Schools on Facebook

I was very interested in a report in the American press the other day which claimed that more than 60 percent of American universities and colleges are using social media to recruit and contact students.

The survey, which was done for the American National Association of College Admissions Counseling, claims just about every college and university in New Jersey has recently started or is planning to launch some sort of social media campaign, from “live chats” online to Twitter updates and video campus tours.

Having started a social media campaign for a local senior high school here in Stockholm, the story caught really caught my eye.

I don’t think it’s a case of my client not wanting to “look antiquated,” as Peter Nacy, vice president of undergraduate admissions at Seton Hall in the US put it. It’s more about using the Net to make genuine connections, sharing information and benefitting from the communication-exchange.

Potential students benefit from gaining an insight into the workings of a school or college via social media. It’s also good to get a sense of the personalities behind an organisation. And as any administrator worth their salt will tell you, you want students who are a good fit.

If you’re a school or college it’s important that you don’t hand the social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, etc, to PR staff. You really want genuine teachers, students and administrators to participate. Otherwise you run the risk of the channel sounding like marketing instead of a place to connect, share and be social.

Ethical Issues

There are issues that we need to address if schools and colleges are getting involved in social media. Staff who are responsible for grading students should not share private material or material that is likely to compromise their position as a student’s examiner.

Although Facebook makes it easy for you to limit the access so-called friends have to your profile, I actually think teachers are best setting up “official” social media profiles that are exclusively for work. Here they can keep in touch with old students, share work-related material and engage in friendly dialogues. But the nature of education means that teachers and lecturers can’t be their students’ friends.

Or what do you think?

Upcoming

I’m talking social media profiles with some 16-year olds at school later this week. I’m interested to hear what they have to say about *friending* teachers on Facebook.

Image:FlickrCC

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3. An Interview with Jon Buscall
4. 10 Reasons to Buck the Trend and Not Have a Business Facebook Page
5. Blogging Doesn’t Just Bring Business