Campuses turn to social media ‘whiz kids’
Humber twittermeister Nick Farnell is one of a growing crop of “social network” whiz kids being hired by colleges and universities to connect with undergrads.
“If you’re 17 or 18, you’ve had email all your life,” said Farnell, “and it actually seems sort of official and formal, so social networks are a good way to communicate on their terms.”
YouTube videos, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds — these are the new recruiting and customer service tools of today’s post-secondary schools.
And no time is more busy on these sites than now, as frantic applicants swap questions on sites like Humber College’s Facebook page.
The more students gather on-line, the more schools are heading there to meet them.
York University has hired four “e-ambassadors” to monitor its 4,000-member Facebook site, its 3,000-follower Twitter feed and its Flickr program for photos.