It’s very easy to switch off to anything new because it could be a fad or a gimmick, not relevant or you don’t have the time to learn more about it.

It may or may not surprise you to know that I was a very late adopter of Twitter. I completely switched off to it for exactly the reasons above. There was so many new technologies and ways to connect that, frankly, it was starting to confuse me. I like what I know and I know what I like. I’m a creature of habit and so I stick to things that I know work.

So why am I now suggesting schools could be making more use of Twitter? Am I even qualified to suggest this?

Well I think I’m ideally placed to suggest its use because I was a sceptic. So it’s taken some very compelling reasons for me to now have three separate Twitter accounts! One of the main reasons is that I’m time poor! I’ve two young children, I part run a household with my wife, I part run a company and I have hobbies. So I don’t have the luxury of having plenty of time to read up on topics or find out the latest. I want quick, relevant, to the point information that I don’t have to spend minutes interpreting. Twitter gives me this because it forces you to be short with your messages. You therefore value each character you use or read in the messages.

Another reason is that I’ve got used to what are called ‘push notifications’. By this I mean I am told when there’s something new to read. I don’t have to hunt for the next update.

A third reason is that Twitter itself has matured. It’s been adopted by many respected organisations as a key way of distributing public messages and so it’s opened the eyes of many into how to apply it usefully to their organisation.

Particularly relevant to schools I feel is the standard piece of equipment of staff, students and parents: the mobile/smart phone. Twitter could be a great way of engaging with everyone involved in the school. Wouldn’t it be really exciting if all pupils that could, followed their school on Twitter! What a great way for parents to get more connected with the school and feeling like it’s a real community.

The rise of the smartphone also means that people are more likely to check for updates on this device than switch on their computer and wait for it startup, then load their internet browser, then load the page…you get my point. The instant-on convenience of the smartphone means that to really get your messages out you have to consider Twitter as one of the tools in your communications arsenal.

Finally, there are a number of software packages that send texts from the school to parents who provide their mobile numbers. Some of these tools charge per text. I wonder how much could be saved if some of those texts could be sent as messages through Twitter. Not all messages, obviously, but perhaps more than you may think.

Here at Every we use Twitter to interact with our customers, and deliver live updates on the Every system. Follow us by clicking the link below: