Twitter as a university commumication tool

Abstract

The article presents ways of using Twitter as a communication tool at higher education institutions (HEIs). For this study, 16 Polish universities representing 16 administrative regions (voivodeships), were selected (location and leader criteria were adopted). The research material, gathered on the basis of media monitoring, includes more than three thousand tweets, posted by HEIs as well as posts and comments from other users. Research has shown that universities make very limited use of the original, opinion-forming nature of Twitter. It is primarily a tool for image building and ongoing communication. On the other hand, the scientific potential of the university and its successes in many different areas are widely used. For HEIs , which are important centres of regional development, no such comprehensive study has been carried out. The article is a voice in the debate about the role of social media in the dominant age of mediated communication.