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Written by Elizabeth Martin
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Thursday, 25 August 2011 13:44 |
 The social media craze actually began as a tool for college students to interact with each other. After all, Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow classmates founded Facebook™ specifically for the students of Harvard College. Within the next few years of its existence, the site had infiltrated most colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
If you’re a college student, you know how popular Facebook is. How many people do you know who don’t have a Facebook page? According to Huffington Post.com, four out of five high school and college students say websites are an excellent way to interact with fellow students. Seven in 10 say they’re equally good for getting information on class assignments or school events, or to form study groups and collaborate with peers.
As college freshmen take those first very meaningful steps into the brave new world, waiting for them inside those ivy-covered walls is the ability to connect with fellow underclassmen. For as overwhelming as the first few weeks can be, the ability to seek the answers to important questions is as close as the keys on your
computer or cell phone.
In an effort to learn more about social networking from a collegiate perspective, IndependentNEPA asked our institutions of higher learning what they suggest for incoming students. Turns out, most refer students to Facebook. Some have group pages set up specifically for their students.
“Our student activities coordinator uses Facebook as a method of informing students when events are taking place on campus,” said Penn State Wilkes-Barre Public Information Coordinator Melissa Gunshannon. “And a number of our student organizations also have Facebook pages for the purpose of disseminating information.”
According to King’s College Assistant Director of Public Relations Joseph Giomboni, “We have a Facebook application for incoming students to meet before coming to campus that’s run through our Admissions Department. Also, our IT department launched Communi-K, which is limited to mainly classifieds and events on campus.”
“Wilkes University has its own Facebook page, as Alumni Relations does,” said Vicki Mayk, associate director of Public Relations. “While some students follow those pages, they were not set up as communications vehicles for students. Our mascot, ‘The Colonel’, has his own Facebook page, too.”
“LinkedIn™ is used by our alumni folks, as well,” she added. “We have an internal website, MyWilkes, and that is used for internal communications.”
Misericordia University Web Content Coordinator Steve Filipiak agrees that Facebook provides exactly what it needs when it comes to social networking.
“In our experience, when students first come to the University they have many questions,” he said. “They seek out a connection, and Facebook serves that purpose. The key is a timely response, and they can find what they need through social media.”
Upon admission at Misericordia University, incoming students have the ability to create an account, which provides them with access to an internal social network to connect them with other incoming students. They can post questions, upload photos, and Instant Message in an exclusive Facebook like environment.
“Our student population already uses social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter™, and YouTube™, so we looked into how we could adapt them to meet our needs as well,” Filipiak added. “We are also aware of Google+™, which is still in the beta testing stage, but we will look at and evaluate what it might offer our students.”
Luzerne County Community College Marketing Director Robert Bogdon sees social networking as the best method of reaching out to the largest amount of people at one time.
“Facebook is a nice format for communicating and interacting with the students,” he explained. “MySpace™ is popular among students and alumni, and Twitter is also widely used. As we are geared heavily toward announcing news and events, we have actually created a mobile app for the iPhone™; and, to address future needs, we are also looking at how we can utilize Google+.”
Social networking has infiltrated every part of college life. From the constant minimizing of Facebook in lecture halls to spreading the word about a party, social networking has become a defining factor of college life. Facebook now offers video chat powered by Skype™, so there is no longer a need for separate Facebook and Skype accounts because you’re already friends with them on Facebook.
As advanced as social networking appears, it still can’t replace one-on-one socializing, so spend some time in the real world and make some real college memories. You will be really glad you did.
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