How Twitter Content Can Be Simple and Compelling

Jarred and I are proud alumni of a small, prestigious liberal arts college in North Carolina named Davidson.  As soon as we left, the college eliminated loans in financial aid packages, the men’s basketball team made a storybook run to the Elite Eight, and the notoriously underwhelming Spring concert suddenly became a venue for one of our favorite bands (though, to be fair, Ben Folds and Bob Dylan’s band both rocked).

For further proof that Davidson is improving by leaps and bounds without me and Jarred around, one need look no further than the college’s latest use of social media.

Davidson’s application for admission is notoriously extensive.  In addition to the common application and long essay, prospective students must solicit teacher and peer recommendations, write essays on topics ranging from the college’s honor code to characteristics of Davidson that inspired the individual to apply, and provide a list of books they’ve read the past year.  The admissions counselors I’ve known at Davidson have often commented that these application portfolios are often a source of inspiration, humor, wisdom beyond the applicants’ years, and tremendously interesting stories.

Now some of these nuggets of wisdom, humility, hilarity, and inspiration have found a home on (where else, for nugget-size wisdom?) Twitter.  Here’s a sampling from @DCAdmission, a Twitter feed compiled by admissions counselors quoting quasi-anonymous applicants from around the country:

PS in FL: [My shoes] say, “Look out world, I’m here to bowl. And yeah, I wear a size 11.”

BJ in KY: The time has come for me to start to make my own way…to honor his dream and my own by going to college and getting my degree.

DO in MO: Davidson is a college that is not afraid of God.

AD in GA: My friends and family berate me for suggesting games of Risk and Diplomacy. I guess I just have a desire to conquer the world.

JZ in MD: I struggle with the term “achievement” as it denotes finality.

DKM in TX: With a bright smile, Stephen [Curry] leaned towards me and said with the utmost confidence, “Davidson is the place to be.”

This strikes me as a brilliant use of Twitter, a tool that many corporations–I’m looking at you, Skittles–and institutions have clumsily struggled to decipher.  Why?

• The content appeals to multiple audiences: current applicants, current students, prospective future applicants, geeky alumni (ahem), outside observers, peer (competitor) institutions, etc.
• Inasmuch as it appeals to multiple audiences, using Twitter for this purpose accomplishes multiple goals: it highlights compelling material that was previously only seen by a select few in the admissions office, demonstrating to current applicants that their essays are receiving careful scrutiny; it touts the quality of Davidson applicants and the various reasons students desire to attend the college, thus inspiring future applicants; it fills alumni with nostalgia and pride that can be directed into giving ($$); and it gives Davidson, a rather traditional and stoic institution, a fresh face as at least an experimenter in the social media world.
• The feed itself is self-contained.  I love discovering interesting links on  Twitter, but some of my favorite users to follow are those that post thought-provoking (or funny) observations in 140-character snippets, without links.  This use of Twitter is highly underrated and the Davidson folks have identified a perfect way to exploit that gap with interesting content that is a natural fit for the limited space allotted.
• The project requires minimal extra effort.  I haven’t spoken with the folks responsible for this feed, but I would imagine that this is a side project that takes no more than a few minutes of a given staffer’s day.  They’re reviewing the applications already, likely underlining lines that are particularly compelling; transcribing those lines to Twitter is a simple extension of an established and necessary task.  There’s no Chief Social Media Officer running this show.

It may seem like I’m touting this effort a bit more than merited, given the fact that the experiment is young (65 updates since Jan. 13, ‘09) and seemingly done on a whim.  But that’s part of what makes this such a compelling early case study: this ’stuff’ (Twitter, social media more broadly, etc.) doesn’t have to be rocket science.  It needn’t require a strategic plan or months of deliberations to execute.  It should start on a whim, and continue as long as it’s successful. Companies and organizations looking to harness Twitter would be well-served by adopting the attitude expressed in @DCAdmission’s first tweet:

We began asking permission to use certain student quotations about five min ago. Drum roll! This is going to be fun, we can already tell.