X, previously known as Twitter, has a reputation for being a negative vitriolic space, but research shows it can be a great place for distance learners to build student identity and community.
Jane* hopes this time she’ll finally complete her degree after having to pull out of full-time university twice before. This time she’s studying with the Open University (OU), a large distance learning university based in the United Kingdom. She chose to use Twitter to reach out to other OU students and was delighted to find that: “I’m finally surrounded by people like me. I feel like Twitter is the first community where these people are all like me.”
It is recognised that distance learners are more at risk of dropping out, lack regular connection with fellow students and struggle to feel a sense of community. Could Twitter offer that much-needed connection and community for distance learners?
Overall, my research has shown that distance learners find Twitter a useful space to create a community and build their social presence.
Students appear to self-regulate how they use the platform, who they interact with and how they present themselves in order to achieve their needs. For example, students were almost four times more likely to self-disclose study-related information than personal information. This supports Benjamin Kehrwald’s argument that students make intentional choices to demonstrate (or not) social presence.
However, it must be recognised that Twitter has undergone many changes since Elon Musk’s takeover, not least the name change to X. Growing levels of trolling and hate speech have persuaded some users to move to other platforms. This, unfortunately, leads to academic communities becoming fragmented, limiting their growth.
Another concern for academic researchers is the recent content restrictions. Downloading tweet information as I did for this study in 2021 is now only possible by paying high commercial rates. The shift away from public access to social media data can be considered a detrimental move for research and public scrutiny of social media.
Olivia Kelly is an associate lecturer at the Open University (OU) in the United Kingdom, teaching on a variety of modules. She is awaiting her viva to complete her EdD on how OU students use Twitter (now X). She also leads the OU Social Media Scholarship Hub.
