Instead of focusing their attention on promoting information to mainstream media, some university public affairs offices are using the power of social media to engage the community directly. In many cases, social media tools like Facebook Pages have given universities an opportunity to speak to audiences on their own, reaching thousands of people interested in keeping up with news at the school and connecting with others on the social network.
Universities are constantly exploring new ways to use social media to fulfill their missions of engaging and sharing knowledge with their constituents. Below are just 10 highlights of how universities are using social media for public affairs. As always, please share other examples you have used or come across in the comments below.
1. Gathering and Sharing Information
Perhaps the most common way, and the way in which most of us use social media, is sharing information about ourselves or things we find interesting. Because universities are educational institutions, they use social media to highlight their experts, as well as the resources they make available to the public. This includes tweeting and posting news releases to Facebook, but also publicizing news involving the university appearing in mainstream media sources.
The point is to try to educate and provide a glimpse into what the institution is like, said Dan Wolter, director of University of Minnesota News Service, which has a Twitter following of 2,900 and 1,700 YouTube subscribers. Many larger universities have multiple accounts across various channels that are specific to departments or schools (i.e., Twitter, YouTube, Facebook accounts for the medical school, English department, admissions office, etc.) and often times the school’s news service or public affairs office will pick out information that could appeal to the broader audience and share it through the general university account, Wolter said. These social media tools are often used to supplement traditional press releases being sent out.
2. Showcasing Student and Faculty Work
Aside from sharing news and information, social media is often used in showcasing student and faculty work, said Ian Hsu, director of Internet media outreach at Stanford University (@Stanford) who manages the school’s social media strategy.
That can be as simple as featuring photos taken by students through a photo album on the Stanford University Facebook page, which boasts 38,000 fans. Or it can take the form of an elaborate YouTube rap video a pair of Stanford students created for a biology class assignment that the school’s News Service shared on multiple social media channels:
3. Providing a Platform to Broadcast Events
Rather than just use social media to promote specific events, some universities employ the tools to provide a place for the university community to engage and participate in the event as it’s happening. And what better way to report an event than through live streaming video or collecting tweets during commencement through a common hashtag?
Stockholm University (@Stockholm_Uni) in Sweden provided a live streaming video on its website for those who could not attend a seminar on environmental issues and another on file sharing, said Maria Erlandsson, press relations manager at Stockholm University, which has multiple social media accounts on services like Twitter, in both English and Swedish.
To accompany the video webcast of its main 2009 commencement ceremony, Vanderbilt University (@VanderbiltU) designated a page on its website that gathered commencement tweets that included the #vu2009 hashtag. This allowed students and others to report on the commencement happenings as they were being attended. (Example: “Can I just record the applause and play it back everytime I’m supposed to clap? My hands r tired. #vu2009” via @triciafields).
4. Emergency Notification
Emergencies and tragedies do happen. With the growing popularity of social media tools like Twitter, some schools are finding it easier and quicker to spread news during an emergency by complementing their e-mail and text alerts with a Tweet and a Facebook message or post.
“Some students check their Facebook more often than their school's e-mail accounts,” said Nyleva Corley, the Web and social media manager in the public affairs office at University of Texas (@UTAustin).
Corley said that when the school had a case of H1N1 flu (previously known as swine flu) this past spring, they used Twitter to notify the community of the case as well as pointing them to information and resources.
The University of Minnesota has an Emergency Notification group on Facebook that it uses to blast messages to its 2,300 members during a case of an emergency. It provides another way to reach students that spend a lot of their time there during critical situations, Wolter said. Wolter’s team has used Twitter and Facebook to notify university students of bomb threats as well as announce the cancellation of classes during snow storms.
5. Connecting People
The term social media is not a misnomer: it really is quite social. And a lot of connections happen organically, without the universities doing anything intentionally, except providing a place for the community to connect and gather around a similar interest at the institution.
The 46,000 fans of the University of Michigan Page often connect to one another, for example, especially incoming students who are eager to make new friends. Facebook groups made for a specific graduating class and university Twitter accounts have a similar effect.
