College Presidents Being Impersonated on Twitter

Just because it tweets, doesn’t mean it’s the real bird. Online wits have been impersonating college presidents and deans in Twitter feeds, and they can be very convincing, USA Today reports.

As more university officials embrace social media as a means of communicating with a student audience, the presidents of Columbia University, Brown University, Georgetown University, Vassar College, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of Texas at Austin all have been impersonated in Twitter feeds, the paper says.

A lot of it appears to be student satire.

“I was aware of this impersonation but haven't thought too much about it,” Wesleyan President Michael Roth told the newspaper in an email. He said he writes a blog but does not tweet.