Category Archives: Facebook

Click on This: What’s Your Strategy?

Posted on February 6, 2013 | 1 Comment

In meeting with departments interested in starting or improving their social media channels, one question inevitably comes up: What is BC’s social media strategy?

It’s a question that we’re going to ask everyone to consider, as we come together for the next Social Media Council on March 6. Believe it or not, we’re quickly approaching the one year mark of the SMC – March 29 is our birthday (woot!). Over the past year, we’ve been focusing a great deal on what is currently being done at BC. One discussion an SMC member has requested is for us to take a step back and talk about why each of us started a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. account. Do you remember how and why your channel started? Was it part of your communication strategy to use Twitter over Facebook? Or was establishing an account simply yielding to pressure of having a presence?

Each one of us will have different goals, given our different audiences. Our strategy for meeting the needs of prospective students on Facebook would and should differ greatly than what would be posted to the BC ITS Twitter account.

But if you are involved with the SMC, then chances are you are your office or group’s de facto social media strategist. “7 Tips for Succeeding as a Social Media Strategist” is a great piece by Erica Swallow of Mashable. (If you take just one thing away from this post, make sure it is Jeremiah Owyang’s WOMMA Summit presentation at the bottom of the article.) *SMC fun fact* – it was this very presentation that was the impetus behind the creation of the Council.

This piece – The Future of Community Management – by Meghan Peters provides a great way to rethink how to manage your channel. Peters concludes: “As a community manager, it’s your responsibility to make your community a better part of the Internet than where they started. Don’t let the siren song of clicks and likes cause you to forget that.”

At the University level, we’ve drafted the following social media mission statement. When posting, self assessing channels or looking to the future, we consider this statement of purpose to guide what we do.

“Social media will be used to share the Boston College story; to highlight the University’s mission, news and achievements; to provide a virtual experience of BC life; to interact with, learn about and learn from BC’s audiences across demographic and geographic lines; and to help keep members of the BC community connected in real-time no matter where they are.”

What do you think? What is your statement of purpose? Are we missing something?

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Posted in Facebook, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Council, Twitter

SMC 1/23 Review

Posted on January 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

Prof. Jerry Kane said he believes technology is best understood from a running start, and that’s exactly how he began his presentation at this week’s Social Media Council. Leading off, Kane answered the two questions SM admins (and many of our bosses) grapple with when justifying spending resources on social: “Is social media a fad? Yes. Is it here to stay? Yes.“

BC’s own in-house social media expert explained that SM is experiencing the trajectory of most new technologies (see the Gartner Hype Cycle graph.) This path, Kane says, mirrors the evolution of the Internet itself, which dates back to the 1970s. What can we learn from the dot-com boom of the 1990s or the rise of social in the late 2000s? According to Kane, social needs to be understood in its context as the next step in a “relentless move to a computerized, interconnected world.”

For organizations and institutions, that means changing the way business is done, and in many ways, re-examining the hierarchy of who controls the message, Kane said. In an age of inter-connectivity – working with the segment of the population that we do at BC (young, educated, technologically savvy students) – social media needs to be a choice. “A viable social media presence is a strategic decision,” Kane said.

Answering our questions about how to make the most of social, Kane said there is little substitute for experience in developing a strong social media presence. “We’ve only just begun in social media,” said Kane. “Unlike the previous generation of marketing where you could apply a set of tricky rules, experience is the only thing that will get you through to competency.”

And what to do about trolls? Kane directed us to this interesting chart designed by the US Air Force – a “Rules of Engagement” for dealing with commenters. (Maybe we don’t need to be this draconian, but it sure does speak to how seriously organizations are taking social.)

In addition to Prof. Kane, several of our social media members spoke about where they find inspiration for posts. Many members talked about utilizing student interns or graduate assistants in monitoring or informing social postings.

Several members asked for contact information of other members. On the blog header above you will find a new tab – “Resources” – that provides our BC Social Media Guidelines, the BC FB Community Standards and the *very* rough first draft of the SMC Directory. (If your channels are not included, email us at social@bc.edu and we’ll update it right away.) So like or follow one another and share or RT posts that you enjoy. Bolstering the best content is a great way to help define BC’s virtual identity in the social realm.

As we put together next month’s agenda, what topic(s) would you like to see covered?

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Posted in Facebook, Google+, guidelines, Instagram, Pinterest, Social Media, Social Media Council, Twitter

Click on This: Facebook EdgeRank

Posted on December 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

If you are a Facebook page admin, chances are that you’ve seen a significant drop in your page reach over the past couple weeks. You can thank the Facebook algorithm change. As Facebook starts to become more of a pay to play platform (and tries to generate more revenue for shareholders), staying current on changes is the best way to prevent wasting our limited resources.

