Social Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As with everything in life, there are some challenges and risks associated with taking your brand (in this case, your university) social or not taking it social. Forbes has a list of 12 Risks of Adopting Social Media that I believe could be applied to any industry, including higher ed. I pulled out the top choices that I felt particularly applied in our case. They are as follows:

1. Human Error: Why yes, we humans make mistakes all the time. In the age of brands making direct contact with their consumers, in real time, there is no question mistakes will happen.
2. Processes: All of that back-end stuff that nobody seems to like needs to come from somewhere. Permissions, approvals, access, etc. needs to be set up before anyone can even get started.
3. Legal: Ah, yes… there is always the possibility of not adhering to certain privacy laws, content ownership, and intellectual property infringement. Not to mention harassment, defamation, and all that not so fun stuff.
4. Data: Somebody needs to collect it, process it, store it, and protect it. Cyber crimes are no joke these days.
5. Compliance: There are tens of thousands of rules and regulations the US must follow when it comes to electronic communications.
6. Reputation: So much content is being created and shared all of the time. Any sort of mistakes or even hacks can have a huge negative impact on your university. (1)

I’d have to say that reputation is the biggest concern in terms of social media risks for a university. And, sadly, it is probably the students that can cause the most damage. Perfect example, anyone remember back in 2011 when a UCLA student posted an incredibly racist rant on YouTube? There was immediate and incredible backlash and the student was publicly ridiculed, both online and in person. She ended up taking the video down, but as they say, once it’s on the internet, it’s there forever. While UCLA didn’t actually kick her out, she ended up withdrawing from the university. Now, I know, it’s horrible that UCLA has to be associated with this because it was a student acting independently. But unfortunately, people are going to tie that back to the institution because that is where she went to school and it ultimately hurts UCLA’s reputation too. (2) 

But, let’s be real here. The benefits of social media usage actually far surpass the risks… especially when your target audience is millennials. (Yay for that!) As a mentioned in a previous post of mine, more than 98% of college-aged students use social media so a university would be seriously crazy not to use it. (3) This is an actual photo of what students see these days:

Okay, okay. Maybe not literally but you get what I mean. Aside from this obvious benefit, not getting social might also have a negative impact in the classroom. Since every student seems to be online, professors need to embrace that. Not to use another list (sorry, I like lists) but, here are some of the positives that social media brings to the classroom:

• Educational Tool: Every student arrives on campus pretty much fluent in all of the latest technologies. Why not use this to your advantage? Enhance their learning experience by encouraging collaboration, discussion and interaction online.
• Enhance Student Engagement: They love social media! Talk about a great way to get them more involved and improve their communication skills. There are so many students out there who never want to be “that kid who raises their hand in class” but they might be totally comfortable online. Get those shy students engaged.
• Improve Communication with Students and Professors: It is a common playing field. Find the students where they are, as we all know they are notoriously terrible at reading and answering their emails. Professors can answer homework questions, post assignment information, send updates and announce any upcoming event information and feel better knowing students are more likely to see it on social media than anywhere else.
• Preparing Students for Successful Employment: This is what it’s all about, people! Students can utilize social media sites to find a job. Like I mentioned in my very first blog post (here), LinkedIn is an incredible source for jobs, internships, networking, etc. Some universities even use Twitter to share things like job postings and internship opportunities. (4)

So, if you’re not “getting social”, you run the risk of not providing all of these fantastic benefits to your students. The students are online and they are staying there. You better be there too.

Do YOU think the benefits of using social media outweigh the risks? Tell me!

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This post would not have been possible without…
1 http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannabelbey/2015/05/21/protect-your-firm-from-the-13-risks-of-social-media/#1af668b35439

2 http://www.northeastern.edu/securenu/social-media-your-online-reputation/

3 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/social-media-college-mental-health_us_55ae6649e4b08f57d5d28845

4 https://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/01/19/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-in-the-classroom.aspx

Photo credit to…
https://pixabay.com/