You have an incredible variety of resources at your fingertips! Students like yourself have advantages that your parents could have never dreamed possible. Computers and the internet are the obvious picks. These technological advances can help students locate books in the library, find obscure articles on the Web, and communicate with their fellow peers to when they need a study break.

If you are a college student (or even if you just own a computer!), you have probably used a ton of social media tools. Does Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, or MySpace sound familiar? These social media outlets have quickly sprung up to become some of the most important websites on the Internet! They help you to connect with your classmates, find information, and even allow you to receive instant feedback on schoolwork.

Twitter is a particularly useful tool to have. Through the power of the World Wide Web, you can log on anywhere at any time. Many college students don’t realize that Twitter can be used for much more than keeping up with your friends! Do you want to learn how you can Tweet your way to good grades? Here are some grade-saving tips to help you make the most of your social media websites:

• Chat with your professors! Believe it or not, the typical Twitter user is not just a young college student. Your teachers probably have some sort of online account too! This means that you can chat with your professor at 2AM and send him/her questions even when office hours aren’t in session.
• Send yourself e-reminders. There are practical applications on Twitter that allow you to set up an alert or reminder so that you never miss a class or an appointment.
• Get some feedback from professors and students. You can submit a question or conversation topic on Twitter and receive almost-instant feedback! This is a great way to stimulate discussion on an interesting classroom topic.
• Find a mentor. If you know what career path you want to take after college, you can become an online “friend” of a professional in that field and follow his/her Twitter updates.
• Grab a quick reference. If you type in a word on Twitter, you will instantly find loads of information on whatever topic you’re researching!
• Get insider facts about a class or professor. Before you register for a class, post a question to the online community. You can find all sorts of helpful information like the homework load and the professor’s grading style.

So, if you think Twitter and Facebook are just procrastination tools, think again! You can ace your classes and even find a job with these innovative forms of social media.