1. “Getting the Word Out – Communicating With Your Students in Today’s World”

2. Do not forget the basics: Primary Source of Information Secondary Sources of Information

3. Primary Sources Paper letters E-mail When do you obtain email addresses? Assign an institutional email address… but how do you ensure they check it?? Keep subject line consistent and identifiable Be able to handle rejected email addresses Be able to produce a paper letter if student requests

4. Why a Secondary Source? No longer a one way street Generational Millennials are the heaviest users Baby Boomers are the fastest growing users People now spend more time on social networking sites than on e-mail

5. Why? What’s in it for You? Meeting students where they are Larger reach with fewer resources Common questions  Shorter lines Gives you a competitive advantage If you’re not out there, who is?

6. Secondary Sources: Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Newsletters, text messages, phone messages, etc. Facebook, Texting, and YouTube were the most widely used Many were blocked from accessing social media sites at work Used social media more in their personal lives

7. What’s going on today? Facebook has over 500 million users If Facebook were a country it would be the 3 rd largest An average Facebook user spends: 55 minutes a day 6.5 hours a week 1.2 days a month More than 30 billion pieces of content shared each month

8. What’s going on today? YouTube Receives over 2 billion viewers each day 24 hours of video uploaded every minute More than half of YouTube users are under age 20 To watch all the videos currently on YouTube, a person has to live for around 1,000 years Twitter 80% of Twitter users use Twitter on mobile devices Over 50 million tweets in 2010 Over 100 million current users

9. Social Media: How do you begin? What resources do you have available People Content (text, videos) Tools Training Make it official: Have requirements and approval process for an official university social media account. Have whoever approves the account designated as an administrator Crisis management/handling negative sentiment & mistakes

10. Things to Remember Not just a duplication of your website- BE INTERACTIVE! Make sure the information here is also made available through your university’s primary source Should be treated a little more professionally than other typical social medial accounts. Use relevant keywords in “About Us” box Check for format and spelling! Keep posts short and to-the-point Include FAQs, Photo Tabs, Events, Deadlines, Links, Use e-mail or your listserv to announce your page

11. Promote Facebook and Twitter icons on your website Cross-promote Hosts contests to gain followers Weekly updates to retain fans Interact Use your website to push information Make students, faculty, alums your advocates

12. Security and Privacy Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Privacy settings Encourage students to use caution Social media is public

13. What’s on the horizon Mashable Social Media Today TechCrunch The Next Web Social Media Examiner Resources Fascinating Social Media Facts 2010 21 Creative Ways to Increase Your Facebook Fanbase