Edustir blog

Came across this blog Edustir this evening (by following a link in Twitter), and here's a guy (Ron Bronson) with some interesting thoughts on the use of social media tools by Universities.

For example in "debunking you have to go where the students are" Ron Bronson talks about why you shouldn't invest energies in developing a social media presence, by pointing out the downsides of using Facebook et al. He also points out what the benefits can be, and shows how these may highlight deficits in an institution's web strategy

In "Social Media is not a Must Have" he states: "The three keys to remember about social media deployment are:

1. Doing it wrong can hurt you, more than it can help you.

2. Learning and maximizing any new technology takes time and money. Without the personnel to effectively deploy and utilize these tools consistent with your messaging, you’ll found yourself floundering on another platform. With more work to do.

3. All of the social media in the world won’t revive a moribund institutional brand with no focus. You have to create a cohesive message and promulgate that in all your other areas of marketing, to extend your value into social media."

He goes on to say "There’s a great deal of value in these tools and it’s incumbent for institutions to start pushing the envelope; not just in how these tools are used, but how their teams are structured to maximize benefits, break down silos and create better information sharing within institutions.

But make no mistake, social media is not a low-investment, high-yield tool. It requires attention and dedication to achieve success."

Thought provoking stuff as many of us experiment with these technologies and look to see how we can best get an advantage out of them, at the same time ensuring that we send the right messages to current and future students.

And leaves me with the usual questions - the innovators, the leading edge users of these tools (I mean staff here, not students who are already often more switched on to these tools), how are their developments controlled by the institution? Should they be controlled? Will control limit innovation? Will lack of control potentially diminish the message or indeed mean the wrong message is sent?