I have been on Twitter now for a few years – at first, I have to admit, I was wary of the microblogging platform. However, I got inspired to write this post thanks to Kevin DeShazo, who is a great professional who works in collegiate athletics and social media. He wrote a post on Medium today talking about why he loves Twitter.
If you asked me back in 2009 if I did, I would have honestly said no, I don’t “love” Twitter. However, this is 2015 and a lot has changed and I agree with Kevin. I also love and truly am thankful for Twitter because it has brought forth so many wonderful opportunities for me as a professional as well as personally.
As a doctoral student, I got the same messages when it came to fellow colleagues and professors about the amount of time I was dedicating to my blog and on social media. I believe (and still do to this day) that if I didn’t engage as much as I did on social media during my time at the University of Tennessee, I would not be where I am today.
I am extremely thankful for all of the wonderful relationships I have made through Twitter. Here are some of the main highlights for me that Twitter has given me as a professional:
Connecting with Social Media and Sports Professionals
As as former athlete – it’s been a lot of fun to engage and talk to professionals who are working in collegiate athletics, professional athletics, or work in providing great commentary and services to collegiate and professional teams. The #smsports community is positive, upbeat, and extremely innovative with their shared ideas and perspectives on the direction of where emerging media is going. This is where I first got connected with some amazing professionals like Jimmy Sanderson (Clemson University), Russell Hougtaling (University of Oklahoma), Jessica Smith, and Chris Yandle to name a few.
Being able to reach out to fellow influencers and authors
Twitter has been the biggest platform for me to connect and network with fellow professionals in the field of PR and social media. Hands down – this has been the most effective tool for me to connect not only for me, but for my students in my classes as well. I have been able to do virtual introductions for my students as well as with fellow colleagues. I mean, where else can you have the opportunity to interact with Mark Schaefer, Deirdre Breakenridge, Jason Falls, Ted Rubin, and other great leading professionals in the field?! Exactly my point. 🙂
Plus, Twitter was the place where I learned about two books I am actually using this semester for my social media class (Michael Brito’s book “Your Brand: The Next Media Company” and Chris Kerns’ book Trendology.) Both Michael and Chris are true visionaries in the field of strategic social media implementation and it’s been great to chat with them on Twitter and they are very engaged and responsive.
Embracing fellow Crisis Communication Professionals
The crisis community on Twitter is HUGE. This was extremely wonderful to find back in 2009 and I have been active and engaged with these fellow professionals ever since. It was through Twitter I was able to meet and connect with star professionals in the field like Melissa Agnes, Jonathan Bernstein, Rich Klein, Jane Jordan Meier, and Chris Syme.
Learning about Hootsuite and Hootsuite University
Without being engaged on Twitter, I would not have discovered what Hootsuite or their University program is all about. This has been a pivotal component of my social media class at the University of Louisville and for the last two years, I have truly enjoyed corresponding and networking with the great professionals of the Hootsuite brand and community.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am very thankful to Twitter for creating a platform where we are able to establish our own brand but also have the opportunity to interact and engage with others in real time. It’s truly been a great place to be and I’ve noticed I have been spending more and more time on the social media platform because of this.
[custom_blockquote style=”eg. green, yellow, purple, blue, red, black, grey”] Twitter is the ultimate social platform for connecting professionals together based on conversations, interests, and relationships for 2015 [/custom_blockquote]
If you’d like to connect on Twitter, please do! My handle is @kfreberg. Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
