U of C Twitter feed ranks sixth among Canadian universities

By Scott Strasser, August 26 2016 —

The University of Calgary’s official Twitter account is making #waves on a national level.

According to a list recently released by Twitter Canada, the U of C has the sixth-most followed Twitter feed among Canadian universities, with over 45,300 followers.

The list includes the most followed feeds among universities in Canada, as well as a list of the university Twitter accounts with the most followers in each province.

Twitter Canada head of communications Cameron Gordon said that Twitter is ideal for a university student demographic.

“With younger generations and such a mobile audience, Twitter is optimized for people to check in on their smartphones,” Cameron said. “People just want that instant access to information and that’s one of the key cornerstones of what Twitter is — that live connection to what’s going on, whether it’s news, content or reactions.”

Gordon said Twitter is becoming an increasingly important communication tool for universities. Of the 97 schools listed on the Universities Canada website, just one does not have an official Twitter account.

“It has become a really key communication tool for schools in how they communicate — not just to their students, but also their faculty, and to other people who work in the university,” he said.

The U of C’s Twitter account launched in October 2008. Since then the feed has sent out more than 12,400 tweets.

Cameron said the U of C’s successful Twitter strategy is due to the university’s understanding of Twitter’s “cadence.”

“They do a really good job keeping people who follow the account not just abreast of stuff happening on the campus, but also telling people about the bigger items in the news cycle,” Cameron said. “For example, with the recently completed Olympics, there was all sorts of content about U of C alumni who were competing, such as Erica Wiebe.”

The U of C’s strategic communications department runs the U of C’s Twitter account. The department declined an interview request.

McGill University topped Twitter Canada’s list with 82,400 followers.

The University of Alberta had the most followed feed in Alberta, with 52,400 followers at the time.

Surprisingly, the University of Toronto Twitter feed had the 19th most followers — 24,500 — despite being the largest university in the country.

The data for Twitter Canada’s list was collected on August 3.