messages instantly called tweets. The messages are limited by 140 characters. It is possible to follow people or groups of interest to build up its own personalized network. Twitter can be used for some personal purposes and also in academic contexts.  At university, students have little time and a lot of assignments to do and they need to find quickly and effectively information. By following an author or a specific topic, students can reach the relevant information for their studies. With Twitter, it is possible to be connected with people sharing the same interest or profession as us and communicate with them through tweets instantly.

Another use in academic context with Twitter is the possibility to build a network where someone starts a debate and people react to this. This can help to have a feedback from various people and keep to date a subject for a research project for example. With the tool “crowd sourcing” Twitter provide access for research activities in various domains such as sciences, social sciences, medicine, and history. The option called hashtag (#) can be used to index topics and find what it has been said about this subject immediately.

The third way to use Twitter in higher education is the possibility for students and teachers to discuss about an assignment, an essay or a topic relevant for the class or the course. By creating a specific #, I can share some ideas with my classmates and make a debate about the next essay we have to submit for example.

So using Twitter can add extra value to many research project and other academic studies in various ways. Using this social media tool can help to build a strong network to find instantly relevant and up to date information about any subjects.