Seattle University's social media presence is ahead of the curve, according to a recent online ranking. Seattle U ranked 82nd on StudentAdvisor.com's "Top 100 Social Media Colleges."
Johns Hopkins University, whose social media accounts are run primarily by current students, ranked first in the nation. Although Seattle U's social media accounts are not run by students, the site hailed the university's work, saying "Yep, the Redhawks get it — just check out their Facebook wall."
With its 9,913 Facebook fans and 8,000 followers on Twitter, this ranking suggests that Seattle U is at the forefront of the social media race, particularly among Jesuit universities. While Georgetown University ranked 43rd and Boston College ranked 48th in StudentAdvisor.com's list, fellow Jesuit institutions Gonzaga University and Santa Clara University did not make
the list.
In the early days of social networking at Seattle U, former social media coordinator David James Weidner explored the "Wild West" of social media and the complicated audience dynamics that accompany it.
Weidner is the father of Seattle U's social media presence, having worked to develop accounts on sites including Facebook and Twitter, as well as YouTube, LinkedIn and Zinch (a site designed for high school seniors researching potential colleges).
"What we found is that content that played well on Facebook, didn't always play well on Twitter and vice versa... so each community that got created on each of those channels was slightly different," said Weidner.
After much experimentation and audience analysis, Weidner decided to target current students. Weidner believed the focus would engage not only current students, but also alumni, the outside community and prospective students who were interested in the day-to-day life of the current student body.
Certainly for new and prospective students, this was a savvy choice. Incoming students and new students seem to be the most aware of the Seattle U social media presence today.
During the college hunt, many high school seniors turn to social media sites like Facebook for a more personal look at a university and incoming students use social media accounts to develop community and ask questions before the academic year begins. Seattle U's class pages are specifically designed for these active newcomers. Seattle U's Class of 2014 page has 683 members and the Class of 2015 page has 872 members.
Despite the seemingly large amount of participation on the class pages and recent social media ranking, some Seattle U students have never looked at the university Facebook page, Twitter or other accounts.
"I didn't even know it existed," said sophomore Gabe Campbell.
Whether or not student awareness of Seattle U's online presence will dwindle or increase remains to be seen as, in Weidner's absence, the Marketing and Communications Department's plans to change its approach to social media
this year.
While Weidner focused on crafting engaging activities, like photo contests on the university's Facebook page, the department now appears to be taking a more informational approach.
"If [the department's] goal is to convey information, basically talk at the audience, then that works really well. If the goal is to engage the audience in a conversation, or to delight the audience, or to entertain the audience, then that's something different and I would take a different approach," Weidner said.
Freshmen Emily Boudreau and Alyssa Brandt said they prefer this informational approach and often click on event posts that come up in their news feeds.
"I like that they post event notifications, like when Seattle U is in the news,"
said Boudreau.
Another anticipated change in Seattle U's approach to social media is its use of video. Weidner notes that Marketing and Communications seems to be working to make video more prevalent in Seattle U's online social communication.
"Video is a huge communication tool now more than ever on the web," Weidner said.
Several departments at Seattle U maintain their own online profiles. Campus Ministry is becoming especially engaged in cyberspace.
Director of Campus Ministry Mike Bayard, S.J., explained that Campus Ministry is becoming more "two-dimensional" in its social networking approach and hopes to include more video, as well as open-ended questions and discussion topics in
the future.
Currently, the Campus Ministry page has 559 friends on Facebook. After summer orientation alone, Bayard estimated that Campus Ministry added 150 more friends. On average, the profile gets three to 10 responses on any given post.
"It's a way for us to get the message out about Campus Ministry. ‘All are welcome.' The more we can get that out there, the better," said Bayard.
Although current student Tori Head manages the social media accounts at Campus Ministry, Bayard frequently posts information about Catholicism and relevant news articles. A self-proclaimed "social media addict," Bayard checks his personal Facebook profile 10 to 15 times a day.
"[It's] where students are at, that's where we should be at," Bayard said.
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