Fa pocs dies comentava un recull detallat de l’ús de canals i xarxes socials i de mitjans socials a les universitats americanes. Ara, gràcies a l’apartat de Higher Education de l’aplicació de l’Ipad zite he vist un post de Converge titulat 4 Universities Use Social Networks to Engage Community. Es tracta de quatre exemples pràctics de com les universitats fan servir els social media (fonamentalment twitter i facebook) per connectar amb les seves comunitats.
Val la pena senyalar algunes de les idees:
When universities join social networks, they have to put themselves in the audience’s shoes, said Kaltenmark from Butler University in Indianapolis. Ask yourself, “What does our audience want to know or hear about?” Then give it to them.
“We have decided that we’re going to engage with people,” said Lux, the community manager for both the university and the School of Information Studies. “We’re not just going to be pushing out information because that’s not what social media is about.”
Alguna universitat lloga estudiants:
Lux hired eight or nine students to work on her social media team. But she didn’t ask for applications. For the main university Twitter account, she handpicked students who actively engaged on Twitter and did more than just talk with their friends.
Because the students go to Syracuse, the university’s stream has a life and vibe that really resonates with the audience.
“They bring a completely different feel to it just because of the fact that they are current students,
No es tracta només de contactar els estudiants actuals, sinó de…
And he’s not just engaging Butler’s audience. He’s also attracting high school students, grandmothers and everyone in between.
I és molt important fer concursos i estimular la participació:
“One thing that people don’t do enough is ask their audience to participate or to do something,” Cigelske said. “I think that’s the whole point. You need to have some sort of call to action, otherwise you just have 15,000 fans who don’t do anything.”
Com a conclusió del post esmentat, s’hi diu coses ben rellevants – que mai no s’havia connectat tant amb els estudiants:
Through social media, these four universities have joined the conversation, created a team, showed their personality, served their customers and called their audiences to action.
As a result, they’ve built a loyal, engaged audience. They’ve shown students that they’ll respond to their questions and concerns. And they’ve mobilized their community.
Lucas from the University of Wisconsin-Madison says, “I think it’s really done more for communications with students than anything that we’ve done in our office in the last decade.”