The tweet smell of success on Twitter for @SouthEssexColl

IT may not have been a Bafta nomination but South Essex College was named ‘Education Tweeter of the Week’ in a blog by Elephant Creative recently.

The company said that ‘Twitter engagement at South Essex College is fantastic, excited students are tweeting and buzzing about their first day of term and the Twitter…team have opened the social platform for students to engage, interact and converse with staff, administrators and other students.’

The team is actually pretty much one man, or one Dean Newman to be precise. The Press and Communications Coordinator has helped build up its large numbers of followers over the past couple of years, it now has over 5,043 followers, over double the number that many local colleges have.

Dean, said: “It’s great to get some outside recognition. We already know how crucial social media is in engaging and interacting with our students and also those looking at studying at our sites across Basildon, Southend and Thurrock. It is the way that young people communicate these days and I think we really get the balance right on showing how much fun South Essex College can be in our writing, yet also keeping people up to date on all the great things that are happening at the College, whether that be trips out or guest speakers coming in.

“I think our strength lies in having forged a positive reputation on Twitter, whether that be capturing the excitement of A-level results day or Graduation or tweeting from events such as UCAS Fairs to the Basildon Fashion Awards, we give a real insight into what life is like at South Essex College.

“But nine times out of ten it isn’t even us saying the nice things – it is students and prospective students saying how much they are impressed with the facilities or how much they have enjoyed a particular high profile guest speaker. We may start some of the conversations but students and people applying to the College really give them their own momentum, which is great.”

And the blog really applauded the College’s diverse range of stories and mentions that they said were a ‘great eclectic mix of artistry, international music DJ visits and a genius graduation spread that rocked the headlines.’

It also noted that it had struck up positive relations with local and industry-related business.

And 2014 is set to be a busier year than normal with the opening of a brand new £45 million Thurrock Campus in Grays high street, which will mean new facilities, a range of new courses and plenty of new post possibilities on the @SouthEssexColl Twitter page.