FaceBook – Pathway Communications

Noted Social Media Scholar to Discuss How the Frequency of College Students’ Facebook Usage Correlates to Academic Engagement on #CollegeChat June 5th

Theresa Smith — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:04:32 +0000

Professor Rey Junco will discuss recent research on college students’ Facebook use #CollegeChat on June 5, 2012 at 9 p.m. Eastern

Dr. Rey Junco, professor at Lock Haven University and a youth and media lab mentor at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, will discuss his latest research on the relationship between Facebook use and college student engagement on #CollegeChat June 5, 2012 at 9 p.m. Eastern.

During #CollegeChat, Junco (http://twitter.com/reyjunco) will discuss research findings from a recent study he authored “The relationship between frequency of Facebook use, participating in Facebook activities, and student engagement” with attendees including:

Is there a relationship between frequency of Facebook use and activities and student engagement?
Is there a relationship between frequency of Facebook use and activities and time spent preparing for class?
Is there a relationship between frequency of Facebook use and activities and time spent in co-curricular activities?
Why are these results important for higher education administrators, faculty and staff important?
Why is it important for higher education to design and support interventions that meet students where they are on Facebook and other social media sites?

Rey Junco is a social media scholar who investigates the impact of social technologies on college students. Rey’s primary research interest is using quantitative methods to analyze the effects of social media on student psychosocial development, engagement, and learning. His research has also focused on informing best practices in using social technologies to enhance learning outcomes. For instance, Rey’s research has shown that technology, specifically social media like Facebook and Twitter, can be used in ways that improve engagement and academic performance. Rey has recently published papers on: the relationship between Facebook use, student engagement, and learning, the academic effects of multitasking, the digital divide in cell phone ownership and use, using social media to promote civil discourse on college campuses, and how Twitter can be used for academic purposes in order to increase student engagement and improve grades.

About #CollegeChat

#CollegeChat is a live bi-monthly conversation intended for teens, college students, parents, and higher education experts on Twitter. #CollegeChat takes place on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. PT/ 9 p.m. ET. Questions for each #CollegeChat edition can be sent to Theresa Smith, the moderator of #CollegeChat via http://Twitter.com/collegechat, by entering questions online on the CollegeChat Facebook page or by email. More detailed information about signing up for Twitter and participating in #Collegechat can be found at http://pathwaypr.com/how-to-participate-in-a-twitter-chat .

#CollegeChat Transcript: Social Media and Recruiting of High School Athletes

Theresa Smith — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 22:17:48 +0000

Social media has quickly transformed the world of athletic recruiting in just a short period of time according to Karen Weaver, EdD, director of Athletics for Penn State University-Abington and a TV color analyst for ESPN, CBS College Sports and Big Ten Network. Weaver was a recent guest on #CollegeChat and discussed how social media is benefitting both athletic programs and high school athletes who want to play in college.

During #CollegeChat, Weaver addressed the following questions:

How has social media changed athletic recruiting?

Can college coaches “friend” students on FaceBook? What are the guidelines?

What are the best practices in for both recruiters and prospective athletes to use in technology and social media?

What questions should an athlete ask a coach on a college visit?

Has social media changed high school athlete recruiting for the better?

How has social media helped get student athletes recruited? Is Youtube helping? Twitter feeds of club games?

Do high school students need to go through the expense of belonging to fee based online recruiting sites?

The entire transcript is available for download Social Media & Recruiting Transcript

Social Media’s Role on Recruiting High School Athletes #CollegeChat May 22, 2012

Theresa Smith — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:32:17 +0000

College Athletics Director and TV Sports Analyst to Discuss Growing Role of Social Media on Recruitment of High School Athletes #CollegeChat May 22, 2012

Karen Weaver, EdD, director of Athletics for Penn State University-Abington and a TV color analyst for ESPN, CBS College Sports and Big Ten Network, will discuss the growing role of social media on the recruiting of high school athletes during #CollegeChat on Twitter, May 22, 2012 at 9 p.m. Eastern.

