1. Despite much hullabaloo over the negative impact of social media sites, present day businesses are using this platform frequently to augment their brand awareness. Some most lucrative benefits Twitter can fetch to the business relate to boosting up the visibility in search-engines and enhancing business relationships. With options as Twellow and advanced Twitter Search, the website allows a convenient way to identify suitable business contacts and enhance the business relations thereof.
As SEO is taking the center-stage with the burgeoning online businesses, search engines, too, have changed to show up everything from Linkedin to Twitter profiles. Making a pleasing profile and updating the innovative informative on regular basis can promise a good ranking in the search results and consequently, the greater customer attention.
2. With social media sites are notorious for impacting students' dedication and academic performance, statistics revealing an elevated engagement level among users is definitely a silver lining as far as the pedagogical importance of Twitter is concerned. Evidence suggesting high semester grade point among students who used it inside the classroom might come as a sweet surprise to educational honchos. A close analysis of Twitter communications revealed that students were able to shun their shyness by participating in the learning process more proactively, particularly in large classrooms. Instructors also conceded that they used Twitter to foster more discussion and involvement inside the class. The conciseness of 'Tweets' further honed students in expressing thoughts precisely thereby sharpening their reflective and writing skills.
3. While Twitter offers a 'dream' marketing opportunity to businesses, it is not all 'rosy' about this 140 characters micro-blogging website. There is a strict character limit making it difficult to spread links and detailed information, and the possibility of hacking keep businesses on toes all the time. Hashtag hijacking might overpower all significant benefits that the website may bring to the business. Hijacking by detractors reverse the whole tone of the PR and use it as an attack on the business than creating a positive sentiment to which it was intended. The example of McDonald's experience is warning example of the force with which hashtags can backfire.
4. Twitter is a double-edged sword. While it can enhance participation, it also possesses the capability to sabotage and distract students thereby 'killing' their precious time. With addictive and harder-to-resist features on board, the website can severely affect a student's academic excellence and grades . Twitter can also encourage bad grammar because of strict140 characters limit.
The decorum of the class deteriorates as putting controls and checks on students might not always be possible. At the same time, it takes a toll on the social skills of students by decreasing face-to-face communication skills. The University of Vermont identified the Twitter Effect stating that Twitter pushes students towards depression by making them 'less human.' These negative vibes can spoil the instinct of the classroom and make it mundane instead of interactive.
5. Twitter has a plethora of innovative instructional applications. While it can be used as a bulletin board to keep students updated, collaborating on projects might look quite enticing to students. Twitter is probably the most successful in terms of hashtags. They have become a dynamic way to elicit opinion on different educational, political, environmental, and social issues. The instructional application of hashtag is immense in the sense that they connect like-minded people across the globe over a particular issue. Some examples of great educational hashtags include #edtech, #edchat, and #edapp. #Edapps can be used to search for innovative apps to be used inside the class.
References
Infobarrel. (2012). Advantages and Disadvantages of Twitter for Students. Retrieved September 8, 2016, from infobarrel.com: http://www.infobarrel.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Twitter_for_Students
Junco, R., & Heiberger, G. (2011). The Effect of Twitter on College Student Engagement and Grades. The Journal of Computer Assisted Learning .
NA. (2015). Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved September 8, 2016, from educatorstechnology.com: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/05/a-simple-guide-on-use-of-hashtag-for.html
NA. (2012, October 10). Using Twitter for Business: Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved September 8, 2016, from reputationdefender.com: https://www.reputationdefender.com/blog/smb/using-twitter-business-advantages-and-disadvantages
Queensland Government. (2015). Benefits of Twitter for Business. Retrieved September 8, 2016, from business.qld.gov.au: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/business/running/marketing/online-marketing/using-twitter-to-market-your-business/benefits-of-twitter-for-business
