Social Media & New Technologies

by Lauren McSwain-StarrettFriday, September 4, 2009

…innovative usesin higher education

Topics•About Me & About You•Who’s Searching for You Online?•How Social Media Has Changed Our Society

(as well as Marketing & Promotion)•Types of Popular Social Media Tools•What Social Media Can Do for You•Social Media Tools Provide Universities with

Constituent Engagement•Some Social Media Tools in Action at Higher

Ed Institutions: Facebook, Twitter, RSS •Where to Go From Here

A Little About Me…Getting your “vanity URL” on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and/or buying your own domain name, if applicable, is not vain – it’s just smart. Search terms in URLs come up higher in search results, so doing this helps you control what comes up when people search for you online (whether that’s you, personally, or you, your institution or organization).

A Little About You…

Facebook 75%

LinkedIn 35%

Twitter 20%Flickr 30%

Blogs 30%Google Tools

65%

Wikipedia 65%

YouTube 75%

RSS 10% SlideShare 5%

Survey Results: Which Tools Are You Using?

Lack of Time

Intimidated; Too Many Choices

Privacy Concerns

Where's the Value?

Interested But Overwhelmed

n/a - I'm Lovin' It!

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

A Little About You…Survey Results: What Are Your Reservations

about Social Media?

“I've used lots of these tools professionally, but I’d love tobe more effective.”

“I’ve used these, but don't have the time to stay heavily involved.”

“I don't buy into the ‘hype’—as fast as you learn one social media, there's another one.”

“Social media is very necessary professionally, so I'm open to learning more.”

“I’m not interested. I have work to do.”

A Little About You…Survey Results: Your Feelings about Social Media

Ok, but know that social media tools can help you do the work!

Who’s Looking for You Online?•Personally – Everyone is…

People are searching your name; what are they finding? An extension of your resume; does it help or hurt you?

•Organizationally – Potential customers are… Can your audience/customers find your org? An extension of your marketing; if you don’t own your

brand online, someone else will!

•And, be aware of the flip side, too…And yes, spammers, stalkers, and criminals may be looking, too.So just be smart – here’s what not to do. Don’t:1. Upload pics of your sweet new flatscreen TV.2. Post your home’s cool floor plan.3. Update your status to tell everyone you’re going on vacation.Your TV just might not be there when you get back! Be judicious in what you post and you’ll be fine.

“United Breaks Guitars” became a top country music download on iTunes

United Airlines learned this lesson the hard way: ignore social media sites at your peril! The hit song “United Breaks Guitars,” posted on YouTube, did some serious PR damage to the airline, and demonstrates the power of the Internet when things “go viral.”

The World Has Changed.…Social media tools and the Internet have “democratized” opinions, giving everyone a voice and a channel for grievances.

Then… Now…

• Personally – Self-promotion is unnecessary or even braggy; people will pick up on your achievements on their own, and you’ll earn the recognition you deserve

• Organizationally – Marketing is direct; a carefully-planned, one-way transmission with you talking to your audience, in hopes they’ll be convinced

• Personally – Self-promotion is essential to making yourself findable, owning your accomplishments, and framing how you and whatever you care about is seen

• Organizationally – Marketing is engagement; a two-way conversation, talking with your audience, building brand awareness, so if something “goes viral, you have advocates

And So Marketing Has Changed…

Types of Popular Social Media Tools

•Make you more valuable at work.▫Inform you of industry news, trends, movers & shakers▫Enable you to share resources, news stories, etc.▫Find you new, better work

•Extend your sphere of influence.▫Promote services, events, or causes you believe in▫Maintain a recruiting channel to find needed talent

•Broaden your audience.▫Build awareness of your issue or service▫Ensure “the real you” is easily found in searches▫Create a two-way dialogue with your customers/users

•Foster collaboration.▫Connect geographically separated staff, customers▫Share presentations, documents, images, resources

What Can Social Media Do for You?

