Ed Cabellon (@edcabellon) wrote a great post in The Student Affairs Blog about using Twitter to connect with an individual student at Bridgewater State College. Ed personally connected with a disgruntled freshman and turned a faceless institution into a caring community with one, single Tweet. He discovered that the simple act of interaction could help one student feel more engaged with her college experience.
Unfortunately, most colleges miss the boat with social media. Nearly every college uses these tools (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace) to “push” an agenda of sorts–alumni events, student activities, sports scores. However, there is not any real conversation between the college and the students. Colleges are constantly talking, but they are not listening to (and for) their students within social media channels. As a result, the message the colleges are sending is not unlike an AM radio signal–it’s streaming out into space, but few students are tuned-in to hear the music.
If colleges want to use social media to promote better relationships with their students, parents, donors and alumni, it is imperative that they follow Ed Cabellon’s lead. Doing so will help create a greater sense of community for the institution and build trust between the students and the faculty. What college wouldn’t want this?
It’s easy, really. All one has to do is to stop talking, start listening, and engage in a little conversation.