Brad J. Ward recently discovered that marketers from a company interested in reaching incoming freshman was out disingenuously making hundreds of X University Class of 2013 groups on Facebook. The perspectives from both Ward and his commenters are worthy of some deep consideration.
While backs were turned snubbing social media and Facebook, people with interests were proactive and hosted conversations they wanted to be visible in and a part of. This should not be surprising; it is natural. There are instances all across the web where marketers who have the interest and the budget “host” conversations, groups, and networks. Some seem authentic, some seem like posers.
Here’s my thing: would Nike get accosted for creating “Atlanta Runners and Athletes” with a map of Atlanta? I know I know, you’re going to say its not the same thing. And, it’s not. The city of Atlanta isn’t actively trying to manage its brand and doesn’t have a trademark on its aerial image. However, it is the same in the sense that this is a reasonable thing for Nike to do because Nike wants to be there when people in Atlanta coordinate athletic activities.
CollegeProwler shouldn’t have to apologize for creating groups. (Universities could send them a cease and desist for hijacking the branding, which was in poor taste.) Now that admissions offices want into those groups, I bet if they asked CollegeProwler to kindly turn over administrative rights in exchange for a link to the CollegeProwler site in the group posts, CollegeProwler would be more than happy to hand them over.
Facebook is a free for all, and no group is the “official” group of anything just as @student points out. You could, right now, go and create a group called “The OFFICIAL Brittany Spears Fan Club.” Then, you could dramatically portray Ms. Spears all wrong. Her fans would in no way be duped by this; they just go wherever there’s claim to support her and they will ultimately gravitate to the best community and the most authentic communication channel.
So, admissions offices could be like the record industry – they could make a lot of enemies by waging war on all of the people taking advantage of their own slowness. Or they could do what would work: go host the best community and create the most authentic communication channel about their college or university. The could try it through an off-facebook community that will just add another barrier to particpation. Or, they could figure out how to tame the beast. Talk about your strategies here in this Facebook group.
I, of course, hope they do it by watching our intros on Facebook for Universities and Colleges and ultimately choosing to use Schools on Facebook. After all, though I think I am authentic. a secondary motive for this discussion is that Inigral, Inc is present in these types of conversations.
“CollegeProwler shouldn’t have to apologize for creating groups.”
It's not creating the groups that concerns me. It's the blatant misrepresentation of college students pretending to be '09 high school graduates. Hiring students to falsely create content in an effort to gain from it is absurd.
Thanks for your thoughts!
That's true. I am not trying to defend CollegeProwler as much as move the conversation from “can you believe they would do that?” to “okay, people will do things like that. instead of letting these people pose as us, we should be hosting and participating in online communities like Facebook ourselves.”
Social media is kind of a land grab. So, grab land!
Definitely. @timnekritz had a quotable tweet the other day. It basically said, “we have the land but we don't have the blueprints.” Even if you're not sure what you are going to build, get your land before it's gone.
Or as the old saying goes… Location, Location, Location.
This exact thing has been happening for three years on MySpace… thousands of MySpace Groups and profiles for universities on MySpace and maybe 5% actually run by the universities themselves. Some by alumni, some by current students, and some by marketing companies that want to reach prospective students.
I am honestly surprised that higher ed is so surprised by what happened with these Facebook Groups… this is so common in the business and nonprofit sectors on Facebook. I knew higher ed was behind in Web 2.0 (a lot of fear, misconceptions, and hoops to jump through to get permission to embrace Web 2.0)… but this highlights how most really are not aware of how the Web has evolved over the last 2-3 years.
And there are hundreds if not thousands of unofficial “Facebook Pages” out there… which grow almost 500% faster than Groups and the future of your long-term brand on Facebook.
YouTube URLs for universities were squatted years ago… happening on Twitter this very second.
This is the number one reason why higher ed needs to be on all these sites… if they don't do it officially, some else will for them… unofficially. Welcome to the Brave New World of Web 2.0… you have more to lose by not participating!
College Prowler actually had a good business impulse to set up these Groups… again, very normal in Web 2.0… but I just don't think they thought through how higher ed would react… the Great Wake-Up Call… shall we say?
All universities should have:
1) Facebook Groups for the next 8 graduating classes.
2) A Facebook Page
3) A MySpace profile (incredibly high ROI… basically scrap everything you have been told about MySpace… higher ed's love for Facebook is so blinding that can't see the power of Myspace… it's weird).
4) A YouTube Channel
5) A Twitter profile
6) LinkedIn Groups for Alumni (guess how many of those are unofficial on LinkedIn?!).
7) A Flickr account.
Good luck!
Re: Your Facebook group for Alumni Engagement, two comments…
There is a group called Alumni Relations on Facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2363348857
There are 484 members. Might save you some trouble to post comments there, instead of starting yet another group.
Also, your group has a typo in the URL for the Inigral site.
hello,your blog is interesting.
welcome to my page!
—
tiffany jewellery
This way, you can limit your audience. This is crucial for the 95% of higher education that still think that being .tiffany bracelets
tiffany necklaces
Tiffany Co. diamond necklaces such as Sliver Necklaces, Heart Necklaces, Beaded necklaces and Chain necklaces, select from a wide variety of Tiffany Rings
Tiffany Bracelet
Publishers are accountable for accuracy. I know that the argument for open source is that the contributors will ensure accuracy, but that is yet to be seen.
