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Social Networking
[Your College Here] Wants to Be Your 'Friend'
9/6/2007
Because Edgewood College follows the mainstream online social networking models of filtering, its profile views aren't as large as other schools. But "Our focus is only on connecting with current and prospective students, and in that respect we have been successful," says Venturella. "I'm working on a metric for measuring level of site visitor engagement as well as effectiveness of the site; currently, we measure click-throughs, number of 'friends' and Edgewood College-related groups, and quality of content—positive, negative, or indifferent.WHO'S ON MYSPACE
Head to MySpace to see which institutions are doing what.
"Traditional-aged college students and prospective students know when they're being marketed to, and they don't always take too kindly to groups or organizations that try to use this kind of ruse to market to them," explains Venturella. "This is why we are very up-front in 'About Me' and 'Who I'd Like to Meet' about why we put this social networking site together. I also write brief, informal, informational blogs at least once a month. We have tried to keep it fairly light and fun, and we link the blog to the Edgewood College Facebook account so students can read the blogs from either site. We're definitely focused [on giving out information and acquiring friends]. And I think our MySpace friends appreciate that kind of honesty."
On the other hand, Venturella says, "I don't see social networking drastically changing the way we communicate with students, prospective students, and faculty/staff. I believe it will just become more widely used as a standard and expected communication tool. Those institutions that will get the most out of it will be those that adapt to it, use it, and are able to successfully integrate it into their general communications and marketing plans."
::WEBEXTRAS ::
Tulane University Launches
LiveWorld Community Center
Stanford Hosts Language
Mash-Up Contest for Web 2.0 Survey: Professors Tepid
on Social Media Tools
Live Webinar: Wikis
(9/6, 11 am PT)
Claudia Linh, former managing editor of Campus Technology, is currently an online community manager for an international nonprofit.
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