For nearly a decade, colleagues and myself have used the Twitter handle—@SociologyTheory—as a tool for teaching sociology. You can read the full history of this account in a two-part column titled The Story of @SociologyTheory: Origins and Initial Reviews and The Story of @SociologyTheory: Twitter Assignments. The short version is that a vast majority of the content posted by this account has been generated by students in college courses exploring the wonders of sociology.
After seven years, we have decided to renovate our platform! The handle @SociologyTheory will now serve as a teaching and learning resource sponsored by Applied Worldwide, LLC. This new arrangement will allow us to regularly post educational content that can be used for sharing on social media or for using in classroom resources. This account will be an excellent resource for sociology students, departments, clubs, and instructors. For those who are broadly interested in sociological application, follow Applied Worldwide @ApplySociology.
Sociology Students and Instructors Can Use @SociologyTheory!
Despite our changes, we want to continue posting student-generated content. This is where we will need some help!
- For you students taking a sociology class, simply tag us when you post sociology-related content.
- If you are an instructor and use Twitter in the classroom, ask your students to tag us and we will share with our community.
- If you are an instructor and would like to use Twitter in your classroom, think about asking your students to tag @SociologyTheory.
Using social media, particularly Twitter, to teach sociology has been a passion project of mine for several years now so I am happy to offer a free email consult to anyone who is interested in using Twitter in their classroom. Just email Luke at AppliedWorldwide@gmail.com.
Getting to Know Sociologists on Twitter
Twitter can be an intimidating place. There are so many people constantly sharing their experiences, knowledge, opinions and much more. Twitter can also be a valuable place for networking, receiving diverse perspectives, and other general professional development. So, we have created a Beginners Guide to Sociology on Twitter.
In our guide we talk mention several professional organizations and other accounts that are worth following to stay up-to-date in the field. As an example, Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) have an active Twitter account with some great posts. You can follow SWS at their handle, @SocWomen or visit their website at SocWomen.org.
Colorado Mesa University Sociology Students using @SociologyTheory on Twitter
If you would like to view our most recent project with students using the handle @SociologyTheory, we have written about it in our article titled, Colorado Mesa University Sociology Students on Twitter. These students were working through an assignment where they posted Tweets relating concepts from classical theory to contemporary life.