The posts your Facebook fans see in their feeds is now based on the EdgeRank Algorithm. Three factors make it up: the “Affinity Score”, the “Edge Weight” and “Time Decay” of each post. Before your eyes glaze over, I came across this great, easy to understand article by Jeff Wildman: EdgeRank 101

Wildman’s top takeaway is that presentation is everything. He writes: “It’s hard to trick an algorithm into thinking that your content is interesting. It’s much easier to rewrite your content so your fans leave more likes and comments.”

What are some practical ways to get the most eyes on your posts? We’ve been experimenting with the University Facebook page for the past two weeks and here’s what has been the most helpful:

1. Better, not just more content. In the simplest terms, under this new formula, comments are worth more than “likes” and “shares” are worth more than comments. People are more willing to comment or share when the content is compelling. (Keep Calm and Study On is a good example on how we tried to cover events through video. A tried and true way to generate user response is the photo contest. And our big news story of the week – Stokes Hall opening – also generated considerable buzz – and user impressions.)

2. Post at optimum times of day and night. Will your fans be checking Facebook at 2 a.m.? Probably not. We’ve found that around lunchtime, nights (between 5 and 9 p.m.) and weekends get the most response. Stay away from Facebook posts around 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. – people are busy at work or in class. Utilize this time to post on other platforms – like Twitter, YouTube or Instagram – to capitalize on people’s mobile usage.

3. Become allies. See something on the BC Facebook page that you could use? Share it. Like it. We’ll do the same. An effort is underway on our main site to tag SMC members whenever possible and share your content more. Please do the same to maximize all of our efforts.

Need to know more? Here’s a video that shows Facebook Developer George Lee on “How to Grow on Facebook” – a presentation he gave at the f8 Developer Conference. It’s a bit lengthy, but gets into the nitty gritty of EdgeRank.

What has worked for you to engage fans?

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Posted in Facebook, Social Media

Click On This

Posted on December 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

You’ve heard about Movember. What about the Pope on Twitter? Hard to not feel all warm and fuzzy inside after reading about the NYCPD’s newest viral sensation. These are just a selection of some great social media case studies grabbing headlines in the past week.

With so much information out there, and in an effort to make us all better SM practitioners, we’re launching a new feature – “Click on This”- which aims to share interesting stories and info gleaned from the interwebs.

This week’s links are compliments of PR Daily: first up is Quinton O’Reilly’s “25 lesser known social media tips for work and play.” Some of these tips you may know, but chances are there are one or two you don’t. The second is Matt Wilson’s “The stories that work best on Facebook” which provides helpful reminders about what works best on that platform.

Also, prior to Wednesday’s Social Media Council, here’s some food for thought: Jessica Turner’s “7 proven ways to create viral Pinterest posts.” Our Boston College Pinterest page has gotten a few good hits on the small scale, but nothing close to virality. We’re interested in hearing what “brand” pins interest you most and thoughts about how to add shared boards to our offerings.

Finally, this is a great read from Jasmine Henry “The 6 most irritating ways to use hashtags on Twitter.” This story quotes the “guy who brought hashtags out of the geekosphere” cautioning against overuse. As we start our discussion about how to utilize hashtags on our platforms strategically and more effectively, it may be helpful to know what NOT to do.

Have a social media story to share? Post them below and let us know why you find it interesting.

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Posted in Facebook, Pinterest, Social Media, Social Media Council, Twitter

Tagged Click on This

SMC 12/5 Preview

Posted on November 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

The next Social Media Council is less than a week away – Dec. 5 in McGuinn 334. We will once again welcome a number of new members – School of Theology and Ministry, Graduate School of Social Work, Dining Services and Church in the 21^st Century Center.

Among the topics on the agenda:
In keeping with BC’s ongoing CyberSecurity campaign, representatives from Information Technology Services will discuss security issues related to social media. BC IT will speak on a number of topics ranging from protecting accounts and privacy concerns to risks in sharing data.

BCPD will step into the “BC Spotlight” to talk about their recently revamped website and the addition of QR Codes to their police cruisers.

Stemming from a request from one of our new members, we will have a group discussion on how to get support for new social media channels across a department, division or school. Think about what challenges, if any, you faced when establishing a presence Facebook, Twitter or the like. What concerns did your managers have? How did you overcome those challenges? Or, what challenges are you still facing?

We’ll also be talking cross-collaboration on the BC Pinterest account. Boston College found early success on this platform and is looking to keep the momentum going. For those who have a good idea for a shared board, we’re interesting in partnering with groups, schools and departments. We’ll share one of our “secret boards” and take ideas about other ways to improve our Pinterest presence.

As part of the ongoing effort to develop and implement a University Social Media Mashup page, we’ll be talking about two elements of the site: and area to profile prolific bloggers among us (suggestions welcome!) and a hashtag user guide that can be used as a resource for SM practitioners. As always, the floor will be open for additional updates, questions or concerns by members.

