COLLEGE ADMINISTRATOR-STUDENT COMMUNICATION VIA TWITTER

This paper analyzes the tweet content of the official Saudi language, literature and translation institutions' Twitter accounts to find out the types of issues tweeted and characteristics of administrator-student interaction. 115 students and 5 administrators were also interviewed to find out how they perceive their institution Twitter accounts and their advantages and shortcomings. It was found that only 20 (34%) language, literature and translation colleges and departments at 10 universities have Twitter accounts. Twitter is mainly used for announcements about admission, registration, drop-ad and withdrawal dates, exam schedules, class cancellation, extra-curricular activities, student clubs, and others. Announcements are mainly tweeted in Arabic; whereas English is used for course-related issues and language learning tips. Photos tweeted consist of images of course lists, memos, forms and schedules, activities and functions held by the students and faculty. No significant differences between male and female department Twitter accounts were found in the above aspects. Both students and administrators find Twitter to be very useful in sending notifications about the department logistics and functions in a quick and easy way. Results of the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the Twitter accounts under study together with student and administrator views are reported in detail.