Twelve days ago, a second-generation alumnus of my university, the College of William & Mary, created a Facebook Page for his alma mater. In less than two and a half weeks, membership exceeded 1,700, roughly 30% of the current student body. Without any advertising or self-promotion whatsoever, this anonymous individual instantaneously had an audience almost certainly greater than that of the Flat Hat or Virginia Informer, two of the largest campus newspapers.1
Although we’re fortunate that this individual is a proud graduate of the College and a responsible steward of its Fan Page, I am dismayed that this is the effort of a former student rather than the actual administration of the university. In not embracing the powerful tool of social media, the College of William & Mary lost a valuable opportunity to officially communicate and interact with its student body, faculty, and staff via a website so popular it costs United Kingdom companies at least $250 million dollars daily.
Why social media should be a must
The Facebook Page is one of the most basic and easily accessible forms of social media available to a university like the College of William & Mary. I’ve created a few since the medium was launched last year, and it’s safe to say that the process of designing and implementing such a page can take less than 30 minutes if the creator is at least somewhat Facebook-savvy. As Facebook pages are virally integrated into the Mini-Feeds of connected users, it takes no time at all to accumulate members, such as the 141 per day that the William & Mary Fan Page did.
Other forms of social media and social networking such as Twitter and blogs provide excellent methods of reaching, educating, and interacting with a webwise student body.
Once members are established, keeping them informed of changes, updates, and other messages is extremely simple. If you were to take a seat in any crowded lecture hall on campus, you’d spot at least five to ten students browsing Facebook on their notebook computers; being integrated on Facebook increases the chances that students will be browsing information you’d like them to see when they aren’t focusing on the topic at hand (certainly the lesser of two evils).
The benefits of social media extend beyond Facebook, too– other forms of social media and social networking such as Twitter and blogs provide excellent methods of reaching, educating, and interacting with a webwise student body. William & Mary Rector Michael Powell, at a recent Convocation address, called the incoming class a “generation of YouTubians.” While Mr. Powell was forward-thinking in recognizing this, I wonder why the rest of my own campus has not yet caught up.
Why colleges should control their own social media outposts
I mentioned earlier that it was a disappointment that a student had created the page, rather than the College’s administration. Here’s why. First off, it is not immediately clear that the page is unofficial and is run by an alumnus. Often on social media sites, first impressions stick, and many users may not even take the time to question whether a social media outpost is legitimate.
What’s to keep a rival school or organization from creating a defamatory page, aimed to cause harm?
When such an outpost is not handled officially, all sorts of unpleasant circumstances may arise, the least of which is the devil of misinformation. If data on an unofficial Facebook Page contradicted information on the official homepage of the university, confused students wouldn’t know what to believe. Even scarier, prospective students, parents, and other groups who don’t know better could easily find themselves at the mercy of the third-party outpost. What’s to keep a rival school or organization from creating a defamatory page, aimed to cause harm? Although such libel would quickly be detected and caught if released under the umbrella of traditional media, if a college is not keeping an eye on its online reputation, such destructive influences could easily fly under the radar.
Lastly, colleges and universities often have many more resources than a single individual working alone. William & Mary has access to a myriad of photos, articles, interviews, and other materials it could use to really make its web presence shine. Instead, the student-created group uses one lackluster photo that looks like it was scanned out of a newspaper, unlikely to dazzle anyone.
What should colleges and universities do?
If colleges and universities wish to employ any social media leverage whatsoever, and I highly recommend it, it’s essential for them to establish or gain control of their brand on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, and Digg. More is better, but the aforementioned services will provide the biggest bang for the buck. If administrators are unwilling to go digital or are uncertain how to proceed, it’s highly likely that several to many students have the technical know-how to do what’s necessary. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to reach your students, faculty, and staff.
Your turn
If you’re a student at a high school, college, or university, how does your institution use social media effectively? How does it fail? If you’re an administrator, why do you choose or eschew media for promoting and interacting with your school? This is an extremely important discussion and I’d love to hear some new viewpoints.
If you enjoyed this article or want to do further reading on a similar topic, I highly recommend Corvida’s post entitled, “Social Media and the 4 Tools I Wish My University Used.” Corvida is a highly renowned blogger whose specialty in social media makes her a true resource. If you have any questions for me personally, feel free to leave a comment or get in touch with me by reading my Contact page.
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- I’m corrected in the comments that these newspapers do have large readerships, but keep in mind these necessitate enormous amounts of manpower, effort, and financial resources as well. [↩]
