The Benefits of Social Networking

Written by Kenya McCullum

MAE 2010 Volume: 5 Issue: 2 (March)

“Veterans want to see an institution that doesn’t just give lip service to being military friendly, but actually is aggressively military friendly—meeting their needs, being there for them, and being proactive in reaching out to them,” said Richard Robitaille, assistant vice president of the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs at Berkeley College. Social networking has opened up several avenues for both schools and students to become proactive in the way they communicate. Whether the goal is to build personal or professional relationships, using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and You- Tube can be a large contribution to success.

BENEFITS FOR SCHOOLS

Just as with many businesses, social networking has become an invaluable marketing resource for schools—which is especially helpful in an economy that necessitates that institutions tighten their belts and try to do more with less. For example, Excelsior College, a nonprofit institution, has used its Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages to regularly get the word out about the school in an economical way.

“Social networking puts Excelsior College on a level playing field with a lot of our competitors in terms of the means of reaching out to students,” said Judy Reed, the school’s director of veterans services and outreach. “We’re a nonprofit distance learning institution, so we don’t have the advertising dollars that other institutions have. As a result, we have to make maximum use of social networking and stay on top of it. Social networking is a great tool that has allowed us to keep our profile out there in the community.”

But like any other form of marketing, social networking will not be effective if it is approached in a haphazard fashion. Part of what makes Excelsior’s social networking efforts successful is the research that the school has done when implementing the medium. Thanks to the use of a technographic study—which details how and why different student demographics use social networks— Excelsior has been able to tailor its Facebook pages to specific populations, such as military students, veteran students, or Hispanic students. Without this kind of research, schools may end up using social networks in a way that may not help them meet their goals and needs.

“I think a lot of people just jump right into social networking and say, ‘I have to be on Facebook,’ but they don’t really understand why or what they’re going to do there,” said Tracy Solarek, the executive director of marketing at Excelsior College. “When we did our technographic study, we were able to understand what our priorities should be and we were able to further understand what our community is looking for when they go to that Facebook page.”

Solarek says that this understanding of the school’s different demographics resulted in ways to reach military and veteran students that are specifically meaningful to them.

“Military and veteran students are very high users of our social networks,” she said. “As a matter of fact, that’s why we went set up a blog, because our studies showed us that these students are very much online due to their locations, and they have a desire to talk to others within their own community.”

OPENING THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION

It’s difficult for school administrators to always know what the students are thinking and how they feel that colleges and universities can improve. The use of social networking has begun to bridge that gap, and given colleges the opportunity to better respond to students’ concerns—often in an instantaneous manner. Although some school administrators may feel reluctant to open themselves up to the amount of criticism they may receive on blogs, Twitter, or Facebook comments, ultimately even the most negative comments can lead to a constructive dialogue that helps alleviate students’ complaints.

“Posts and tweets by current students have helped us identify and address problems and concerns—they are an excellent way for us to know how we’re doing in supporting students and applicants,” said Joan Mitchell, director of public relations at Western Governors University (WGU). “We do respond to posts on blogs and forums, but everyone in the university is required to be transparent— they must identify themselves as WGU employees and are expected to represent the university appropriately.”

BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS

With the current state of the economy, it is more important than ever for students to stand out when applying for jobs. Hiring managers are now bombarded with resumes for a limited number of positions—and in many cases, a lot of candidates for a job have credentials that are similar, if not almost identical. This makes it hard for a candidate to get the attention of a prospective employer and, according to public relations expert Chris Abraham, president and chief operating officer of Abraham Harrison, social networking can mean the difference between landing a job and landing in a slush pile of resumes.

“In today’s competitive environment, it’s very important for students to differentiate themselves in some way, and one of those ways is by portraying their expertise, their interest, their curiosity and their passion in ways other than just whatever qualifications they have on their resume,” said Abraham.

Specifically, Abraham suggests that students create a blog, which is an excellent opportunity for them to express themselves and demonstrate the qualities that make them different from other job seekers. This is not meant to be a diary-type space where students merely regurgitate a laundry list describing the minutia of their lives. Although talking about hobbies and interests can humanize job candidates, Abraham said that blogs should be used to demonstrate students’ understanding of their courses and the field they want to go into. In addition, blogs can show a potential employer a student’s strengths and weaknesses—like whether or not they are critical thinkers or have good writing skills.

