TSC first floor info booth gets an upgrade
The Utah State University Student Association (USUSA) Information Booth is expanding by obtaining its own Twitter handle, which is @USUSAinfobooth. The booth is located on the first floor of the Taggart Student Center.
According to the USUSA Information Booth’s Twitter page, the booth is “a resource for students to ask any questions that they have about Utah State.”
“Last year, we didn’t have a Twitter,” USUSA executive vice president Dexton Lake said. “Now we can send out short pieces of information.” He said Twitter works better for the booth than other social media platforms because students can quickly skim through details and facts.
According to Lake, Instagram and Facebook aren’t used as much as Twitter.
USUSA student events vice president Cooper Low said the debate over keeping the booth last year boiled down to productivity. “The officers questioned if students actually use the information booth,” Low said. “To find ways to make it more productive, we decided to create a Twitter account for it.”
Low wonders if there are other avenues USUSA could look for to make the booth more effective. “As the information booth stands right now, it’s not the most effective use of space,” he said. “The space needs to be updated, so it can be more available to students.”
“I have productive days, but most of the time it’s unproductive here,” Lake said. “I’m the busiest at the beginning of the year.” According to Lake, only around 10% of the people who ask him questions are students, and most of the time the question he gets is “Where is the bathroom?”
According to Lake, USUSA officers voted last year to get rid of the information booth, but the vote lost. Some officers were concerned, if the information booth were to be dismantled, nothing would be able to replace it, according to Lake.
“This thing is hard to get off the ground,” according to Lake. “People will only follow what they’re interested in.” He said Twitter is a good stepping stone for the information booth, although the officers could look into how students get information.
“We’re trying to improve. I think, since people don’t want to talk to others anyway, that we should have interactive screens here,” Lake said. He also said the booth could be moved to a more accessible location. “USUSA needs to work on accessibility,” according to Lake.
“You can be informative, funny and interactive on Twitter,” Lake said. As of Nov. 14, the USUSA Information Booth has 75 followers on Twitter, although it’s following 313 users. “We post random information. Today I posted about the weather,” Lake said.
The USUSA Information Booth’s Twitter handle was created in September.
According to the USU Student Involvement and Leadership page, “USUSA is an organization made by the students, for the students, because of students.” Every student at USU is a member of the association and can actively participate in clubs and their activities, according to the page.
Lake said working one hour a week at the information booth is required for USUSA officers.