6. Producing, Not Just Promoting
Universities are using social media platforms as a way to supplement traditional press releases, however, social media has also helped revolutionize the traditional approach from public relations offices. In the past universities would only target traditional media outlets, but now they are using social media to better target journalists and nontraditional media, such as blogs. Further, beyond simply relying on a news organization to pick a story up, universities are using social media as a publishing tool to connect directly to their audiences.
YouTube is instrumental in that for many schools. Patric Lane, health and science editor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill News Services (@Carolina_News), said there have been several times in which blogs like The Huffington Post would embed one of the videos from their YouTube channel. Though getting a video like this picked up drives traffic, the YouTube audience contributes views directly as well.
The same thing can be said of university Facebook Pages. Stephen Orlando, director of print media at the University of Florida News Bureau (@UFNow), said their press releases posted to the school’s Facebook Page reach 21,000 people. “So we feel that even if the news media doesn’t pick up a news release, we still have a way to reach our audience,” Orlando said.
Cynthia Hoke, director of the News Service at the University of Georgia, is using their Facebook Page as a publishing tool as well. Many of their links get comments, criticisms, and inspire a conversation on the topic.
7. Creating a Dialogue and Communicating to Students
Social media is all about having a conversation. It is distinguishable from many other Web tools because it provides a two-way dialogue and allows for real discussion. Most of university news services I interviewed said they used social media to engage the public. That means things like replying to tweets, Facebook posts, and blog comments.
Blogs are actually a great example of how schools are getting into the conversation. Though they're not real-time, blogs provide a format for dialogue via comments. During the school year, the University of Texas hosted student blogs called "Longhorn Confidential" in which two students from each grade level blogged about their experiences at school. The public could respond to each post via comments, and often did. “It served as not only a story-telling format, but created dialogue as well,” said Corley, the school’s public affairs social media manager.
8. Facebook Office Hours
Yes, you read that right: office hours on Facebook. Of course, this overlaps a bit with communicating with students, but deserves a category all its own because the practice attracts people from all around the world to Stanford University’s Facebook Page.
Facebook office hours are something of a four-part process. First, a Facebook note is posted promoting and describing the professor or faculty member hosting the “office hours.” Then a video is posted with the faculty member talking about their research or work (or that of their department). Next, fans then have a chance to ask the hosting member questions via comments. Finally, the faculty member answers questions through a second video, often addressing those commenting by name.
So far, Hsu from Stanford said the experiment has been a success, which is evident by how many questions are being asked of the faculty members – and by the positive reviews the practice has gotten. “It’s not just about Stanford news, it’s about taking part in the community of social networks,” Hsu said.
9. Coaching for the Spotlight
Because many universities produce their own video and audio, TV and radio producers get a chance to see what a researcher or expert sounds like on camera or in a sound bite. A journalist can go to the school’s YouTube channel or website and watch an expert in action. That can help get those experts invited to appear on television panels or used as interview sources on TV or radio news shows, which can be very valuable exposure for the university.
Lane from University of North Carolina said their YouTube channel often serves as a coaching tool for their experts and professors to get used to being on camera. “When they do go on to do a ‘real interview’, they can be more confident, more capable. They can communicate in a more effective way” Lane said.
10. Getting Wired Via Mobile
While some universities are still playing catch-up in getting campuses wired with WiFi, Stanford University has its students connected through a mobile application. Last school year, the school released a free iPhone application called iStanford that allows students to register for classes, look up campus maps and be able view the location of their friends on a map – instant messaging them if need be.
Ian Hsu from Stanford said the development of the app, which was done by two students, was commissioned by the university and has further potential. What if the campus was sprinkled with signs that point visitors with iPhones to be able to connect to the application, he asked. “There is a lot of potential there,” Hsu said.
For those without an iPhone, the school also has a mobile web client that allows students to access their mail, check the calendar, and more all from a mobile device. Other schools have also introduced similar applications (Duke University, Georgia Tech, U Cal at San Diego, etc.). The Chronicle of Higher Education recently did a series on schools introducing mobile applications.
Greater than 97% of college students own a cell phone, so connecting with students via mobile devices is smart.
More social media resources from Mashable:
- 10 Ways Journalism Schools are Using Social Media
- The Top 10 Social Networks for Gen-Y
- 10 Must-Try Social Media Sites for College Students
- YouTube Brands: 5 Outstanding Leaders in YouTube Marketing