Connecting with the Facebook Generation: Social Media Strategies for Web 2.0
Presentation to the 2008 AARAO Conference, “Diverse Perspectives: A New Generation of Students,” June 4-6 2008, Halifax NS
Web 2.0 is already old hat for today’s high school students, who take for granted the streaming video of YouTube, photo-sharing on Flickr, the three-dimensional experience of virtual worlds like Second Life, and “always-on” friendships via Twitter and Facebook. What should guidance and admissions professionals know about social media, and how can they leverage social networks as a potentially powerful channel for communicating with a new generation?
The real potential of Web 2.0 for PSE recruitment is much more than streaming video, podcasts, student blogs or even online virtual campuses. The power of social media lies in the exponential impact of viral marketing campaigns, peer referrals, and interactive conversations with young people, mediated by their choice of technology. These new, bidirectional channels demand whole new ways of thinking about communications strategy.
In this presentation, Ken Steele will provide an overview of social media trends as they affect guidance and admissions professionals, a summary of key new technologies, some preliminary research findings from Academica Group’s national UCAS™ Applicant Study and its pioneering “SkoolPool” Facebook application, and examples of innovative and effective social media strategies from a range of sectors.