Using Twitter for campus recruitment in Canada

Twitter is a free “microblogging” or “short messaging” service which allows users to broadcast 140-character messages in real time to anyone who will read them. Users “follow” each other’s message feeds. It was launched in the summer of 2006 and currently has about 6 million users.

The messages, called Tweets, contain only text, but may include a link or links to interesting content on the web or a photo the user has taken. Users can also re-send each other’s messages to their own followers, called “re-Tweeting,” or “RT” for short.

Users may follow people they know to stay up-to-date with friends and family. However, the greatest value often comes from following people you don’t know, but who Tweet about something you’re interested in.

Unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, Twitter allows you to create a network of people from around the world who are interested or involved in the same things as you. The assumption that you must know someone before following them simply does not exist.

Recruiting uses

Twitter is an “infinite” network of people who know key things about each other so, for example, as soon as you Tweet about new role at your company, one of your followers might “re-Tweet” it to their followers, and one of those people might send it to one or all of their followers, and so on.

If you follow the right people, it’s also a great way to stay up-to-date on the latest industry news and hot topics, and then join in on the conversation.

Cons

Although Twitter is slowly gaining in popularity among the younger Gen Y, most users are in the older Gen Y to Gen X age range. According to Quantcast, 43% of Twitter users are aged 18-34 and 33% are 35-49.

New users can’t expect hundreds or thousands of people to follow their Tweets right away. It’s a somewhat organic process that involves discovering new people over a long period of time through their websites or blogs, by checking out who others are following and, for the expert user, searching for keywords or hashtags to find out who’s talking about your industry and company.

The amount of content streaming at you constantly can also be a little overwhelming at times. The trick is to keep up with people who are talking directly to you (called @Replies) and get involved in the conversation when you can – you don’t have to go back and read everything everyone ever Tweeted.

How to get started

Go to Twitter.com and register your own name, or your company name if it’s interested in joining the conversation. Then, start Tweeting and find some people to follow! Easy enough, right?