Social Media

[Brad Dressler]

Let's continue the discussion topic "Best Practices for Utilizing Social Media" from the February 25, 2009, ProComm meeting. Here is a link to the Twitter site, which will have an overview of the meeting discussion. http://twitter.com/procomm

[Brad Dressler]

Thanks to all who were able to attend the ProComm meeting and discussion. We had a good, diverse turnout. Hopefully the information provided was useful. It is obviously a challenge to cover all social media in about an hour. I will present some of the discussion highlights below. Plus, you can view the Twitter posts at: https://twitter.com/procomm/.

Also, I would encourage all of you to continue this discussion here on the ProComm site. Post your experiences, best practices, questions, links to articles/examples, and other resources regarding the variety of social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and more). We want the ProComm site to become an interactive resource for this and other topics.

Highlights from ProComm "Best Practices for Utilizing Social Media" meeting on February 25:

Panel: Brad Dressler, Office of Graduate Studies, Bill Gibbs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Nick Zuniga, Department of Greek Life, Daisy Enggina, Department of Multicultural Services, Diane McDonald, Division of Marketing & Communications, and Ashley Leathers, Division of Marketing & Communications

-Panel's Facebook Pages: Graduate Studies, Agriculture, Greek Life, Multicultural Services, and Texas A&M
-Know your audience, goals, and have a detailed strategy before launching into a social media site.
-A need for a written policy about creating sites, managing and posting social media content was discussed.
-Social media needs to engage your audience prior to going live and be updated regularly. Certain content should be contributed by audience members (and monitored).
-Facebook Page vs Group: Generally more benefits to a Page. With a Page you can track demographic data, have multiple admins, and send a message to all fans. (A group allows to send a message to a limited number of members.)
-Recommend using a generic email address for the primary admin on all social media sites. This way, if a person leaves your office, it is not associated with a specific person's email address.
-Both students and administrators need to be aware of the specific Privacy settings within Facebook when setting up and using a Facebook Page, Group, or Profile. Posted content impacts perception of individuals and organizations.
-Make sure your social media is interwoven with standard marketing and communications. Post social media links or buttons on main website. Reference social media in email communications. Have links from Facebook to specific sections or forms on your website.
-The Division of Marketing & Communications is developing a document about starting a Facebook Page. Document will be shared via ProComm when completed.
-Greek Life has a blog with content posted by both staff and select, designated students. http://greeklife.tamu.edu/
-Marketing & Communications coordinates a blog with content posted by student interns. http://aggieblogs.tamu.edu/
-Mays Business School also has a blog with content posted by student employees. http://mays.tamu.edu/blog/

Now, it's your turn! Please share your thoughts, experiences, and questions. Let's continue this discussion...

[Wally]

I heard some folks before the main discussion talking about Second Life and getting involved with that. I previously worked for a University that explored purchasing some Second Life property, what was then and I assume now, dubbed an "Education Island". That was several years ago, and considering that the general populous of Second Life has taken a sort of shady decline in regards to... let's say moral practices, I wouldn't recommend that platform.

Second Life had A LOT of potential, but I think it killed itself with a rough interface, shaky software/hardware, and a lack of regulation beyond making sure they got paid.

Just my two cents on that one though.

[Wally]

Great Twitter presentation from Evan Williams. I still have no love of Twitter for just following people, but the potential is still very cool.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/473

[Bill Gibbs]

Today I found a couple of interesting news articles worth reading:
Recruitment Marketing Calls for Smarter Spending:

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/02/26/recruitment-marketi...

and
The Evolution of Online Student Recruitment
http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/02/19/The-Evolution-of-On...

Both articles reference Bob Johnson's blog: http://www.bobjohnsonblog.com/

[Diane C.. McDonald]

On March 9, MarComm added social media icons to the bottom right of www.tamu.edu with direct links to our university presence on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, iTunes U, etc. Check it out!

Diane C. McDonald