Category Archives: Pinterest

Click on this: Thumbs Up for BC Social

Posted on February 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

It’s always nice to hear a compliment. It’s even better when that compliment is about BC social media and coming from those studying the subject. This week, two members of Prof. Jerry Kane‘s MI621 class along with some local media posted reviews on BC social media worth sharing.

One student wrote in the post “#Hashtag University“: “This may just be because I am still nostalgic over Monday night’s Beanpot win over Northeastern, but I have been very impressed by BC’s presence on social media lately. The Eagles have really stepped up their game with a new Instagram account, BC’s very own version of the ‘Harlem Shake’ (with over 22,000 YouTube views since just yesterday) and not to mention the 27,000+ followers on the primary @BostonCollege twitter account. BC actually came in at an impressive #52 on Track Social’s list of top performing universities on social media. I expect this ranking will improve and soon maybe we’ll even give our friends across the river a run for their money (@Harvard).”

Another student wrote in the post “WeAreBC“: “Well, I had my doubts, but it looks like Boston College has a very strong social media game, which can only do wonders for the university’s already solid reputation. We have to remember that at the end of the day, higher education is big business (tuition amounts aren’t going anywhere but up), so having a social media army in place that can adequately market the BC brand to prospective customers (students) can go a long way towards improving the bottom line.”

BC social earned praise in The Heights “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down” section for being “trendy” with Pinterest and called out by BostInno for the flurry of social postings surrounding the Beanpot.

Motivation to keep us movin’ for sure. Have a great weekend, SMC members!

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Posted in Pinterest, Social Media, Social Media Council

Tagged Boston College

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

SMC 12/5 Meeting Summary

Posted on December 6, 2012 | 2 Comments

The Dec. 5 Boston College Social Media Council kicked off with a discussion about starting out in social. Led by CSON’s Samantha Levine-Neudel, the talk allowed members of established channels to share success stories. The top advice? Look, learn and contact peer schools; provide short, informative “Social Media 101” sessions with faculty or staff interested in embracing this technology and; establish a team to monitor channels and respond to concerns and questions.

Part of the discussion that was particularly noteworthy was a contribution made by the team from BC ITS. In an age of technology changing so rapidly, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t too long ago that companies and organizations had to be sold on the importance of a webpage. This extension and expansion of an online presence through SM can be seen as natural progression to many of us, but it’s important not to make assumptions that everyone is like-minded or comfortable with that trend. In fact, self-audit and evaluation of channels should be part of our best practices as social media practitioners.

BC ITS Director of Computer Policy & Security David Escalante was the guest presenter with “Social Media (In)Security.” (For full presentation, click here: social-media-security-dec122.) Among the top takeaways: be wary of shortened URLs – if you are unsure about the origin, utilize a site like longURLPlease.com; keep software updated; create different passwords for different channels; and never click on ads – any ads. David also pointed out this article which asks us to review social-networking security apps. It’s worth the read.

Finally, we briefly touched on two future agenda items: soliciting SMC members who may be interested in co-administering Pinterest boards or provide hashtags used for our forthcoming “Hashtag Directory” discussion. On either, please email us at social@bc.edu.

Great progress has been made this year – we’re expecting even more in the next. Thanks to all for your good work on the Council and enjoy the holiday break. (And please remember to send your additions to our virtual Christmas Tree Pinterest Board – Deck the Halls of Boston College.)

The next SMC is scheduled for Jan. 23 so mark your calendars now!

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

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

The “new” social media channels

Posted on April 10, 2012 | 1 Comment

The two newest social media pilot projects at Boston College are Pinterest and Google+. These channels will be the topics up for discussion at the Student Affairs social media roundtable on Friday, April 13.

HubSpot just came out with a new eBook, Battle of the New Social Networks, (download the free PDF here). In framing the discussion, HubSpot states: “Last Monday, Google+ reached 100 million active users while Pinterest was rated the third most-visited social network in the U.S. For marketers, these networks can’t be ignored.”

Pin This: US News just published a story about the growth of Pinterest at colleges and universities and the struggle to justify the resources to yet another social media channel. The article states: “For schools looking to promote admissions, people between the ages of 25 and 34—which would traditionally be alumni—make up nearly 30 percent of Pinterest’s overall users, according to comScore; users between the ages of 18 and 24 make up about 17 percent, and users between 12 and 17 years old make up about 4 percent.” US News then focuses on Drake University, and the great work they are doing with this medium. It is one of the schools we follow closely. Click here to see their page.

Taking a step back, one of the best articles we’ve found that both explains and educates about Pinterest basics is here: “The Ultimate List of Pinterest Tips” from BloggingWithAmy. In this article, Amy Lynn Andrews provides a great Pinterest primer, points to the official Pinterest guidelines and shared some of her own Pinterest pet peeves. All are important, not only to figure out how to administer a successful page, but also to find out what annoys people.

Amy’s blog post also dives into the issue of copyright surrounding this medium. (And here is the article by Joel Garcia that is credited with bringing the whole issue to the forefront) While great for driving traffic to blogs or a website, there are very real concerns about ownership of digital materials. (Here’s an article by Dave Copeland at ReadWriteWeb that explains how Pinterest is getting around the copyright laws.) We won’t pretend to know all the legalese, but at this juncture, we’ve decided to continue on the site, while closely monitoring the issues. (For more about BC Pinterest, read our earlier post here.)

Waiting for Google+: We’ve written a little bit already on Google+ here. To be honest, in the last two months, not much has changed. Our numbers continue to grow modestly, but truth be told, we’re experiencing far greater success on our other channels. This will be one area that we will review around the one-year mark and determine if it makes sense to continue on this channel.

According to the HubSpot, we’re not alone. After citing that general confusion of the medium among users continues to plague Google+, HubSpot states “users spent an average of just 3.3 minutes on Google+ (compared to nearly 8 hours on Facebook and nearly 100 minutes on Pinterest.) Do then, marketers want to spend time on a social network their audiences aren’t using?”

For Boston College’s purposes, we are encouraged that one of the two of the biggest user groups on Google+ are college students (the other is software developers.) It is also interesting the majority of users are male at 63%, compared to Pinterest’s 83% female audience, according to HubSpot. It simply remains to be seen if we can make this a dynamic space.

What has been your experience on Google+ and Pinterest?

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Posted in Google+, Pinterest, Social Media

Tagged Boston College, Google+, Pinterest, social media