As part of the #SocialAU Blog Series the AU Social Media Club interviewed the people behind various American University social media accounts. In this interview we talk to Emily Schmidt, the CAS Marketing and Communications Manager.

1) Tell us a little about yourself. How did you end up working in social media for American University?

I am the marketing and communications manager for the College of Arts and Sciences. Social networking falls into my job description.

2) Why did you personally decide to join Twitter?

I personally decided to join twitter to receive news and updates from organizations that I follow. Many organizations post information that would not necessarily be included in an e-newsletter, so it is a great way to keep up to date with recent news.

3) What has been the best thing about managing the school’s social media account?

Having another outlet to share College news and events easily.

4) Does the school give you any sort of guidelines for how to tweet? Like who to respond to or who to retweet?

I’m the only one working with the College social media accounts right now and I was not given specific guidelines. If College departments or programs create social media accounts, I ask that they like/follow the College account and I do the same with their pages. I also try to cross post or mention other College associated accounts as much as possible.

5) What is the goal for your Twitter account? Is it to promote your school’s events, is it to engage students, or is it something else?

We have two goals:

1. Gain visibility for College news, events, and achievements
2. Grow the College community

6) What do you think is the most important thing to know when managing a professional twitter account?

For the College account, it is really important to post a balanced mix of information from the cluster areas (arts, education, humanities, social sciences, and sciences). All of the content areas need to be represented.

7) Do you think your school does a good job using social media in the classroom? How do you think they could better incorporate social media?

Specific professors use social media more than others. American Studies professor Stef Woods received an award for her use of social media in the classroom – http://www.american.edu/cas/news/stef-woods-technology-award.cfm

What has been the most controversial tweet you’ve sent from the school account? How did your followers and students in particular respond?

There has not been a need to send out any controversial tweets.

9) Does each school / twitter account have a specific content strategy? What types of tweets get the most engagement?

Usually tweets that involve news and achievements receive the most engagement.

10) What advantages, or disadvantages, do you believe Twitter has over other social media sites, such as Facebook, in regards to professional account management? (In other words, do you think that Twitter or Facebook does a better job at fulfilling the goals and expectations outlined by your particular school.)

While each organization has a different view on how often to post on facebook and twitter, it seems like everyone agrees that you have to be careful to not post too often on Facebook. Twitter is a great outlet for us to post additional event listings that I might not post on facebook because I already posted something else.