Mount Allison Class of 2012

Last June I gave a presentation for the e-strategy town hall at my university on Facebook which I subsequently blogged about. I provided a number of tips and suggestions for university administrators, staff, and professors regarding how Facebook could be used for academic or research purposes.

I provided a number of examples of incoming UBC students that had created Facebook groups (e.g. UBC 2001) as an information space to share and discuss relevant issues (e.g. what classes to take, what their residence would be like, etc.) with other students. These grassroots initiatives build on the wisdom of crowds concept prevalent in web 2.0 technology.

According to an article entitled “News Feed Update: Universities sign on to Facebook“, in the Globe and Mail, a number of Canadian universities (e.g. Mount Allison University) have launched Facebook groups with the goal of recruiting students.

Simon Behrens is a student in Germany, hoping to come to New Brunswick’s Mount Allison University next year. When he arrives, he’ll have plenty of connections. He already has 263 friends.

Mr. Behrens is a member of Mount Allison Class of 2012, a Facebook group for prospective students that is up and running long before any bags are packed by next year’s freshman class. That’s because it was created by an existing Mount Allison student who works closely with the school’s admissions staff. Besides the Facebook group, there are student-made videos on YouTube and student blogs, commissioned and paid for by the university.

It would be interesting to see how effective these campaigns on Facebook are. Although students are on Facebook, is it still viewed as a fun, social space for one’s friends or is it perceived acceptable to have universities creating a presence there as well? In addition, are user-generated spaces and social networks such as YouTube and blogs being widely used by other Canadian universities beside Mount Allison? What other digital avenues are bing explored? Are there examples of a 2012 twitter group or 2012 Flickr group being created to recruit and assist incoming students? What are the downsides to these new forms of digital recruitment when the rules and conventions for using them are still not fully developed?

Mr. Sheridan-Jonah at Mount Allison points out that even without an official effort the university is well represented on popular Internet sites. Getting involved in a Facebook group allows staff from his office to answer students questions directly and correct misinformation. The only downside he sees with the growth of such sites is students’ increasing tendency to rely on each other for information, rather than contacting schools as they did in the past.

Relevance: According to Facebook Stats, there are nearly 2 million new users signing up each week around the world. Of the more than 59 million active users, over 7 million are Canadian. Is Facebook a viable place for universities to recruit students?