At this year’s AAUW National Convention, I heard members in the hallways mentioning two themes over and over again: the joys of reuniting after two years apart and the exciting — and befuddling — potential of the oft-emphasized social media. In browsing AAUW’s lists on Twitter, I’ve been struck by not only how active AAUW members are in the social media sphere but also how drastically those tiny tweets can affect our connectedness in the time between conventions.
Just a sampling of recent tweets shows that we’re active all over the country:
On one day alone, we got inspirational quotations from AAUW of Pennsylvania, news dispatches from AAUW of Arkansas, updates on the state legislature and new leadership development opportunities from AAUW of Ohio, and invitations to a Cocktails and Convos happy hour from the AAUW Fayetteville (AR) Branch (yum!).
None of us can read 50 newspapers in a day or stay abreast of all legislative issues at the state and federal levels, but we’re certainly capable of reading tweets from 50 states. Twitter allows AAUW state offices, branches, and individual members to communicate on a much wider spectrum with much greater speed than ever before. Need proof? Just take another look at AAUW’s Spring 2010 edition of Outlook, in which AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa Maatz recounts the day she tweeted about an issue and then received a phone call from a congressional staffer complaining that too many people were calling his office. That’s lobbying in action, and that’s because of an active AAUW community online.
In just the few tweets above, I get a feeling for the good vibes being spread throughout Pennsylvania; the latest out of Arkansas; the disastrous legislation in Ohio; and, on the lighter side, the benefits of meeting up with old and new acquaintances to talk face-to-face. Why wait two years before the next convention to catch up when every two hours there’s a whole new set of updates right on Twitter? Keep the enthusiastic momentum alive in the virtual world, and keep us posted through social media.
And remember, if you need help setting up or utilizing social media for your branch or state, you can get in touch with the AAUW Social Media Task Force.
This post was written by AAUW Communications Intern Laura Webb.
