When I first created the Twitter handle @SociologyTheory in 2014, I had no idea it would shape not only how I teach sociology but also how I think about the role of technology in education. What began as an experiment to make abstract theories more accessible to college students evolved into a larger lesson about adaptation, innovation, and fear—the same fears I now see surrounding artificial intelligence.
The story of @SociologyTheory started with a spark. A year before I created the account, I attended a teaching and learning session at an academic conference. There, psychologist Bethany Fleck presented research showing that students were more likely to engage with course material when it was reinforced through tweets. Her study made me scribble in the margins of my program: “How do you prevent it from becoming a game?”
That question lingered as I transitioned from undergraduate to graduate study in sociology. When I finally had a chance to teach, I decided to find out what would happen if I invited students to use Twitter—not as a distraction, but as a classroom tool.
Working with my mentor, Kelly Mason-Davis, we designed an Introduction to Sociology course that wove Twitter directly into the curriculum. Each week, students connected sociological concepts to real-world events through short, creative tweets. We retweeted their posts through @SociologyTheory so everyone could see one another’s work, creating a digital gallery of sociological thinking in real time.
What happened next changed the way I viewed teaching.
From Learning to Application
Students weren’t just learning theory—they were applying it. One student wrote, “I liked it because it showed how easy it is to find sociological concepts.” Another said, “This class is way ahead of its time.”
Some began sharing their tweets beyond the classroom, sparking conversations about sexism, inequality, and representation. Others found validation in seeing professors from other countries engage with their posts. One wrote, “I had a Stanford professor retweet my stuff… it made me feel like what I was learning mattered.”
That was the magic of @SociologyTheory: it connected students’ learning to the wider world. Sociology wasn’t just a set of theories—it was alive, happening right there on their screens.
Of course, not everyone saw it that way. When I began presenting our work at conferences, I encountered skepticism, especially from traditional academics. At one session, I followed a tenured professor who gave a passionate talk about “putting away digital distractions and getting back to the chalkboard.” My presentation—urging colleagues to bring Twitter into the classroom—felt like her direct opposite.
But that pushback revealed something important: fear of technology in education isn’t new. When new tools emerge, our first instinct is often to treat them as threats. Yet, as I’ve learned, the real threat is refusing to evolve.
Integrating Social Media into my College Courses
Over the next several years, I continued to integrate social media into my classes—first as collaborative projects, later as structured exercises where students analyzed social issues through different sociological perspectives. Their feedback consistently reinforced the power of connecting theory to digital discourse.
One wrote, “It was interesting and unique—a good idea for a sociology class.” Another said, “He’s teaching sociology in a way that’s relevant to our society and making the classroom technology-friendly.”
Even when assignments evolved or moved online, the lesson remained: students learn best when we meet them where they are. For today’s students, that place is online.
Still, I watched as many of my colleagues resisted digital tools. Some feared they would “dumb down” education or invite distractions. Others believed social media had no place in the classroom. Yet, for my students, Twitter didn’t dilute the learning—it amplified it. It gave them ownership over their education, helped them connect ideas to their lived experiences, and encouraged them to participate in public sociology.
That experience now feels eerily relevant as I watch the rise of artificial intelligence in education. The debates sound familiar: concerns about cheating, authenticity, and control. Many institutions are scrambling to restrict or ban AI tools like ChatGPT rather than asking how they might enhance learning.
But here’s what @SociologyTheory taught me: once a technology becomes part of society, it doesn’t disappear. The question isn’t whether we’ll use it—it’s whether we’ll use it wisely.
Using Technology for Good
Just as Twitter became a platform for students to make sense of sociological concepts in the digital age, AI presents a new opportunity to rethink how we teach, learn, and evaluate knowledge. Ignoring it won’t make it go away. Engaging with it, studying it, and integrating it thoughtfully into pedagogy—that’s how education stays relevant.
My time with @SociologyTheory reminded me that teaching isn’t about clinging to old tools. It’s about helping students navigate the world as it is, not as it used to be. When we resist change out of fear, we risk losing their interest—and their trust.
In sociology, we study how society adapts to change. As educators, we have to do the same. So whether it’s Twitter, AI, or the next great innovation, our task is not to resist, but to understand. Because if there’s one thing both sociology and technology teach us, it’s that progress doesn’t wait for permission.
