This document discusses various social media platforms and provides examples of how the University of Washington uses each one. It summarizes Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, when each platform is a good fit, pros and cons, and examples of UW departments and schools that use each platform. The document aims to help determine how or if the university wants to pursue using these social media outlets for communication.

1. Social Networking Based on UW Marketing Roundtable | 3/18/09 Revised by Sophia Agtarap 9/23/09

2. Why we’re talking about this To help us determine how, or whether, we want to pursue these outlets To demonstrate that e-mail and print are not the only means to communicate.

4. Facebook Facts Launched in Feb. 2004 as a site for university students and faculty; in 2007 opened to all Active users March 2008: 68 million Today: Over 300 million Fastest growing demographic March 2008: 25 and older Today: 35 and older

5. Facebook Pros You may be ready for Facebook if: Your target audience is primarily students or young alumni. You have the resources to monitor the page at least 3x a week, answer fan questions, and update it frequently (ideally weekly). You have content that is specific to your unit and doesn’t duplicate content on the UW page. You have Facebook Friends who will become fans of the page and help promote it. You have a strategy for addressing controversies or crises related to your unit that might lead to increased activity on your page.

6. Facebook Cons You’re not ready for Facebook if: Your unit has “control issues” You are unwilling to become part of the Facebook community yourself You think you can just let your student interns manage it You think you can manage it without some student involvement

7. Examples: UW on Facebook Some of the UW Schools and Departments on Facebook: UW page launched: April 2008; 7,000+ fans GO-MAP: 187 Evans School of Public Affairs: 588 UW School of Law: 224 UWAA: 2,330 Undergraduate Research Program: 144 Some of the UW leaders on Facebook: Mark Emmert Phyllis Wise Jim Jiambalvo Ana Mari Cauce Harry the Husky !

9. What the heck is Twitter?! Interactive, personalized news feed & knowledge share A place to post text-based status updates—they’re called Tweets ! They have to be 140 characters or fewer They show up on your profile page and are delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them

10. Why should I care about Twitter? It grew by 1,382% year-over-year in Feb. Estimated 12.1 million users in April 2009 60% quit within first month Driver of news; traffic to sites Fast and easy way to build relationships You don’t need to know people’s e-mail addresses to connect with them! 2 http://mashable.com/2009/04/28/twitter-quitters/ 1 2 1 http://mashable.com/2009/04/28/twitter-active-users/

11. Twitter Pros Doesn’t require any technical skills! Your org can have an ongoing presence in a Twitter “follower’s” routine Typical Twitterers use the site at least daily, often hourly Gain insight into the interests of your most engaged constituents Your followers can consume your information more easily, unlike a newsletter or a website/blog that requires a user to actively visit it or subscribe.

12. Twitter Cons Requires very regular maintenance—at least 3x a week; daily, if possible 140-character limit As Twitter usage increases, so does the number of tweets you have to compete with

13. Best Uses for Twitter News & event updates Emergency announcements Play-by-play reporting from conferences, lectures, sporting events, etc. To encourage conversation with and input from followers Eyewitness accounts (i.e. breaking news)

14. Examples: UW on Twitter UWNews: http://twitter.com/uwnews GO-MAP: http://twitter.com/UWgomap UWTV: http://twitter.com/UWTV The Daily: http://twitter.com/thedaily The Henry: http://twitter.com/henryartgallery UW Career Center: http://twitter.com/uwcareercenter School of Public Health: http://twitter.com/uwsph Cliff Mass: http://twitter.com/cliffmass

15. How Athletics Uses Twitter Started using it in Jan. 2009 To push news, including insider news To encourage fan engagement Accounts include: General UW Athletics Football Coach Steve Sarkisian Volleyball Crew Softball

17. What is LinkedIn A site for professional networking Users post resumes, recommend colleagues’ job skills; knowledge share Users: May 2009: 11M in US; 19.6M globally Traffic: 50M in US; 87M globally Organizations create groups to bring together people who want to be associated with their brand

18. Examples: Uses of LinkedIn For Q&A opportunities Monitor the competition Facilitate networking Provide profile information, like statistics, demographics, key links

19. Examples: UW on LinkedIn University of Washington (Seattle, Bothell) Foster School UW Medicine School of Law iSchool Libraries Alumni Group (not run by UWAA)

20. Social Networking Resources See post on our intranet team site for higher education and non profit resources Sophia Agtarap’s higher education/social media blog: sophiakristina.wordpress.com