That’s a lot of SM talk. Looking forward to having you join the conversation.

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Posted in Facebook, Internet safety, Pinterest, Social Media, Social Media Council

Talking Social

Posted on November 6, 2012 | 1 Comment

Most social media administrators are keenly aware how time-consuming maintaining SM channels can be: We monitor. We find content. We answer questions. We monitor. We obsess over data, insights and fan totals. We roll our eyes at trolls. We tweet. We re-tweet. We monitor.

Every now and then, it’s good to be re-energized and reminded why we decided to take on social media in the first place.

Last week, the Social Media Strategies Summit was held in Boston. Attended by Fortune 500 companies, the headliners were people representing businesses and organizations considered thought leaders in social media. We’ll be sharing much more at the next Social Media Council meeting on Dec. 5, but the best speakers taught lessons on how to make your social media brand one that users will seek out. Here are the top three takeaways from the summit and hopefully you can share the collective buzz.

Lesson #1: Shut up and listen.
Time and again, presenters talked about the importance of keeping the “social” in social media. It seems like a no brain-er, but we can lose sight that a huge part of being successful in SM is listening to what is going on. What are your friends, fans and followers saying about you? Are you just posting event announcements and not asking people to share their experiences? Sometimes it’s as simple as a Google search or a glance down the news feed.

One of my favorite presenters was Jessica Gioglio, PR and Social media Manager at Dunkin’ Donuts. Jessica talked about the popular “Fan of the Week” contest on FB, interesting contest ideas and this really interesting response from a fan who took to Twitter to complain about his breakfast sandwich:

The obvious point: Dunkin’ Donuts was able to turn an unhappy customer into a fan willing to post a YouTube video on how amazing they are all because they were listening. Now we deal with students, alumni, faculty and staff all with issues a little more complex than melted cheese, but the same holds true. Being responsive to problems, engaging and listening are what can help shape the collective online identity of Boston College.

Lesson #2: Know what a full plate looks like.
Katie Richman, who is in charge of Social Media at ESPN W, shares the challenge of managing multiple SM channels and a boatload of other work. Her advice? Know your limits and set the expectations with coworkers. Finding a way to make “100%” tangible within social media is a challenge, but if this is a strategic goal of your office, department or group, Katie argues that everyone needs to prioritize how these channels will be manned.

Lesson #3: Reduce, reuse, recycle.
With so much happening on the social media front, SM administrators need to constantly circle back and review what is being done and if it is working. Kaelin Zawilinski, Digital Editorial Manager at Better Homes and Gardens (Pinterest page exceeds 250,000 followers), spoke on the need for tailoring content for different audiences. Modernizing a brand that has been around since 1922 was no small undertaking. Kaelin explained it was made possible by embracing the new while repackaging concepts and themes that have made her brand so popular.

As SM administrators, we need to know how to “edutain” across different platforms, presenting content in different ways to our varied audiences. People are not on social media for our press releases or event postings. To be successful, we have to remember that above all else, we tell stories to a community with one thing in common: your corner of Boston College.

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Posted in Facebook, Pinterest, Social Media, Social Media Council, Twitter

SMC 10/17 Meeting Summary

Posted on October 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

The first Social Media Council meeting of the semester was all about the new: new initiatives, new partnerships and new ways to engage followers and fans on established channels.

Held Oct. 17, the SMC also welcomed new members: the Lynch School of Education, the Connell School of Nursing and Boston College Law School.

The latest numbers for the “big five”

Since the SMC started in late March, our group has already achieved some preliminary goals: establishment of Boston College Social Media Guidelines and re-emerging on rankings lists (BC recently ranked second in the latest survey of Boston-area colleges savvy in social media and appears ninth in the U.S. in terms of Klout scores, according to an infographic published by leading digital media site Mashable.

The focus now shifts to what various departments are doing to keep the momentum going.

BC was recently the site of a social media contest “Discover New Heights” (#BCFlySwiss), a campaign created to promote the Paul Klee exhibition ongoing at the McMullen Museum and Switzerland. NPA Deputy Director and SMC Co-Chair Patricia Delaney led a discussion along with Jilian Adolf from Swiss International Air Lines and Lia Breunig ’11 the Community Manager of Swissnex Boston, Consulate of Switzerland. Among the top takeaways: more traditional engagement (table in front of Devlin, handing out free coffee and chocolate) helped to – excuse the pun – generate buzz around campus. Feedback from students indicated that posters were not entirely effective because the contest had a certain degree of complexity. The goal of the contest – increasing foot traffic into the Museum – was achieved and an interesting corporate/cultural/educational partnership was formed.
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The new trend emerging from SMC members was the interest and implementation of a “new” SM channel – Instagram. The combination of the visual nature of this medium, along with ease and minimal maintenance seems to be a good fit for many of us. BC Athletics, the Boston College Bookstore, Student Services and the LSOE have all have established a presence.News & Public Affairs has also established a new University Instagram channel, which at this time largely utilizes the talents of a BC student. Emily also has begun publishing a blog, A Senior’s View, which talks about campus happenings from a student perspective. NPA’s other big initiative was the launch of the campus mobile tour to coincide with the start of the Sesquicentennial Celebration. Working in conjunction with ITS Web Technology Group and Modo Labs of Cambridge, “Tour of the Heights” is the first self-guided GPS walking tour of the campus, available to anyone with a smartphone.