In just the last few years the role of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have dramatically changed the recruiting of high school athletes according to Weaver. During #Collegechat, Weaver, https://twitter.com/#!/collegeathlete , will discuss:

How has social media changed athletic recruiting?
Has social media changed athlete recruiting for the better?
What are the pitfalls?
What are the best practices in for both recruiters and prospective athletes to use in technology and social media?
Are college coaches and their recruiters being too invasive on high school athletes’ privacy?
Should college coaches be allowed to “friend” students on FaceBook?
Are college coaches being allowed to ask for passwords in order to examine high school athletes’ student accounts?
How has social media helped get student athletes recruited?
Do high school students need to go through the expense of belonging to fee based online recruiting sites?

About Karen Weaver

Karen Weaver is an Ivy League-educated consultant, scholar, speaker, and administrator with experience that includes positions as a director of Athletics, adjunct professor, and head coach for schools at the NCAA Division I, III, and small college levels. Weaver is also a television color analyst for ESPN, CBS College Sports and Big Ten Network. As a former All-American and national championship coach, Weaver is recognized as an expert in broadcast rights and new media, athletic administration, and college recruitment; and also serves as a recruiting educator for student athletes, parents, and coaches. In addition, Weaver is an athletics consultant to senior leaders in higher education.

About #CollegeChat

Young Gen Y Doesn’t Want to Be Friends

Theresa Smith — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:27:30 +0000

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

Brands flocking to Facebook in order to connect with young consumers got some bad news last week from Forrester Research. According to a new report authored by Jacqueline Anderson, Forrester’s Consumer Insights Analyst, a mere 6 percent of 12 to 17 year olds wants to be friends with a brand on Facebook. The percentage increases to 12 percent of 18 to 24 year olds wanting to be friends with a brand.

According to Anderson, “Many brands are looking to social media as a strong digital channel to communicate with these consumers. But research shows that it is important to consider more than just consumers’ propensity to use a specific channel. Almost half of 12 to 17 year olds don’t think brands should have a presence using social tools at all.”

There is a silver lining for brands. Although young Gen Y’ers may not want to be friends, 74 percent of them are using “social networks to talk about products with friends and make recommendations.” Are you listening to them?

The Social Breakup: Why Consumers Unsubscribe

Theresa Smith — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 22:53:26 +0000

photo credit: WTL photos

How often should you be emailing your customers or potential customers? How many tweets can you send out each day? How many is too many? How much contact is too much on Facebook? In order to find out why consumers terminate their relationships with Brands through Email, Facebook, and Twitter, Exact Target, a global Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, surveyed more than 1500 consumers and came up with a number of key findings that they reported today in “The Social Break-Up”.

Email Key Findings:

95% of US Online Consumers use email
91% have unsubscribed to a company email
18% never open email from companies
17% of subscribers will delete or ignore email instead of unsubscribing or hitting the spam button
49% unsubscribe because the content is boring or repetitive

Facebook Key Findings:

73% of US online consumers have a Facebook profile
65% of US online consumers are active on Facebook
64% of Facebook users are “Fans” of a company
51% of Facebook Fans of a company rarely or never visit a company’s page after liking them
44% of Facebook Fans unlike a company because they post to frequently

Twitter Key Findings

17% of US consumers have a Twitter account
9% of US consumers who have created a Twitter account are active
41% of consumers who have followed a company have stopped following them later
Twitter users are less likely to unfollow a brand compared to Facebook or email users (41% for Twitter, 55% for Facebook, and 91% for email)

The question is, why have you unsubscribed to a Brand?

Twitter Followers or Facebook Fans: Which is better?

