Why Schools Need to Get on the Social Media Bandwagon

Posted on October 24, 2008 
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Blogger Andy DeSoto wrote an interesting post on his blog way back in June, which I’m now just getting around to reading. In “Social Media for Colleges and Universities,” DeSoto notes that an alum of his alma mater,
The College of William & Mary, created a Facebook page for alumni that caught on like wildfire, with 141 members signing up per day.
What DeSoto argues is that while these alumni Facebook pages are great, they’re unofficial. As a result, they’re often not much more than membership-only and networking sites. If colleges and universities created their own sites, official college news, events, photos and links could be posted, deeply enriching the site for alumni.

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.

I agree and would venture to add the same advice to K-12 public schools. It’s time that the stigma schools have attached to social media be wiped clean, and that schools, colleges and universities begin to explore these places — particularly FaceBook and Twitter — to network, raise funding and get the good word out by serving alumni. (I recently did a social media/Web 2.0 workshop for school PR professionals in a public school facility where FaceBook was blocked. This is a frequent occurrence, borne out of logical security fears, but perhaps it’s time to revisit that.)

Millions of people are using social media today, and it might be time to jump on that bandwagon.

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4 Responses to “Why Schools Need to Get on the Social Media Bandwagon”

  1.  Dina on October 24th, 2008 11:18 am

    A great point and yes I wish schools would start getting more into the web2.0 world. I am trying to nudge my daughter’s school (we’re just starting, she’s in pre-k now) to get an email list started rather than making photocopies of all the information that goes to the parents. I also wrote my own blog post about school transportation and how I visualize it happening in 2008:
    http://thecriticalchain.blogspot.com/2008/09/maybe-im-just-spoiledmy-new-calling-in.html

    I think we should team up and change some of these NYC schools!

  2.  nylady on October 24th, 2008 2:24 pm

    Thanks, Dina, for the comment. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Can’t teach an old dog new tricks, as they say. I will definitely check out your blog post. Sounds interesting.

  3.  Woman Tribune on October 26th, 2008 3:55 am

    I could not agree more! Social media is a great tool for anyone looking to expand their horizons and meet new people; for schools to implement it, they very well could end up with more applications trying to get into their schools just because they had the opportunity to read and connect with the school and the students on social media sites already. It’s a great way to build a buzz, whatever business or circle you’re in.

  4.  nylady on October 26th, 2008 8:20 am

    Thanks, WT. You can’t lead a horse to water! Hopefully, things will change. I have to check out Woman Tribune. Looking forward to seeing it.

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