College students HAVE to use Twitter

So unless you’ve been completely separated from the media lately, you’ve probably heard of Twitter. You might not be a user. You might not even understand what it means or what’s the point of it. But you’ve heard of it. For those of you that don’t know, Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging tool where you can communicate with others through a maximum of 140-characters. The basic premise of Twitter is to tell your friends (followers) what you are doing, but as anyone that’s a user knows, it’s much more than that. Twitter gives you the ability to connect and chat with people that you otherwise would have never been in touch with. For example, the other day, Newt Gingrich actually replied to a question that I had asked him, and famous people like Shaq, Ashton Kutcher, and Lance Armstrong (just to name a few) are active users that have conversations and reply to people all the time. But this is just the beginning.

The thing about Twitter is that it’s a great example of the saying “the more you put in, the more you’ll get out”. If you sign up for a Twitter account and never update your status, and don’t follow people that interest you, then it becomes a useless service for you. But if you take an active approach to constantly update your status, if you follow people that seem genuinely interesting, and you start and maintain conversations with other Tweeters then you will find that Twitter is a great service. And the best part is that it will only get better as more and more people create accounts, thereby creating more value for the entire user base.

Now that’s all great, but how will this benefit a college student? I’ve included a list of a number of different reasons for why I think every college student should create an account on Twitter.

1.  Networking, networking, networking
As we all know, no matter what you’re going to do in life, networking is key. Twitter is an amazing way to meet new people, especially people that could help you out either now or in the future. Want to be a doctor? Follow one and start a conversation! Want to be a stocktrader? Learn from some of the best on Twitter! Want to join an advertising agency? Talk to some of the top executives at some of the top firms!

2.  It can help you find a job
This goes hand in hand with #1, but it’s amazing how much more responsive people are on Twitter than on other services. Maybe that’s because it’s still a relatively young service, but sending someone a dm or an @ reply on Twitter has a much higher answer rate than a Facebook or LinkedIn message. And we all know how much faster that can be than going through the HR black whole. There are a number of major corporations (Yahoo, Sega, Starbucks) and even more HR managers on Twitter that you can get in touch with that can help you get your foot in the door for the interview process.

3.  It can help you in school
Just a few weeks ago I tweeted that I was studying for a Health Economics midterm and someone that took the same class at MIT informed me that he had an excellent study guide, which he then e-mailed to me. There are tons of different professors, teaching assistants, and even universities themselves (UCSB, for example) that have Twitter accounts. It can also help you get answers from people in the field that are doing real hands-on work with whatever you’re learning in school.

4.  All your news in one place
I no longer have a need to go to ESPN, CNN, NYtimes, etc to read my news. I just follow them on Twitter and get headlines every time a new article is posted to their site. If I find it interesting enough, then I click on the link and read the article, and if I don’t, then I won’t. It’s unbelievable how much more efficient it is than going to every site individually. On top of that, all of the links to people’s blogs can become very helpful and interesting, especially if you’re following people that you’re interested in.

5.  It can help give you advice
Not sure where to get food? Need some girlfriend advice? Want to learn a new recipe or you want to try a new workout? If you engage your followers enough, then all you’ll have to do to ask any of these questions and you’ll get answers in literally seconds. It’s a beautiful thing and it can literally revolutionize the way you live life.

Although some college students are on Twitter, the majority haven’t taken to the service as quickly as they do to most new toys and gadgets. College students HAVE to get on Twitter as soon as possible because they surely are missing out on a vast opportunity without it.