This post was written by Michelle Brutlag Hosick, Associate Director, The NCAA News.

I started tweeting about nine months ago. I don't use the technology very much, at least I didn't until I started writing an NCAA News story about athletics departments that use the tool. But I do see the appeal for athletics departments. Twitter is a great (and immediate) way to get your message out directly to the people who want it most - the fans. In some quarters, though, voices are raised in opposition to the format.

In the course of researching the story, I saw that some coaches and athletics departments already have a broad reach in the medium. Kentucky fans, for example, follow new men's basketball coach John Calipari in droves, and the school's main athletics Twitter feed is the most popular for any Division I program. The medium allows you to "follow" people from afar, to feel connected to someone you've never met, almost as though you're chatting in their living room. More than 100,000 people follow Coach Cal. That's a pretty big living room.

And therein lays the appeal. Twitter has a certain exclusivity, a sense that - though it's not true - this is a personal communication. For fans who live and breathe their college sports programs, the Twitter feed can be intoxicating. Athletics departments use the tool to feed those fans who hunger for information - even the most mundane tidbits - 24/7.
The medium can be dangerous, though. The ease of conversation can trip up coaches and fans, lulling them into a false sense of security. Recruiting violations have already happened and are likely to continue. Does this mean we should do away with the technology completely? I say that's absurd.

Coaches use the telephone to commit recruiting violations as well - and no one is suggesting we ban the use of the phone. Using Twitter is just like putting up a billboard alongside the highway, except this highway is electronic and can be seen by anyone who wants it.

Nobody knows what the next big thing will be in college sports communication, but the solution probably isn't going to be to ban it completely.

twitter.com/NCAADoubleAZone − Provides updates from the official blog of the NCAA, the Double-A Zone.

twitter.com/NCAANews − Provides headlines from The NCAA News.

twitter.com/BehindtheNCAA − Provides NCAA information not always captured in the mainstream media.

twitter.com/NCAA − Provides updates from NCAA.com, the Association's championships-oriented Web site.