The rewards and risks
of Web2.0
Q:
Is this Social Media stuff Risky
Business?
A: No way. What could possibly go
wrong?
It’s really just a tool
• Respect the fundamentals
• One voice, one message
– The dialogue must be written
• Use data to establish direction
• Remember, not everyone is equally ready
Overview: Social Media
• The tools
– The Web
– Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
– Blogs & Video blogs
– Social Networks
The Tools (continued)
– Social Networks
• Facebook
• Twitter
• MySpace (but not so much anymore)
• Sharing (Share This)
Overview
• The Tools (continued)
– Tracking tools
• Technorati
• Google Search
• Google Analytics
The Web
• Everyone we deal with uses the web
– The Electronic Newsroom
• Print
• Broadcast
• Online Outlets
– Your University Homepage
– Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN
• 140+ million visitors a month
• 16 million to ABC, NBC, CBS & FOX
• 30 million to CNN (online)
The Web and NC State
• Approx. 70,000 people a day visit either
– www.ncsu.edu
– news.ncsu.edu
• More than 25 million a year are making the
choice to visit one of our sites and seek out
news & information about North Carolina State
University
Web-based Media Kit
news.ncsu.edu
• Web version of traditional materials
– Links to online sources & resources referenced
in releases
– More than 2,000 followers on Twitter (NC State
News)
– “Share our good news” page solicits friends to
spread the word through their own Twitter and
Facebook accounts
Web-based Media Kit
news.ncsu.edu
• News visibility on NC State Home Page
– Bottom half of the home page is dedicated to
news content
– News page is one of the 10 most-visited sites at
ncsu.edu
RSS
• Syndicating your content directly to
subscribers
– Newsfeeds to reporters
– News area of your site and syndicates
• Platform for other media
• Others can share your feeds
Blogs and higher education
• They’re everywhere
• Admission, alumni, students, faculty all
have blogs on sites out there
• Millions of “citizen journalists”
– Blogs (189 million around the world)
www.HiceSchool.com
Your school
is being blogged
• Students talking with prospective
students, faculty talking with parents –
it’s happening
• Do you embrace the madness?
Blogs as commodity
• Colleges and universities have
jumped all over blogs, so where is
the differentiation?
• Trendy and cheap, but sustainability
is the key
Twitter
• Do I really need to know what you’re
doing every waking moment?
Twitter Is Growing
• twitter.com had about 5 million
site visits in December 2008
• 23 million in December 2009
• 75 million users (17% twittered
last month)
Twitter Can Be Useful
• Share links, news, feedback,
answers, insights, even real-time
coverage of news and events.
• Listen to the social media
conversation surrounding your brand,
participate in it and affect it.
Twitter News Coverage
Blogs & Twitter are about influence
• Influence is directly related to your following
– Your following is your audience
• Massive influence online translates to massive
influence off-line
• If you do them well, you become your own
media channel
– Today’s student/institution has started building his or
her online network
– Where will you/they be in 5 – 10 – 20 years
Web Video
• Viral/shared video is the new “it” technology
– November 2009: 30 billion videos viewed online on
the US
• Video and flash are far more prevalent now
– 63% of adult Americans have broadband
– Flash is on 99% of internet-enabled desktops
• The “Trickle Up” effect
– 60% of Internet users consume user-generated
content
The cast of players
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
YouTube/Google
Fox Interactive Media
Yahoo Video
Viacom Digital
Microsoft
HuLu
AOL
YouTube/Google
• About 40% share of the market
• 12.2 billion videos in November 2009
– YouTube accounts for more than 12 bill
– 94.7 videos per viewer (per month)
– The others – 19 billion downloads/views in
November 2009 from the competitors
»
Source: comScore
Social networking
• 82% increase in time spent on social
networking sites over the past year.
• Sites like MySpace, Facebook and
others are where prospective and
current students, alumni, etc. gather
• 206.9 million unique visitors to
Facebook in Dec. 2009
Facebook
• 90% of full-time U.S. college students
are members
• Two-thirds visit daily
• 300 million active users
The great debate
• Do we follow them?
• Do we monitor them?
• Is leadership
important?
Keep the web in your toolkit
• Develop your strategies and goals first
– There is no magic bullet
• Know the technologies
– Where is a blog or Facebook appropriate?
• Apply, measure, move on
Questions to ask yourself
• Are you ready to make the commitment?
– It does take some work to make it happen
• Do you really want interaction and more
transparency?
– And does your boss?
• The entry costs are low – but the cost of not
following through can be great.
– Sustainability