You can say a lot in 140 characters or less.

UniversitiesAndColleges.org recently conducted a study on the use of Twitter by the 100 largest universities in the country. The study considered accounts for university departments, student services, university-sponsored media and other organizations.

With 22 accounts, the University placed second in number of Twitter accounts, behind the University of Florida, which had 24.

These 22 accounts listed 4,865 followers.

Twitter, the social networking service that allows users to send and read messages containing up to 140 characters, was founded in 2006.

Sara Freeland, a reporter within the University’s Office of Public Affairs, manages the University’s master calendar Twitter account, @UGAevents.

“I started it this summer as an experiment,” said Freeland, who posted the first tweet on April 15. “There was all sorts of talk about social media, and we were kind of wondering how we could use it.”

Freeland said she will tweet about at least one interesting event a day.

Student groups have also found benefits of the social networking site. The University’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, or PRSSA, has its account @UGAprssa.

Lizzy Nephew, a senior public relations major from Snellville and PRSSA member, says Twitter not only helps the group communicate with members, but serves as a recruiting tool.

“Twitter has made it easier for PRSSA to connect with members by posting the schedule, providing PR tips and live tweeting from events,” Nephew said. “Followers have the ability to retweet our information to their followers, which helps spread the word to those who are interested.”

The organization created T-shirts urging students to follow its Twitter account. Within two weeks, the account had 50 new followers.

Nephew also attended Connect 2009, a conference for social media and public relations professionals held in September. In addition to lecturing about the benefits of Twitter, speakers had their message communicated to those not in attendance via the Web site.

“Most students don’t have the money to spend on a PR conference like Connect, but through Twitter, the social media team was able to live tweet about the discussion and the speakers,” Nephew said. “Students all across campus and PR professionals around the world were able to follow along and give their input in the discussion.”

Nephew stressed that organizations needed to use Twitter effectively.

“It’s not about only sending out information, but about interacting with those who respond, sending links with useful information and attempting to create a conversation,” Nephew said.

Other campus organizations using Twitter include the Athletic Association, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Terry College and the University Visitors Center.