Social media in the business of higher education –from the Huffington Post by James Michael Nolan
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
If Social Media were a person, I would have to make her the highest paid employee at Southwestern College. Her job description would be five pages long. Maybe ten.
As it is, I am the president of a graduate school, I am in my fifties, and Social Media has become my Swiss Army Knife for doing business in higher education. I am a digital immigrant, and am embarrassed to say I have more often than not gone kicking and screaming into each new social media platform that comes along. Initially, I thought they were all, each for their own special reason, stupid. I wish I were exaggerating or being cute. At some point, I read a book about each one, or get some mentoring, and ultimately I end up breathing each one in deeply, letting it teach me its value, sing me its song. Not sure why I take that scenic route, but that is probably another blog.
So, about Social Media in higher education…
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I farm a lot of the work out to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Scoop.It, Hootsuite, Google Plus, You Tube and the online newswires.
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Prospective students now show up routinely, saying “I feel like I know you guys already from your videos and blogs and Facebook page … I’ve been following you for months…” It is gratifying, and it is good business, and it is authentic.
That last is probably the most gratifying of all. The new business sensibility, which has been completely transformed by social media, calls for building relationships, connectivity, collaboration, transparency.