Love it or loath it, there is no doubt that Twitter is a hugely effective resource for teachers of sociology, whether it is advice on exam content, sharing teaching materials, useful videos, social and political news or just a tweet to raise a smile, there are a whole host of twitter accounts that can come in handy throughout the academic year. Here is a list of some of my favourites:
Academics
@owenjones84 is a Guardian columnist, leftie and writer of ‘The Establishment’ and ‘Chavs’. He tweets some brilliant articles and is well worth following just to watch the arguments and debates! His articles can be found on: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/owen-jones
@CharlesMurray will be a name familiar to a lot of Sociology students already, especially on the topic of the family. Like Owen Jones, his right wing ideology always stirs up a debate or two. More information about him can be found on: http://www.aei.org/scholar/charles-murray
@CHSommers is one of my favourite academics. She is the author of Who Stole Feminism? and the host of the video blog The Factual Feminist. If you are looking for articles or discussions on gender then this account is superb. Not your typical feminist, if you consider her a feminist at all that is! More information on her can be found on: http://www.aei.org/scholar/christina-hoff-sommers/
Authors
@BrowneKen is a name many of you will know, he is the author of Sociology for AQA Vols.1&2 for AS & A-level+Revision Guides 1&2, though his twitter feed is far from a simple form of publicity. Frequent news articles and links to other resources make this a great account. You can also visit: http://www.polity.co.uk/kenbrowne/home.asp
@Martinholborn is a Sociology writer, editor, lecturer and co-author of arguably the sociology bible in the form of Sociology Themes and Perspectives. The majority of tweets on this account are aimed at sociology students to help them in their studies and research. A full list of his publications can be found at: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/414153.Martin_Holborn
Videos
@shortcutstv_cjl is run by by a name that you may already be familiar with in the form of Chris Livesey. Shortcutstv make videos for Sociology and Psychology, this account however also posts lots of really useful and interesting news articles too. You can also visit: http://www.shortcutstv.com/
@precookedsoc is a regular tweeter of really good videos that are excellent for students as they are to the point, well explained and easy to follow. There are videos on the popular topics of crime, theory, methods and family. You can also visit: http://precookedsociology.com/
@parksociology is a prolific tweeter with a range of interesting articles, news stories and events. In particular the videos made by parksociology are fantastic and cover a wide range of topics. You can also visit the youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2YEGWfZ0lihoOD7JNkDx2g/videos
Sociology teachers
@realsociology is a really useful account for resources and articles that will be of benefit to A-level students focusing on research methods, families, education, crime and global development in particular. If you are looking for really good exam style questions then the website is fantastic too: https://revisesociology.com/
@SociologyBOOM is another account that specialises specifically in AS and A level Sociology tweets, many of the articles that are added are excellent aids for students and always highlight which topic the article is useful for. There is also excellent advice on exam technique on their website: http://sociologyboom.tumblr.com/
@OHsocio is a really useful account as it covers GCSE sociology as well as A-level. There are lots of frequent articles and student friendly tweets on this account, and OHsocio also retweet the most important articles from other sociology accounts.
@Kitasoc and @misskcooke are honourable mentions too that both tweet a variety of useful resources for students as well as retweeting key articles in the news and from important sociology accounts.
Sociology resources
@Hecticteacher is a very popular account with different activities, ideas and resources. The account is for PSHE as well as Sociology and is compiled by a very passionate and very dedicated teacher. The website is also full of really good resources: https://hecticteachersite.wordpress.com/
@tutor2uSoc is a superb resource for those of you looking for high quality essays. Tutor2u also put out exemplar style answers of AQA exam papers within hours of the paper being released that day. This is ideal for those students who are worrying about whether they answered the paper correctly or want an idea of what the examiner may be looking for. You can also visit: https://www.tutor2u.net/sociology
@Podolologysociol1 is my own twitter account. You didn’t expect me to neglect my own one did you! I try to tweet new articles, videos and podcasts as often as I can and also links to my Sociology blogs. You can also visit: www.podology.org.uk
Matthew Wilkin
Matthew has been teaching Sociology for 14 years and has taught in the UK, Kenya and is currently in an international school in Madrid. Matthew runs the www.podology.org.uk website and the Socio-Zone iphone app.