Theresa Smith — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 22:54:40 +0000

photo credit: Franco Bouly

The answer is Twitter according to research from ExactTarget. According to the study and reported on by Social Media Today, “Twitter followers are more likely to induce advocacy and future purchases” than those on Facebook. Social Media Today reported that “according to their data, 37% of respondents were more likely to purchase from a brand after following them on Twitter as opposed to only 17% of those that “like” a brand on Facebook.”

When the respondents were asked if they were more likely to recommend a Brand after following them on Twitter, 33% of Twitter followers were more likely to recommend a Brand compared to 21% of Facebook fans.

What has been your experience?

NPR Twitter User Survey says…

Theresa Smith — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:34:23 +0000

NPR Twitter User Survey 2010

View more presentations from NPR Audience Insight & Research.

Are You Afraid of Bloggers and Social Media? Maybe You Should Be.

Theresa Smith — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:24:29 +0000

photo credit: M i x y

Are you or your Brand afraid of bloggers and social media? Well, maybe you should be–especially if your brand is still sitting on the side lines and not listening. Jessica Gottlieb , a powerful voice on the Internet and a mom blogger, recently wrote two excellent posts “Five Simple Steps to Bringing a Brand to their Virtual Knees” and “Six Tips for Brand Managers Who Might Be Afraid of Bloggers” . Gottlieb is that “Jessica Gottlieb” that started the “#MotrinMoms” backlash on Twitter in November 2008.

Gottlieb expressed her displeasure with Motrin’s ad campaign that she and others felt wasn’t supportive of new mothers and in a series of tweets expressed that “picking on new mothers is vile.” Her tweets set off a reaction that reverberated across Twitter and then the Internet and finally the mainstream press and it wasn’t until Monday that Motrin finally responded to the moms they were trying so hard to connect with but by then the damage was done http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/11/17/motrin-mothers-groundswell-by-the-numbers/ .In just a weekend, the mommy bloggers had mobilized and expressed their anger in their own blogs, on Twitter, on FaceBook where they created a “Boycott Motrin” Group, on YouTube where they added their own videos, as well as on Flickr. That same weekend the controversy was picked up by mainstream media including the New York Times http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/moms-and-motrin/?scp=1&sq=Motrin%20Moms%202008&st=cse

The title alone of the first post should get your attention if you still think you can sit social media out. In her first post, Gottlieb clearly lays out the steps of how anyone with a blog and or a Twitter account and a handful of followers can take aim at a corporation. Jessica’s steps consist of:

1) Timing is everything: Large corporations close up in the evenings, and many are completely checked out on weekends. If you post something critical of them on a Friday evening, you have a two to three day head start on your buzz versus theirs.

2) Ask readers to take an action and report back: When you post about the evil corporation be sure to ask your readers to do something other than just read. Ask them to call or email (letter writing campaigns have gone the way of the brontosaurus).

3) Track and share the momentum: Set up a google alert. If you’re asking people to say #xyzstinks then you will want updates as quickly as possible so that you can support people who write #xyzstinks. As people are writing be sure to share it in public forums like Twitter, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg.

4) Go multimedia: Really, multimedia doesn’t mean internet, TV and radio. Multimedia (in our frame of reference) means text, audio and video. Post your message to your blog, to cinch, and to YouTube.

5) Get redundant: Stay on message and repeat it ad nauseum. I recognize that after a day or so it’s unlikely that you will care any longer, but stamina is everything. Constant blog posts in every blog you contribute to are key. Repeat steps one through four tirelessly.

As a PR professional, I recommend that companies pay attention to all of these steps but also take a closer look at step 1 –“Timing is everything.” Companies still naively think that if they have bad news that they are required to release they need to drop it on Fridays after the Stock Market closes. Depending on who you are and what you have to announce that just won’t fly anymore. You may think you are pulling a fast one on the traditional press that follows your company but you won’t be pulling a fast one on the bloggers that work 24/7. In addition, the tradional press may also spend the weekend digging up more to include in their story. And like Motrin, you might end up with quite a mess on your hands before the weekend even wraps up.

