Concordia in 140 characters or less

This article was originally printed in The Concordian on April 7, 2011.

MOORHEAD, MN--

Twitter is like a car. If you don’t know what you’re doing, chances are you won’t get far, and Concordia is utilizing the social media outlet to tell the Concordia story, according to Gia Rassier, a 2010 graduate and a communications specialist in the Office of Communications and Marketing.

Rassier helps manage the social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter. There are four main Twitter accounts targeting different audiences. The general campus Twitter, @Concordia_MN, highlights campus events and has a broad audience of current, former and prospective students as well as faculty and friends of the college, Rassier said.

“I think Twitter is a phenomenal marketing tool that gives businesses the ability to interact directly with their customer,” Rassier said.

Concordia Admissions has its own Twitter account, @Be_A_Cobber. The account links prospective students to the life of current students through student stories and COBBlog. COBBlog not only contains blogs by current students about campus events, it also contains links to more Concordia blogs, like a May seminar blog, and student blogs, some of which are about a semester abroad.

Current students are not abandoned on the Twitter front, however. The beloved Kernel Cobb has a Twitter, @KernelCobb, and he loves tweeting about campus life, athletics and sometimes shameless self-promotion, Rassier said.

“His main goal is also his greatest passion,” Rassier said, “amping up Cobber pride and sharing his love for maroon and gold.”

Across Concordia, there are 11 total Twitter accounts, according to the “Social Media” page at Concordia’s website. While the accounts range from choir and band to student government and athletics, most students do not follow any of the accounts. With 1,650 people following the campus in general and anywhere between 10 and 450 following specific interests, it is a far cry from the approximately 2,800 students across campus and the vast number of alumni. However, Melissa Lindquist, a senior, thinks Twitter will become more popular over time.

“More people are starting to use it on Concordia’s campus,” she said, “and it is a way to connect and interact with others and learn about what is happening in the world.”

Concordia’s changing campus also created the Offutt School of Business Twitter, @OffuttSchool.  Like the Offutt School itself, this account is in its early stages. The account contains information about students excelling in the academic realm of business, Rassier said.

“I think that it is necessary in a world where social media is emphasized so much for Concordia to use their time to maintain Twitter accounts,” Lindquist said.

Twitter is often misunderstood, according to Rassier, because some people answer the status box’s question of “what’s happening?” with mundane, useless information. Rassier views tweets as something that go beyond that.

“It isn’t a microphone for shouting your opinions into the blogosphere,” she said. “It is a platform for listening and engaging with others who share your interests.”