BC Spotlight: Athletics presented on their new social media hub, BC Eagles United. You really have to click on the link and take a look at the virtual Alumni Stadium – it’s engaging and just plain cool. The site uses a reward point system to increase user engagement. It incorporates each of the BC Eagles SM channels and provides a central place on the web for fans to turn for all Athletics-related news. Our new Athletics Director, Brad Bates, launched a Twitter handle that took advantage of the swell of publicity surrounding his hire last week – he now enjoys upwards of 2,100 followers.

Member Updates: The Career Center is utilizing “guest tweeters” to populate their Twitter feed during Student Affairs Month. The various authors will provide a look at their typical work day via Twitter. Campus Rec has recently launched a revamped website and is working on incorporating multimedia elements – including tutorial videos – to their SM channels. Our Student Affairs team reported that they are working to establish a convergence website that should be online by year’s end.

Also discussed were the results of a 300+ student survey on opinions and attitudes of social media conducted by NPA. Some interesting trends included: the absolute pervasiveness of social media in students’ lives; a continued dependence on email; and the desire for more student-focused materials and events on our various channels. Read the full report here.

Ideas for an agenda item at the next SMC meeting on Dec.5? Email social@bc.edu

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Posted in email, Facebook, guidelines, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Council, Twitter

Facebook 101

Posted on March 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

A request from a department has come in, asking us to take them through a “how to” session on setting up a page on Facebook. So here you have it – Facebook Page 101 (with a super special bonus on “Insights“).

First, you’ll need a Facebook account. After logging onto Facebook, scroll down to the very bottom of the main page. There you will find the option “Create a Page” (and thank you for ignoring the childlike Photoshop-ed arrow.)

Next, select “Company, Organization or Institution” and find the option that best describes you. NOTE: When creating a page, be sure to list your official office title!

Follow the prompts to upload a profile picture (This should be your official office logo or seal), write basic “about” text and link to your office website.

One option will allow you to create a “Facebook Web Address” or Facebook alias, to make It easy for people to find your page. If you have an well-known acronym already associated with your office – i.e. AHANA, ODSD, BCPD – it works, but don’t stretch. Keep it simple.

After you set these options, Facebook will take you on a virtual tour, prompting you to “like” the page, invite friends, and post on your wall. We recommend to hold off on these options until you are comfortable with the way the page looks and ready for others to view it. Friendly public service announcement: please keep in mind, that unlike previous versions of Facebook Pages, this field is LIVE once you get to this screen. People can view the page with the URL or through a search. So never post anything that is unsuitable for public consumption.

And there you are. A page. You’ll see the administrative panel on top – this will be a way to keep track of all the users on your site and learn what posts create a buzz. For now, start by adding a timeline cover photo (for more on that, click here)

The cover is an image – ideal sized to 851 x 315 pixels – that is the first thing visitors will see on your page. Make it engaging, easy to read and something that captures the personality of your office. Some great examples at BC are the Office of Health Promotion, the John J. Burns Library, and BCPD.

Starting a page is the easy part. What is a little more difficult is making it successful. Start by populating your page with meaningful content – add pictures, status updates and links that encourage user engagement. We’ll have more on that in future posts.

You can start to drive traffic to your page by “liking” other Boston College pages. This essentially allows you to link to those Facebook pages already up and running. To do this, click on the upper right hand side of the Facebook header and select the “Use Facebook as:” option. This gives you the ability to use the site as your department, as opposed to an individual.

It is also highly recommended to include two or three page administrators from your office. The overlap will prevent a site from being abandoned due to unforeseen departures or simply, a way to ensure the Facebook page has multiple people able to remove questionable content, post updates etc.

Need more help? Facebook does a really good job providing site “tours” to remind you what needs to be added or checked. Before promoting your page, take a tour and make sure all of the Facebook suggestions are complete. Here’s a link to a Facebook course on pages.

Also, remember to check your page insights as often as you can. The analytical tool is available to any page that has over 30 “likes.” After you achieve the first 30 fans, you are able to take advantage of a free service provided by Facebook that helps administrators understand activity and performance of fans. Seeing this data should inform what you do in the future. In time, you will be able to see trends – what gets your fans talking and what causes people to tune out.

Questions? Email social@bc.edu

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