But students must remember that social networking can be a double edged sword—just as it can make a job candidate more attractive, it can also make a potential employer look elsewhere. Just like with Internet dating, a potential employer can be turned off by what they find out about candidates on the Internet. “Human resources professionals tend to Google you before they bring you in because they want to see if there are any problems— such as lots of pictures of you prancing about with open bottles,” said Abraham. “But they also look to see whether or not you’ve been involved in anything more substantial.”

GETTING IMPORTANT INFORMATION

For Berkley’s Robitaille, using social networking sites has become an excellent way to keep the veteran student population informed about changes in policies and procedures issued by the Veterans Administration (VA). Robitaille keeps abreast of these developments and posts updates on the school’s Facebook page regularly—which has made the page become a one-stop shop for the information that veteran students need.

“The Facebook page allows me direct access to the veterans on a daily basis. I post any changes in the VA procedures, and any news releases they put out. It’s an exceptional communication tool,” Robitaille said. “Social networking takes a lot of the frustration out of understanding or getting information quickly— especially with changing rules and regulations. The VA is always changing policies, putting out new systems, or putting out new processes that veterans have to go through for the different programs. I think the Facebook site serves as a communication tool to get that information out to folks who need it in a quick manner.”

In addition, Robitaille says that Berkeley College’s Facebook page helps his colleagues disseminate information to students. With eight campuses, it can be difficult to ensure that everyone on staff who needs information about changes to VA policy gets what they need when they need it. Just like social networking has become a way for students to get information 24-7, the school’s staff can also take advantage of the data that Robitaille has added to Facebook. This way, whenever students are asking them for information, they have it at their fingertips at any time during the day.

Despite the benefits, in the cases of older veteran students, there may still be a reluctance to use social networking sites. Matthew McLain, the veterans affairs coordinator at Wayne State University says that the school’s older veterans are now being eased into using social networking, but have yet to embrace it the same way that their younger counterparts have. However, McLain says that these students are warming up to using the school’s Facebook page, as it provides a wealth of information that they need.

“As our vets start to use the Facebook page and are more exposed to it, they’ll see the advantages to using it. By using those online resources, they can save themselves time and save themselves a trip to the campus by accessing that information online,” he said. “It can really offer a resource to the veterans that traditional methods of relaying information just can’t cover.”

CONNECTING STUDENTS

The Internet has allowed colleges to expand their reach by attracting students from all over the world—which has been a huge benefit for those who are on active military duty. At the same time, this convenience has come at a price: Taking classes on the Internet has also created a sense of isolation among students who are not able to share the same camaraderie with peers as they would if they were physically on campus.

In order to make the online college experience more personable, colleges and universities are using social networking to give students the opportunity to get to know each other socially, form study groups, and exchange information about classes. For Ann Martin, the academic advisor for military students at Duquesne’s School of Leadership and Professional Advancement, this is the basis of her whole social media strategy.

“We’ve taken classrooms and we’ve made them worldwide, but they’ve gotten so big that people don’t know each other anymore,” she said. “I’m trying to reverse just a little bit of that and keep all the good things about being worldwide—all the diversity and experiences—to also bring people back down to a neighborhood level at least in one aspect of their class work.”

Martin also wants the Facebook page she runs for Duquesne to act as a home away from home for deployed students. She noted that although taking classes adds a normalcy to their lives in the theater, she wants to build a community of students who understand each other because they are having the same experience of homesickness after multiple deployments.

And of course, social media is a way for students to connect academically as well as personally. In order for students to get the most out of their academic programs, WGU has created online communities for every degree program that the school offers, so that students get all of the support that they need.

“These communities allow the students to interact with each other, as well as academic mentors, get support by asking questions, be referred to learning resources, and discuss their studies,” said Mitchell. “Communities are particularly important for students at online universities—they offer a connection and interaction that wouldn’t otherwise be available to online students.”

Also, Mitchell says that alumni of WGU have been incorporated into the school’s social networking strategy. Through the school’s alumni site, they can stay connected with their peers, learn about job opportunities, and help spread the word about their experiences with WGU—thus helping with recruitment efforts. ♦

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