 Jansen, Zhang, Sobel and Chowdury. In describing electronic word of mouth (eWOM), specifically tweets, the authors found that "consumers increasingly use these communication technologies for trusted sources of information, insights, and opinions" . However it is important to include that before their 2009 study, there were no previous research completed to examine microblogging and eWOM communication.
Starting with frequency, 17 respondents rated themselves as being either occasionally or very active, with a level of participation of at least every few weeks. It is interesting to note that 77 percent of respondents did not participate in Twitter prior to this course. Of that population, two-thirds came across course-relevant information. On the contrary, only one of the give individuals who used Twitter prior to the course discovered course-relevant information.
The study also chose to examine whether or not Twitter had any bearing on the sense of community in an online course. Overwhelmingly, 86 percent responded in the affirmative; a sense of community was important to the targeted graduate students.
Comparing Twitter to other social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, the initial result of the survey was 15 people believed that there was no uniqueness to Twitter. However, 40 percent of respondents still found course-relevant information through its use. Concerning those who did see Twitter as unique, seven respondents two did not find course-relevant information using Twitter. However those two respondents admitted to connecting with people outside of the course. In turn two-thirds of students felt equally as close or closer to students in an online course when Twitter was not used. Among the seven respondents who said that Twitter had brought them closer to classmates, only one person had previously used Twitter. Interestingly the frequency of use varied with four reporting themselves as very active, two reporting as occasionally active, and one reporting as rarely active.
In question 11, the free response question, it was noted Twitter "helps make a course less formal," and that without the LMS Twitter would be valuable. Otherwise, "it becomes more of the same and nothing new." One respondent expressed Twitter "has added a place for non-IDT 507 chat to take place. [The LMS] is specifically for class discussion, and is lacking that space." While another noted, "It was an extra step to follow and participate for the class, along with keeping up with the discussions on [the LMS]." Finally, when answering the question of whether or not the use of Twitter would impact a student's choice to enroll in a particular section, 73 percent were indifferent and 23 percent preferred a course where Twitter was not used. The sole respondent who preferred Twitter's use had a frequency rating of very active.
Based on this study, the integration of Twitter into the LMS might be a factor in helping the overall adoption of Twitter as a social networking component of the class. Overall it would appear students prefer discussion boards to a social networking site, but the reasons for this are yet unknown. The fact that Twitter was not a graded assignment, that it was an extraneous location for class participation, and that there was no consequence for non-participation likely resulted in the failure of adoption, but this cannot be proven without further research.
There are serious implications for the future of combining social networking with class participation. First, there was much enthusiasm and participation noted by professors who use Twitter that was not echoed when a particular graduate student population was surveyed, this should be investigated. Speculated reasoning for this includes that if students are not already used to using Twitter it may appear as an extra chore or homework assignment for which they receive no reward. Second, should Twitter, or any social networking site for that matter, be pushed if students are satisfied with discussion boards? Possibly over the next few years, as LMSs develop and i