How Higher Education is Leading the Way
A recent study from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth found some statistics that reflect excellently on how college and universities are using social media. They have been studying US colleges and universities and their use of social media since the 2007-2008 academic school year. Their most recent study involved 456 participants from public and private schools numbering anywhere between 4-54,000 in student population. They report that in 2010-2011, 100% of colleges and universities are using some form of social media. US colleges and universities are staying on the cutting-edge with social media, outdoing other industries. There is no other industry that can claim this sort of adoption:
- 98% are using Facebook
- 86% are using YouTube
- 84% are using Twitter
Besides this, blogging continues to be embraced by colleges and universities. While other sectors are reporting a leveling off of blogging (i.e., Fortune 500, Forbes Top Charities), higher education adoption of blogging has grown significantly in the past year. And many are using and improving on their use of blogging and other social media, reporting widespread success.
Are You Using Social Media Effectively?
If one takes a look at their alma mater and other schools to see how they are doing social media, chances are they will find that schools have figured out a lot of the tricks to do social media successfully. They might include a variety of blogs from students and faculty alike, or have interactive maps with video included, or include easy links to Facebook or an RSS-feed. Some even have interactive tools on ‘how to find your major’. Prospective students can now surf to the webpage or follow a school on Twitter or Facebook all through their hand-held devices, connected 24/7.
The question then is: If you are a college or university, are you thinking enough about how all this social media activity ties into your recruitment and development activities, or are you just doing it because everyone else is?
As mentioned above, social media is becoming an essential piece of the inbound marketing process. Are you using it effectively to garner interest in your institution from prospective students and donors alike?
Photo : Elliott O'Brien Leading the Race by Team Traveller
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Hana Tropicals 12:36 AM on August 05, 2011
Kyle, Great Artical, everyone in this day in age should be utilizing to the max the social networks abilities. I Agree they are VERY KEY to making websites successful. without a network you have nothing but cobwebs.
didik anak 4:42 AM on August 05, 2011
i am not good at all using social network like facebook or twitter. it cost me waste of time and focus for 1 year that i really i was not do it the right way.Langsing
Bill (Dr. William J. Ward) aka DR4WARD 7:44 AM on August 05, 2011
Kyle,
Thanks for sharing this post. Colleges and Universities are using Social Media for Marketing and Recruiting but overall what happens when the students arrive in the classroom?
Do students find too many text book lectures and standardized tests?
Are students learning and connecting with faculty and industry pros using new technology and social platforms?
Do faculty connect and share with each other using Social Media and Blogs?
Are accreditation bodies, journal publications, and the tenure system
requiring or encouraging faculty in the new digital learning paradigm shift or supporting the status quo?
There are individual professors and some programs using Social Media well but are they the rule or the exception for Higher Education?
Bill (Dr. William J. Ward) aka DR4WARD
Social Media Professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University
Kyle James 8:21 AM on August 05, 2011
@Hana - Glad that you like the article.
@Bill - I'm not sure if you are asking me specifically these questions or if they are rhetorical? I can say with certain that yes there are some schools out there doing each of these things. I don't think any is doing all of them or that the ones that are couldn't be doing better. All I'm saying is that according to this data higher education is adopting these new media greater than corporate america.
Michael Mercer, Ph.D. 2:54 PM on August 12, 2011
Many colleges use my pre-employment tests -- to help their Enrollment Services/Marketing dept. hire productive Admissions Reps. Lately, some of these colleges are hiring Social Media Specialists -- to help their marketing to attract more students.
From my research, I found pre-employment test scores of successful Admissions Reps differ from test scores of successful Social Media Specialists.
Lesson = Colleges hiring social media marketing specialists MUST look for different pre-employment tests scores for their SMM specialists. Do NOT simply look for SMM applicants who get same pre-employment test scores as your successful Admissions Reps!