Maybe you might be thinking that since your company is B2B you don’t need to worry about a possible “groundswell” catching up to your company. Sure you want to bet on that? Jessica’s steps can be used just as easily to target B2B companies as easily as they can be used to target B2C companies.

If her first post gave you pause, then her second post “Six Tips for Brand Managers Who Might Be Afraid of Bloggers” can serve as a road map to get your company moving. Gottlieb recommends:

1. Build Social Capital early and often: The best way to make sure you never have a big problem with bloggers is by participating in their discussions before the drama.

2. Do not hand social media over to interns: Interns are adorable, and I recognize that businesses need them for things like answering phones and fetching coffee. However, when your intern is in charge of your facebook page you’ve just handed the keys over to someone who was probably delivering pizza last month.

3. Monitor your brand round the clock: Small businesses do it, because they have to. You need to also. It doesn’t have to be one person, but at the barest minimum a google alert with YourBrandHere and boycott, sucks, or criminal as a keyword will keep you informed of a tempest brewing.

4. Respond truthfully: One big criticism of of the Motrin fiasco is that the apology wasn’t sincere (authentic).

5. Don’t participate if you don’t have the resources: Really. I honest to goodness recommend that brands stay out of social media if they aren’t going to make it part of their business. Do not set up a facebook page and then let it sit there. If you want to protect your name online buy your URL’s, take your twitter ID’s and just park them. Don’t invite a conversation you won’t show up for.

6. Just be yourself. Social media isn’t about your brand, it’s about you.

Building social capital is critical and without it you won’t be able to build a good relationship with the community your business needs. It doesn’t mean pushing out non stop information about your company and products. It means “listening” first to the discussions in the communities you are looking for a home in. It then means offering useful information to that community or better sharing the information of the other community members first.

I also “love” that tip # 2 recommends that companies not turn over social media to interns. In the last year I have heard a number of companies –including PR companies– either talk about their plan to turn “social media” over to an intern or who have already done it and it always leaves me aghast. Just because an intern has been on FaceBook longer than anyone over 25—and that is because it was originally a college only community– doesn’t mean they have the expertise of company, customer, products or the industry you are in. Would you really send your intern in to close a deal with a potential customer you have been chasing for years or to represent you to the technology reporter you want so badly to cover your company? Then why would you do it in social media?

One other tip I would offer is “transparency”. Gottlieb mentions in tip #4 being authentic—truthful. It is also important to remember in social media that people don’t want to talk with a logo. They want to talk with a person. If you’re tweeting say who you are right up there in your profile. If you have to talk behind a logo try to persuade management to add your name on the Twitter page so your followers can more easily engage with you.

Read the full posts. They are excellent.

Still afraid?

How to quickly check your Facebook privacy settings

Theresa Smith — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:35:01 +0000

If you are at all concerned about your privacy on Facebook–and you should be– then you might be interested in a nifty bookmark tool by ReclaimPrivacy.org I came across today via Mike Melanson of ReadWriteWeb . According to Mike:

The bookmarklet (essentially a snippet of Javascript that executes from your browser bar) assesses your Facebook settings in a number of different areas. It looks at personal information, contact information, friends, tags and connections, known applications that leak personal information and whether or not your friends can accidentally share your information. It also checks whether or not you’re currently sharing information via the controversial “Instant Personalization” that was unveiled last month at f8.

The bookmarklet is easy to install and this is what it looked like after it ran a scan on my own Facebook privacy settings.

Yikes!

To see if your Facebook account privacy settings pass, all you need to do is follow these directions from Mike’s article:

To run the bookmarklet and see how private you may or may not be on Facebook, simply follow these directions:

Drag this link to your web browser bookmarks bar: Scan for Privacy

Log in to facebook.com and then click that bookmarklet

You will see a series of privacy scans that inspect your privacy settings and warn you about settings that might be unexpectedly public.

How to select Facebook privacy settings

Theresa Smith — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:11:29 +0000