Shorter Sports Program Launch Tweeter Site

We received a lot of information about how coaches, especially in the SEC and the ACC, were using it and our philosophy was that we could do it for the entire athletic program, Shorter Athletic Director Bill Peterson said.

Enter Luke Mashburn and Michael Milligan, who after talking with Peterson about the possibility of tweeting, ran with the ball.

I came in one morning and Luke and Michael said the Shorter Hawks were on Twitter, said Shorter Sports Information Director Matt Green. You`re seeing more and more professional athletes using it, but in the college ranks you are starting to see some high-profile coaches on it, like Mark Richt, Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer and Les Miles.

It`s great for the fans. It makes them feel part of the program.

I made one for the school and one for myself, said Mashburn, a Marietta native who is now a junior at the University of South Carolina majoring in sports and entertainment management. It`s just a way to stay in contact with each other and now with a school`s coach or team.

I really became interested in it when one of my professors at Georgia began using Twitter, said Milligan, who hails from Richmond Hill and is a senior at the University of Georgia where he is consumer journalism major. It really lets anyone know what`s going on with college programs.

Shorter`s staff is quickly becoming involved in posting tweets, with head men`s basketball coach Chad Warner and women`s assistant basketball coach Kristy Brown leading the charge.

Coach Warner jumped right in, Mashburn said. He`s got the most tweets so far.

Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author`s profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them.

Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications.

It`s very, very new, Green said about Twitter, which hit the markets in 2006. There are probably not many athletic departments in the NAIA using it, and not many NCAA Division II or III schools on it yet.

By going to http://twitter.com/shorterhawks, those who follow Shorter athletics have the opportunity to receive the up-to-the-minute updates as to the goings-on of the Shorter Athletic Department, its coaches and staff via e-mails or on cell phones.

A link to Shorter`s Twitter page is also provided in the Highlights section on the right panel of the Shorter`s athletic homepage on the web (www.goshorterhawks.com).

For Peterson, the service is something that is a natural addition for Shorter`s athletic department. He feels that thanks to Mashburn and Milligan, the college will continue to spread the news about its teams and athletes.

They understand athletics, Peterson said about the interns, Both are really tech-savvy. They`ve been involved in every facet of the department. It`s been a pleasure to have them here.