Awesome use of Twitter: The American Evaluation Association

Check this out.

I got permission to reprint this email from an ASAE Technology listserve discussion:

Twitter does have some uses that might be seen as slightly unconventional.

We use it basically as a very easy content management system for bulletin items - but most people never realize that the content is fed through twitter.

To explain more, we have installed twitterbar [a Firefox Add-on] on key staff computers. That allows them to send twitter updates at will with almost no interruption in their workflow (it integrates with the URL window in their firefox browser). Then, staff can send an item to twitter when they come across a resource or new member content, etc. We call it Esoterica for Evaluators.

This serves two purposes - it is a useful tool for sharing information about resources and what our members are doing/producing. An unexpected - and extremely useful - side effect has been that it gives staff a concrete action, that is well perceived by members, when someone requests that we share something (including things that we didn't use to have a place to post). We get intermittent requests, from members with valid content to share, asking if we can help to spread the word (new forum on linkedin, new online evaluation guide available, extended blog content). Staff can now respond with a concrete immediate action rather than waiting for the monthly newsletter (and some items don't rise to the level of a newsletter article).

Yes, we do have a very active listserv, and many members post there, but the value of this approach is twofold: 1. The association is perceived as taking an action in support of the member, and 2. It is saved for posterity, and less buried, than listserv content.

You can actually access the twitter-fed content in four ways:

1. On our webpage at http://eval.org/aeaweb.asp: If you looked on this webpage the user would never know that the content was driven by twitter - other than that we do include "Follow Updates on Twitter" at the bottom for those who wish to do so (this could be removed).

2. One can subscribe to the RSS feed (see the link at the top of the page).

3. One can actually see it on the twitter page for that content http://twitter.com/aeaweb

4. One can follow it on Twitter.

I also want to thank colleagues at ASHA for their assistance as we were conceiving this project.

Susan

Susan Kistler
Executive Director, American Evaluation Association

In short, they have a few staffers using the Twitterbar for content in, and they just use the Twitter RSS feed for content out. They will archive for their own purposes.

Additional awesomeness - check out their page explaining what RSS is and why you might want to subscribe to their feeds.

Nicely done!