photo credit: dbarefoot
Social Media is
 Consumer generated media It is media that is
designed to be shared, sharing means that it is easy to
comment on, that it is easy to send, there are no costs
associated with viewing the media and last but not
least it is always available.
 Social media enables people to share information with
friends and colleges using the Internet
RSS Readers
Really Simple Syndication
http://crankyprofessor.com
Social Networking
 Social Networking is the use of communities to
engage with others: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn,
Twitter. Social Networking sites often include social
media tools to facilitate the interaction and
conversation
Social Networking
Friendship
• Keeping in
Touch
• Developing
new
relationships
Sharing
• Photos
• Links
• Interests
Community
• Causes
• Beliefs
• Advocacy
Why is Social Media important?
 If your kids are awake they are probably online
 The average young American now spends every waking
minute – except the time in school – using a smart
phone, computer, TV or other electronic device
according to a new study from the Kaiser Family
Foundation. Those ages 8 – 18 spend more than 7
hours a day with such devices. And that does not
count the hour and a half that youths spend texting or
talking on their phones
16 to 24 year olds
 They have higher demands!!
 Growing up online has shaped how teens and young
adults receive, process and act on information. They
expect information to be brief, instant and always on
(there are no office hours)
Peer Endorsement
 The vast majority of people report the opinion they
trust most is from ‘someone like me’. For the first time
in our history, peers have bested the wisdom of experts
 Peer endorsement is the single greatest decisionmaking accelerant. Through Social Media, peer
influence cycles are happening at a velocity never
before seen. Decision making is clearly becoming
more social
The Asian Market
How popular are Social Networks?
 According to the analysts at Hitwise, social networks
in general are more popular than search engines in
some parts of the world
 Facebook’s overall web traffic pulled ahead of Google’s
for the first time in the U.S. in March of this year.
 Facebook dominates the current crop of social
networks, accounting for the majority (55%) of all
social site visits. When compared to the wider web,
Google gets around 9.3% of all web traffic, while
Facebook captures just over 7%
Why do colleges invest in Social
Media?
 For many of the same reasons they invest in more
traditional marketing and advertising
 Create awareness
 Encourage connection
 Inspire loyalty
 Create ambassadors
 Recruit best fit students
 Build powerful relations with alumni
 Create stronger reputations
Irish HEIs usage of Social Networks
 Private Colleges have been much faster to adopt social
communications than public colleges
 Public sector -greater usage in the last 9 months
 How do we rate compared to our main competitors?
What is Social Media and how can
you use it to enhance student
support?
 Social Media provides context, pictures, words, shared
meaning
 Facebook, YouTube ( some examples –education
programme information, housing, orientation,
announcements)
Video Share/Stream
Youtube.edu
Ustream
The toughest way to use social media is also one of the
best:
Give students something they need!
Online Student Support