Using Twitter to Get to Know Profs

[sputnik]

So I felt awkward about emailing profs at programs to which I'd be applying, and decided to go a different route. Over the last year, as I've picked out my schools, I started following professors and grad students from those programs (that I could find) on Twitter. I've been @-replying and re-tweeting when applicable. And at my top choice school, I was even able to help out a prof who was looking for a file. I had it so I sent it over. I am hoping that will help me stick out a bit more than the typical "Hi I want to study with you" emails.

I just wanted to share that on here. I found I was able to see the personalities of some of the profs, and get a feel for the other students. It became a very valuable tool for me in the application process.

I will let you know how it works out!

(Sorry for the double post)

[eklavya]

sure.. i for sure would be interested to know how this turns out.

but my opinion is that twitter isn't a formal way (compared to email/phone) of getting to know profs. it certainly could be helpful IF you knew the profs beforehand... but for establishing contact for the first couple of times, i don't think it is going to be very useful/effective. on the other hand, i doubt tweets do a good job in delivering and explaining your intended message.

[sputnik]

I guess it depends on how you use twitter. Some profs are using it to discuss ideas. When you chime in and then they follow you back, I think that's a very good sign. Some profs use it in a less serious way. But all the ones I came across, to some extent, use twitter to discuss ideas relevant to their research areas. So, through it, I was able to show my interest in their work by retweeting their posts (used sparingly) and by directly replying to them about it. In a lot of cases, I got instant replies back. I see a lot of people here say they email a prof only to hear back months later, if at all, and in terse terms, often. I never had that experience on Twitter. I was positioned as someone interested in participating in an ongoing discussion, not begging to be noticed. After all, they didn't know yet that I was a future applicant. Nut now, when they see my application, it won't be the first time they see my name. I think the idea is that by following them on twitter over the last year and engaging in their discussions I think (hope) I showed my interest rather than just expressed it, as many do in emails. I guess only time will tell. Just wondering if anyone else has tried this approach.

[sputnik]

Bhikari, judging from your comments about twitter it makes me think you don't use it. Is that the case?

[Strangefox]

I think the idea is that by following them on twitter over the last year and engaging in their discussions I think (hope) I showed my interest rather than just expressed it, as many do in emails. I guess only time will tell. Just wondering if anyone else has tried this approach.

I think it's a very good opportunity and you've approached it correctly, following the profs for a year. They must notice you after that!

Good luck and keep us posted!

[sputnik]

Thanks strangefox. I actually came up with the idea because i had started following a few profs because I was truly interested in what they had to say. And some of them are very active on twitter. It occurred to me to use it as an application tool about halfway through this year. By that point I guess I'd already been doing it, but that's when I decided to engage more frequently and to find more people. It's amazing how many I did find. It's cool though because I do want to follow those people and I will continue to whether I get in or not because they post stuff relevant to my research. Hence the reason I applied to study under them! It's a happy example of a catch-22.

[Strangefox]

Thanks strangefox. I actually came up with the idea because i had started following a few profs because I was truly interested in what they had to say. And some of them are very active on twitter. It occurred to me to use it as an application tool about halfway through this year. By that point I guess I'd already been doing it, but that's when I decided to engage more frequently and to find more people. It's amazing how many I did find. It's cool though because I do want to follow those people and I will continue to whether I get in or not because they post stuff relevant to my research. Hence the reason I applied to study under them! It's a happy example of a catch-22.

And how do you find a professor on Twitter? I once found a couple of profs on Facebook, but Twitter...

[sputnik]

I just searched for them by name. Once I'd find one, i'd see who they were following. Many schools' profs follow each other. Or, on their list of followers, to find other profs, the city listed gives you a clue. (if you don't know all the faculty this is helpful. Also it helps find students). Once I got rolling I had found about 30 profs and multiple students in their programs. Some of the universities have department pages represented on twitter. Naturally profs and grad students follow their own department's page. So that's a good way to find them as well. One other way I found was to search the conference hashtags. Since they all tag when they tweet about a conference, you can find them that way too. Plus most conferences make their hashtags well publicized. So it's easy to find those to begin with. A lot of the "big guns" seem to follow each other. So if you can get one to @reply you, some of the others will start following you as well. Now, I've got a decent network of people in my field feeding my twitter page so it's helpful for research. The obvious side benefit was as an application tool to make myself known to profs. Twitter seems stupid at first. It's only as good as the people you follow because that's the only content you see unless you go out looking for something. As a research tool, I find it indispensable.

[Strangefox]

I just searched for them by name. Once I'd find one, i'd see who they were following. Many schools' profs follow each other. Or, on their list of followers, to find other profs, the city listed gives you a clue. (if you don't know all the faculty this is helpful. Also it helps find students). Once I got rolling I had found about 30 profs and multiple students in their programs. Some of the universities have department pages represented on twitter. Naturally profs and grad students follow their own department's page. So that's a good way to find them as well. One other way I found was to search the conference hashtags. Since they all tag when they tweet about a conference, you can find them that way too. Plus most conferences make their hashtags well publicized. So it's easy to find those to begin with. A lot of the "big guns" seem to follow each other. So if you can get one to @reply you, some of the others will start following you as well. Now, I've got a decent network of people in my field feeding my twitter page so it's helpful for research. The obvious side benefit was as an application tool to make myself known to profs. Twitter seems stupid at first. It's only as good as the people you follow because that's the only content you see unless you go out looking for something. As a research tool, I find it indispensable.

Very interesting! May be I need to get myself a Twitter account... I'll think about that

[katerific]

Interesting! I'm pretty sure all the profs I'm applying to work for don't tweet.... I do like to follow science on twitter, though

[warpspeed]

i don't tweet things i want potential advisers knowing (except maybe one, he rules). good thing I keep mine private anyway.