Universities behaviour and opportunities on Twitter

Abstract

[EN] Abstract This research is focused on analyzing the main trends of Twitter usage of the first 200 universities in the Shanghai Ranking and identifies some of the opportunities that these universities can obtain. The statistical analysis of their Twitter accounts -number of followers, tweets, retweets and hashtags- show two basic tendencies: the first one consists in the promotion and consolidation of his corporate image and the second one is related with communication between the members of the educational community. Besides, the results demonstrate that the biggest presence and activity in Twitter is related with their followers number. The best universities in the mentioned ranking have more users, implying greater activity and increased publication of tweets and retweets. The widespread use of Twitter made by these universities demonstrates the utility of the opportunities that Twitter offers them to improve their visibility, promote their services and encourage communication among their members. Nevertheless, universities must learn how to manage their official account effectively facilitating formulas that help monetize their social capital, involving their managers as corporate strategy to increase its 2.0 reputation, and towards teachers and students providing an agile interaction that should include the collaborative construction of knowledge.