5 Downsides to Facebook Pages and Groups
Since joining Inigral last summer, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with dozens of schools on how they prefer to engage with students on Facebook. Although there are many success stories, some folks in higher ed have expressed major complaints with Facebook’s current functionality. The general attitude towards them is still mostly positive, but some recent statistics [...]
Tufts University Social Admissions Tips
Last week I had the opportunity to conduct a design interview with Daniel Greyson from Tufts university. Tufts has received national coverage in the past for their innovative use of social media in their admissions process. USA Today named Tufts as one of 20 colleges making best use of social media and in 2010 the New York Times covered [...]
Using Social Networking to Increase Student Retention
Selected Research on Social Networking from Emily Dalton Smith (Director of Student Engagement at ASU Online), and Michael Staton (CEO and Co-Founder of Inigral, Inc.). This was derived from a poster presentation that ASU and Inigral presented at Educause 2009.
10 Things to Ask Before Creating Another Facebook Page for Your University
Do you ever search for your school name on Facebook and get surprised at the number of search results that come back? I’m always amazed at the number of pages different universities have. From a Facebook Page for the Class of 2016 parents to a page for “parking and transportation offices” (who would like that?), [...]
Is Facebook Spam Ruining your School’s Page or Group?
Recently (as you may or may not have seen) the Facebook news feeds have become filled with pornographic images, dead animals, and other disturbing images. Although phishing spam (links that entice you with catchy headlines and photos) are nothing new, the rate at which they are increasing has been making headlines this week.
The Missing Link – Social Networks and Enrollment Modeling
Last week I attended the 21st annual ACCRAO SEM conference in San Diego, where I had the chance to mingle with the university administrators and higher education thought leaders who are part of the emerging field of enrollment management. My main goal was to learn more about predictive enrollment modeling, but I also had a colorful [...]
3 Social Media Lessons from San Jacinto College
“We live in a real-time world and social media takes real effort from real people.” Earlier this week I had the privilege of speaking with two real people on the San Jacinto marketing team, who recently launched our product, the Schools App, last month at their college. Alyssa Webb is the Social Media Coordinator and Amanda [...]
Facebook Developer Conference Three Key Takeaways
For the first time ever (last month) Facebook had 500 million users in one day. 1. Facebook is launching a redesigned profile called Timeline. The marketing is around “All your stories. All your apps. Express who you are.” The original profile focused on basic stats, but it was really only the first five minutes of [...]
Intentional Purgatory – the new place for Marketing and Communications
Marketers, you are now in “Intentional Purgatory.” I call it this because you’re now in a box just made for you – a box that people “intend” to get around to looking at, but most likely never will in any way that will command their attention for your message.
Facebook is Changing the Internet with Instant Personalization
Facebook is changing the way we interact with the internet by allowing websites to know who you are before you ever fill out any information on that site. It’s called Instant Personalization, and while it’s not taking the web by storm thanks to Facebook learning from previous poorly-planned product launches, it is surely a representation of the future of the web.
Facebook Announces “Places”
Facebook Places a “skunkworks” project last year. But last December, the team came together around a specific vision to allow Facebook users to share where they are with their friends. Places was built on three premises: Sharing where you are Seeing who’s around you Seeing what’s happening where you are
Anatomy of a Facebook Page
Over a third of the colleges in the United States have a Facebook Page to assist in their campus’ marketing efforts. For those who are just getting introduced to the concept of a Facebook Page, and the marketing goals it can help you achieve, here’s a look into the anatomy of a Facebook Page.
Higher Ed Increases Adoption of Social Media
Adopting social media and communicating with today’s youth has been a long-time challenge for everyone. But where does Higher Ed stand?
Calculating The Value of Facebook Fans in Higher Ed: Statistics
This article is part three of a larger series on Calculating the value of your Facebook fans as a college or university. To read the other articles in this series, scroll to the bottom of this article to navigate to them. Syncapse performed a survey on 20 top corporate brands on Facebook, collecting data from [...]
How Facebook Platform Works and Why We Like It
At Inigral, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to build an application that integrates with Facebook, perhaps the most advanced and interesting platform ever created.
Calculating The Value of Your Facebook Fans in Higher Ed: Deriving Fan Value
This article is part two of a larger series on Calculating the value of your Facebook fans as a college or university. Deriving Fan Value One of the most compelling statements Syncapse made regarding understanding fan value is, Identifying differences in behavior and motivation between fans and non-fans is significant in understanding the true value [...]
Calculating the Value of Your Facebook Fans in Higher Ed: An Introduction
This article is part one of a larger series on Calculating the value of your Facebook fans as a college or university. Introduction What are the people who “Like” your institution’s Facebook Page worth?
Schools on Facebook and The Big Decision
After months of talking to my parents in depth, as well as advisors and mentors, the decision was pretty clear — my only option was to go to college, and so here I am, ready to go to College of San Mateo in the fall. Now that I know where I’m going to school, I wish I knew more then twenty people that will be attending the same school as me, and would love to find entrepreneurial people like me to meet, and share ideas with.
Universities, Privacy, and Facebook: An Important Dialogue
With all of the talk in the news about Facebook’s privacy policy, it’s important for colleges and universities to understand what’s going on. The Facebook move towards openness with their user data has freaked pragmatic users out, even getting mainstream dialogs about staying off of Facebook, like this one at the economics blog Baseline Scenario.
What Does Your Admitted Student Community Look Like?
Does yours look like this? Ours looks like this
FERPA Considerations for the Social Media
So long as an institution is in pursuit of their educational mission, colleges and universities may, within reason, use and release information that identifies students both publicly and to third parties. Releasing certain types of information can be perceived as more risky or offensive, depending on the party obtaining the information, their intention, and their efforts to maintain obligations related to that information.
Bridging the Gap Between Higher Ed and Facebook Events
Personally, on a given night when I want to find something to do, I call, text or Instant Message my friends. Generally speaking for all students, when it comes to finding something to do at school, I am going to check my Facebook Events page because it lists almost all the events I would be interested in.
Keeping up with Facebook in Higher Ed
The Game is rigged. Facebook has you spend time and money promoting your presence on that platform to users of their platform. Of course they’re going to make that take more clicks and cost more money in the short run. While they’re the only game in town, it only benefits them. The best way to differentiate yourself from the confusion, in our opinion, is to introduce a Facebook Application for your College or University.
The Hidden Truth About Facebook Fan Pages
When it comes to my hundreds of friends and dozens of groups, I am constantly bombarded with News Feed stories by the second. While some of these stories interest me, those that do not are mostly Fan Page stories. To understand why that is, I decided to take a look at the Fan Pages I “fan” and how they communicate.
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