CS: Has Twitter helped you with any security leads or led to any solid results?
SG: In the past we have received calls where the person will state having seen a post “online” or “on your website” (i.e. the description of a suspicious person seen on campus), and file a report based on that post.  But we haven't been specifically asking where they saw the original information online. And, since many of our posts are retweeted or posted on Facebook, it would be difficult to trace such reports back to their original source.

CS: Have you found Twitter useful for networking or sharing ideas with other Twitter users?
SG: Our account was created to only broadcast information and alerts; we do not actively network there. However we have had a few Twitter messages tagged for us which were read and, when applicable, responded to either by Direct Message or through that person's own email account.

Although we understand and appreciate the social networking aspects of Twitter, we decided to be consistent and refrain from retweeting or otherwise engaging in public conversation.

Having said that, we do stay aware of how Twitter, and social media in general, is used here at the university as well as in a variety of incidents around the world.

CS: Has there been any resistance to using a social networking tool like Twitter?
SG: Since adding new communication platforms also entails additional time and effort, we closely consider any new platforms  that might be suitable for the needs of our community,

For Twitter, I kept abreast of its development and expansion over time before being able to comfortably discount it being an Internet “flash in the pan”, especially after seeing its use in emergency situations around the world (e.g. the Mumbai attack, a variety of school emergencies, and more recently Haiti, etc).
After Twitter was finally suggested to the administration, there was no resistance in implementing it.


Still bigger than Twitter: the other emergency notification channels at Queen’s University

* Emergency Notification System (Campus Wide Public Address System with Emergency Tones and Prerecorded Messages)
* Email (emails can be distributed by Campus Security to 22,000 Queen’s accounts)
* Queen’s Home Page (Campus Security can post pre-crafted messages, updates)
* University Phone Status Line (x3333) (Campus Security can post pre-crafted messages, updates)
* Queen's Digital Information Network via the 22 Campus Plasma Monitors (Quick outreach or real-time messaging, Campus Security can post updates)
* News/Media Feeds ”“ Fax local radio/TV (Campus Security can email pre-crafted messages, updates)