Become a fan of UVa’s official Facebook Page

Follow UVa on Twitter

Join UVa-affiliated departmental or alumni groups

Watch UVa’s official channel

Check out UVa podcasts & vodcasts

Get UVa news & events delivered to you via RSSNew

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Social Media Tools ProvideConstituent Engagement

For example: At the University of Virginia, you can…

About Facebook…

• 4th most visited website in the world• 60% of users are over age 26• Fastest-growing segment: women over age 35

Everyone knows Facebook is popular with college students.A 2006 study found it’s the 2nd most popular thing among undergrads, tied with beer and sex, ranking lower than only the iPod.

What you may not know is that it’s wildly popular with everyone else, too! Despite pubic perception, just 12% of Facebook users are teens.

Higher Ed Uses of Facebook:Public Profiles (“Fan Pages”)• Highlight positive media coverage (PR)o Showcase student/faculty work and awards

• Reach prospective students (Admissions)o Create official groups for specific classes

• Build alum/donor relationships (Development)o Publicize successful alums

• Promote university-affiliated centers, facilities, libraries, museums, schools, offices, campus events, athletics, etc.

Higher Ed Uses of Facebook:Flyers for Advertising

UVa used a Facebook flyer to drive student interest in a 2008 campus event during the Official Google Bus Tour.

For less than $20, Facebook let us carefully target our ad to our desired audience. We got ~65,000 student impressions, an incredible return on investment for a tiny ad buy!

Growth• Fastest-growing social

networking site in world• 55M monthly visits

• But, only about 40% of users stay active after about 1 mo.

• Twitter’s largest user group: ages 35-49

The Lingo• Microblogging, Tweets• Followers, Stream• Handles – e.g.,

@mcswainstarrett• Hashtags – e.g.,

#grapevine

About Twitter…

But…Isn’t It Mundane??Well, it can be…But, tweets can also be very pertinent.You choose who you follow; you build your network around others with similar interests. If you’re following the right people & organizations for you, they’ll often clue you into websites you should check out, new trends you should know about, relevant news stories, etc. It’s true that your stream will also include non-professional things. But you may still reap benefits from hearing a good joke or learning about a cool new restaurant opening or something.

• Distributing emergency messages• Facilitating classroom discussions• Publicizing good news coverage• Promoting major campus events

and building real-time community conversation around guest speakers, conferences, or commencement (using hashtags like #uvagrad09)

• Giving busy campus figures who don’t have time to blog regularly a channel to communicate

Higher Ed Uses of Twitter

vs.

RSS Provides…• Timely news you can reado Whenever & wherever you like

• Privacy protectiono Updated info with no need to

surrender your email address

You Can Subscribe to RSS…• In your email, on your mobile device, in a Web browser, or on a website tailored to your interests – whatever works best for you!

About RSS…In a nutshell, RSS is the difference between BlockBuster and Netflix. That is, would you rather:• Get in your car, drive to the store, and scour the shelves for that new movie in hopes they have it in stock? or• Hang out at home, open your mailbox, and get the movie of your choice, delivered right to your door?Except that RSS has to do with surfing the Web and keeping up-to-date with the news!

Higher Ed Uses of RSS FeedsUniversity news headlines, calendar events, sports, even planned computer downtimes can all be posted as news via RSS. Find out what other offices and departments at your school are offering as RSS feeds.

You can pull together the various RSS feeds available on your campus onto one convenient University-wide webpage, so your constituents can see what all their choices are and subscribe to the university’s RSS feeds of their choice.

0. Get on social media sites now, if you aren’t already.Don’t fail to leverage a major communication vehicle!

1. Keep your personal & organizational profile page fresh.Update your resume, post a recent image and/or status update, share useful links, news, rich media, etc.

2. Be patient; it’s a long-term investment.Think slow & steady—viral marketing takes time.

3. Keep safety in mind.Think before you post. Check default privacy settings.

4. Make the most of your limited time.Use RSS!!! De-clutter your News Feed. Set Friend Lists. On more than one site? Use tools to post to all at once.

5. Keep experimenting and learning more. Visit mcswain-starrett.com for more detailed tips.

Where to Go From Here…

Contact Info for Questions

• facebook.com/mcswainstarrett• linkedin.com/in/mcswainstarrett• twitter.com/mcswainstarrett•mcswain-starrett.com