LIS 631-01D

Group Assignment 1, Group 1

Stefanie Stephens
Twitter: UNCG vs UNCC

Social media has changed the way people interact with each other and the internet. As a result it
has become an invaluable tool for companies and organizations to use to build relationships with their
audience and to create more of an impact for their brand. People use social media as a means to keep in
touch with loved ones, keep themselves entertained, and to keep themselves educated about the things
that matter to them. The desire to do these things is not new but the way they are being accomplished
using social media is. There is an immediacy to communicating through social media- people can share
their every thought as they happen through status updates on Facebook or Twitter, provide photo and
video proof using Instagram, and then expound upon the experience using a blogging platform like
Tumblr, all while their friends and followers are watching and commenting. There is also an intimacy
that is created between a user of a social media site and its followers, even if those followers are
strangers in real life, because of how easy it is to communicate. Twitter especially allows for its users to
have conversations in real time and as a result it can be incredibly useful for building relationships.
Companies and organizations have begun to realize the value of this ability and, by extension, Twitter.
According to the Social Media Management Manifesto, in the realm of social media it's worse
to not be talked about at all. In other words, if an organization has a Twitter presence but no one
follows it that has more of a negative impact than if it had a huge following and people spoke
negatively about it. The reason for this is that ultimately you want your message heard even if it's
because people are critiquing it. Twitter is an effective tool for having a conversation with those people
most interested in what you have to offer. But conversations have to be a give and take and that means
that the most successful Twitter users find ways to engage their followers. There have to be

opportunities for your followers to interact with you otherwise you're just shouting into a void. Before
you can engage your followers though you first have to have them. In order to gain followers you first
have to decide what your specific goal in using social media is. From there you can determine who you
want your audience to be. Then figure out how that particular group uses the internet and social media
so that you can adapt your message and social media output to reflect your goals. For instance, if
UNCG's purpose in having a Twitter account is to increase library usage and provide awareness of
specific services and special events then they first need to determine who they are addressing. In the
case of library usage that would primarily be students and faculty. Some services of the library may be
useful to prospective students and alumni as well. Special events would include those groups as well as
the general community of Greensboro. After your audience has been identified entice them to join the
conversation by asking questions, leading discussions, using hashtags consistently, and encouraging
retweets by providing interesting and unique content that stays on message. By doing this you make it
more likely that not only will you be talked about but that what is said will be positive too.
UNCG's library currently has a Twitter presence at @IrmaUNCG. The account has existed since
September 2008 and in that time has gathered 573 followers and posted 1381 tweets. The majority of
those followers, 66% according to an analysis done by DemographicsPro.com, are female. This is
consistent with the undergraduate student body which is 65% female. Over half of those followers,
57.1% to be exact, live in Greensboro. There are also pockets of followers in several other North
Carolina cities and then a few individuals dotted throughout the rest of the United States and the world.
Despite how far flung the followers are though the primary language used by 97.5% of them is English.
The most common things tweeted about by the followers are games, TV and movies, and news and
politics. Most of the followers have several shared interests the most common of which are books and
reading, history, comedy, charity, technology, cooking, coffee, and art and culture. On average UNCG's
followers are in their late twenties, Caucasian, married with children and with above average income.
Professionally they are mostly teachers and librarians. The @IrmaUNCG account produces the

majority of its tweets around 9am while their followers are most active around the hours of 11am to
noon and then again around 3pm and 9pm. 34.9% of the tweets from this account are pictures that they
refer to as the photo of the day and 18.7% of the tweets are about library services.
As a point of comparison, UNC Charlotte also has a twitter presence at @AtkinsLibrary. Their
account has existed since October 2010 and in that time has gained 741 followers and tweeted 631
times. The majority of those followers, 63%, are female whereas the undergraduate student body at
UNCC is only 48% female. 78.2% of their followers live in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area and the
primary language used is English. Most often their followers were interested in and tweeted about
history, science, current affairs, reading, politics, and sports. UNCC's followers are mostly in their early
twenties, just over half (50.7%) are unmarried, and they have an average income. Professionally they
are mostly teachers and writers. @AtkinsLibrary tweets mostly around 11am to noon and again at 4pm.
Their followers are active from around 10am to 1pm and again around 4pm and 10pm.
UNCG mostly refers to itself when making @mentions meaning they primarily communicate
with and about other UNCG official accounts instead of accounts outside of the university. Using
foller.me, 100 tweets made by the @IrmaUNCG account were analyzed and the same was done for
@AtkinsLibrary. That analysis shows that 14% of UNCG's tweets had a media attachment such as a
video or picture whereas UNCC had media attached to almost 40% of their tweets. UNCC also had a
much higher percentage of retweets from their followers and tweets with @mentions directed at them.
There were also eight replies made to tweets from UNCC but zero replies made to tweets from UNCG
which shows that UNCG's followers are only observing the account and not interacting much if at all.
In the comparison of the two accounts the only place where UNCG seemed to edge out UNCC was in
number of tweets with links attached. 80% of the tweets from UNCG linked to other sites or articles
but only 48% of UNCC's tweets did the same.
My recommendations for how to improve UNCG's twitter account are based on the belief that
@IrmaUNCG needs more followers and for those followers to be more actively engaged. As mentioned

before most of UNCG's followers are active on Twitter in the late morning hours around 11am to noon,
mid-afternoon around 3pm, and in the evening around 9pm. @IrmaUNCG is by far most active at 9am
and is barely used at any other time of day. Twitter time lines can get cluttered quickly if you follow a
large number of people and as a result it is easy to miss tweets that take place hours before you log in. I
recommend that the majority of the account's activity take place at or near the times that its followers
are most active. This way there is a much higher likelihood of those tweets being seen when they are
most relevant and that, if the content encourages it, they will be retweeted or replied to. Having the
type of content that its followers most like to see is my second recommendation for how to improve the
@IrmaUNCG account. Based on the data, the most popular types of posts involve linking to media
attachments and other outside sources of information. I think by increasing that type of post and also by
tweeting questions, polls, and surveys that the followers will be enticed to interact more which in turn
will lead to more followers and a more positive impression of the UNCG library overall. It may also
behoove the library to consider specifically what type of content is tweeted at the different points of
high activity throughout the day. For instance tweeting questions and surveys in the late morning times
might be a good idea if that is the time that library staff are more likely to be around to respond to
replies and @mentions. The 3pm time may be the most appropriate time to post updates and reminders
and general announcements about library happenings because many students are ending their academic
day then and would have more time to follow up on the information they received. And the 9pm time
may be the best time to tweet images and videos and links to articles because presumably that is the
time that the majority of the followers are winding down for the day and looking for interesting things
to entertain themselves while they relax.