Tapanzee and I have never heard of a part of a bridge being called a mouth. How do you know that the Nyack side is the mouth? I am sure the people across the river in Westchester County will be upset that they are “the butt”.
The concerns I have with “open source” are brought out in your first sentence….
It is Nyack, New York, not Dayac. The bridge is the Tappan Zee Bridge, not the
actually, this helps to prove the open source point. you corrected me less than 24 hours after my mistake, and now it's corrected. if there's an error in a textbook, it can't be fixed until next revision (which is going to cost another $100).
The gulf between the big textbook publishers and start-ups like Flatworld Knowledge and CK12 is cogently summarized in a recent book by Clayton Christensen, “Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns”:
The distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks that knocked out Twitter for hours and affected other sites like Facebook, Google's Blogger, and LiveJournal on Thursday continued all day Friday and may persist throughout the weekend.
mens diamond wedding rings
Social networking has encouraged new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people.
world of warcraft gold
This proved to be beneficial for both the employer and the employee, because this improvement in human capital caused employees to become more efficient, which lowered costs for the employer, and skilled employees received a relatively higher wage than employees with just primary educational attainment.
Southampton dental implants
This week many eyes have been on the town of Austin, Texas as the music, film, and interactive conference/festival known as SXSW takes place. I knew someone that was going to be at SXSW, armed with a Kodak Zi6, and he was nice enough to write a recap of his experience there.
iPhone
Pass4sure, a professional training website in IT certification exam, is designed for IT candidates who want to pass any IT exams. With its high quality products and 24*7 considerable services, Pass4sure has strengthened its leading position in this field, and attracted many famous vendors like Cisco, Microsoft, IBM, Sun, compTIA, HP, etc.
The Most Popular Vendors List :000-223|sy0-101|642-446|70-672|MB6-820|642-812|640-816|70-630|642-164|MB6-817|70-270|70-294|642-642|MB6-817|642-373|650-251|646-230|VCP-310|350-029|MB6-817|!
This is the number one reason why higher ed needs to be on all these sites… if they don't do it officially, some else will for them unofficially.College Prowler actually had a good business impulse to set up these Groups.
In sum, Facbook made its ToS so that your historical data and content survives you canceling your Facebook account. Then, in the face of usual user unrest, Facebook repealed.
After rumors of an impending deal leaked two days earlier, MySpace officially announced its acquisition of music startup iLike on Wednesday. Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, AllThingsD reported that the unit of News Corp. paid $13.5 million in cash upfront, and promised an additional $6 million to retain founders Ali and Hadi Partovi and other iLike talent.
Fun Games To Play
For those of you about to begin your senior year of high school and considering or planning to apply to WPI, now’s your chance to join the official WPI Class of 2014 Facebook group. This group is a great place for you to meet other students considering attending WPI. You never know, you might even connect with your future roommate or best friend
I knew higher ed was behind in Web 2.0 (a lot of fear, misconceptions, and hoops to jump through to get permission to embrace Web 2.0)… but this highlights how most really are not aware of how the Web has evolved over the last 2-3 years.
For those of you about to begin your senior year of high school and considering or planning to apply to WPI, now’s your chance to join the official WPI Class of 2014 Facebook group. This group is a great place for you to meet other students considering attending WPI.
The use of computers and the Internet is in its infancy in developing countries, if these are used at all, due to limited infrastructure and the attendant high costs of access. Usually, various technologies are used in combination rather than as the sole delivery mechanism.
eve isk
cheap uggs for sale
Ugg Boots
ugg boots cheap
uggs on sale
cheap ugg boots online
ugg boots sale
uggs on sale
Ugg Bailey Button
Ugg Classic Boots
Uggs on sale
cheap ugg boots
ugg boot
cheap uggs
ugg
UGG Cardy boots
UGG Classic Crochet
UGG Classic Mini
UGG Classic Short
UGG Classic Tall
UGG Coquette Slipper
UGG Lo Pro Button
UGG New Style Boots
UGG Nightfall
UGG Rainier Eskimo
UGG Sundance
UGG Ultra Short
UGG Ultra Tall
ugg australia boots
bailey boots
bailey button boots
button boots
cardy boots
cardy boots sale
classic short boots
classic short boots sale
classic tall boots
Ugg Bailey
ugg bailey boots
Ugg Bailey Button Boots
ugg button boots
UGG Cardy
ugg cardy boots
ugg cardy sale
UGG Classic Cardy boots
UGG Classic Cardy sale
ugg classic short sale
UGG Classic Tall
ugg classic short boots
ugg classic tall boots
ugg classic tall sale
ugg short boots
ugg short boots sale
ugg tall
ugg tall boots
ugg bailey black
Ugg Bailey Button Chocolate
Ugg Bailey Button sand
ugg classic cardy boots grey
ugg classic cardy cream
UGG Classic Cardy grey
ugg classic cardy oatmeal
ugg classic short black
ugg classic short grey
ugg classic short paisley
UGG Classic Tall black
ugg classic tall chestnut
UGG Classic Tall chocolate
UGG Classic Tall sand
chenxi