QuickWire: Celebrity Gossip Is Biggest Draw for Students Using Twitter

May 17, 2011, 4:51 pm

A new survey of college students shows that only about 17 percent of them use Twitter, and those interested in celebrity and entertainment news are the ones most likely to go to the service. That’s according to a study to be published in New Media & Society. African-American students were found to be more likely than white students to use the microblogging service, but the biggest predictor of Twitter use was an interest in celebrity gossip. About 500 students at the University of Illinois at Chicago participated in the study, answering surveys in 2009, when they were freshmen, and again in 2010. The researchers, from Northwestern University, also found that students from underprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds were much less likely to use Twitter than others, pointing to a new kind of digital divide. Would that be called a Twitter gap?

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eddean

What do you expect of a state that would gladly bring back human bondage? The state constitution only calls for “adequate” public education and the legislature thinks that 50th in state funding for education is good enough.
wccalvert

Make a list of everyone you need to meet: All members of your new department, others in the university with interests related to yours, all relevant staff and professional staff…. everybody. Make one mark next to each name when you meet that person for your fist time after coming to campus. Make a second mark the first time you have a genuine conversation with that person. Try to “earn” a few marks each week, no matter how busy your first semester is.
peepers

Clearly I need a wife.
peepers

Sadly, that is not legal in my state.
nancy_tuten

As the head of a division that has hired three new folks in the past two years, here are my suggestions: (1) Your new department/division will value a team player, someone who steps up enthusiastically to participate in a variety of department/division responsibilities. (2) It’s a good idea to be physically present more during your first year or two than you might need to be once everyone knows you well and is confident about your work ethic. (3) Carefully study your college’s criteria for tenure and promotion (and I hope they are as clearly spelled out at your institution as they are at ours!) and begin taking aggressive steps to meet them. (4) Listen a lot. (5) Show a respect for (and a desire to learn about) the culture of your institution (and every institution has one).

All the best in your new position!

Nancy