Soon after I posted my frustration at journalism students being slow to adopt Twitter, I came up with an idea: you only really start using Twitter when there is a social reason – so why not help by creating those social connections? I posted a call-out to Twitter:
Anyone willing to ‘adopt’ a journalism student on Twitter and answer their questions about it?
The response (especially on a Sunday afternoon) was heartwarming – within less than an hour I had more than one ‘Twentor’ (thanks to Scott Keegan for that word) per student – responses below. Two days later and the effect has been noticeable – the majority of students had started chatting to their mentors and you could see the lights switching on.
Needless to say the Twentoring idea itself makes two very strong points about Twitter: firstly, how it can be used as a source of support; and secondly, how easy it is to make professional contacts.
When Dave Lee came to speak to the students yesterday he compared it to ‘getting your feet under the table’ at a news organisation – now, as a journalism student, when the local news team needs a hand you can be ‘there’ in a virtual sense to offer help.
Thanks to all who offered to join the ‘Twentoring’ scheme. Here are their responses in full:
I’m in.
2 Comments
Very happy to have been able to help. My “twentee” was a little slow to respond to me but I was delighted when she tweeted to say she was getting the hang of Twitter at last.
Twentoring is a great idea as it’s only by using Twitter that journalism students will see the possibilities. Even I, with many years of experience behind me, was slow to take up Twitter and discover how useful it can be. It does take a while for the penny to drop as it’s not immediately obvious how useful Twitter can be.
Apologies – one problem was many didn’t realise you had to click on @replies to see them – my oversight.
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