Category Archives: Social Media

Covering Tragedy

Posted on April 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

Sometimes, there are no words. I have nothing to offer in this space that hasn’t already been stated far more eloquently by others regarding this past week. Boston became the epicenter of a national tragedy. This time it wasn’t strangers in the headlines. It was our town. Our neighbors. Our kids.

Social media wasn’t – and shouldn’t be – the first thing on many minds during such a time. However, social quickly emerged as the go-to vehicle delivering news to friends about runners and spectators, provided messages of reassurance for out-of-state families and, later, established a point to rally for support and fundraising. Social media became both a blessing and a curse – it quickly shared breaking news across the country and was responsible for the instantaneous dissemination of misinformation. (BC’s in house social media guru Prof. Jerry Kane has weighed in on what social managers can learn from the bombing.)

Like many colleges and universities in Boston, BC utilized email, text and social to get emergency notifications out about the manhunt and ‘shelter in place‘ order on Friday. BC’s Emergency Response Team issued several updates throughout the day. One need only scroll down through the week’s posts on Facebook or Twitter to replay the fear, anxiety, sorrow and then, relief and even jubilation over the five days. The content on Facebook reached more than 835,000 people during that time.

Departments across campus did a wonderful job sharing and re-broadcasting the emergency messages. For that, we thank you. In such a heightened state, it is important and necessary to have us all speaking with one voice on behalf of the University.

Departments also utilized social tools in unique ways: on the day of the bombing, The Campus School used social as a means to help account for its 300+ runners during the chaos. Through Facebook, Twitter, Google docs, texts and phone calls all our students were quickly accounted for. A bright spot over the past week has been the work being done on the BC Office of Graduate Student Life Facebook page – updates on Brittany and Liza, Red Cross blood drives and much-needed comic relief via OGSL’s signature memes provide information to fans in a thoughtful way.

Outside BC, anyone who wasn’t following the Boston Police Facebook or Twitter page should look back over the past week. Both as a resident of Greater Boston and a social media manager, it was amazing to see an organization operating a social channel so effectively. The Patrick and Jess Run Again page – dedicated to BC 2005 alum Patrick Downes and his wife, Jessica who were severely injured during the bombing – is a masterful example of the power of video and incorporating YouTube and Facebook. (And great work by SMC member David Ayers from Student Services and the BC Jesuits who sent in videos.)

(If you would like further reading on responding during a crisis – take a look at Kelsey Follett’s practical advice on How (not) to use social, and brand management strategies from Patrick Coffee from PRNewser.)

In the days following the bombing, BC News & Public Affairs staffer Michael Maloney designed this “For Boston” logo that we used on our channels. The image was liked, shared, retweeted and repined over 250,000 times. People and many of our departments changed their profile picture, adopting this image as their own. It had a unifying effect, a virtual show of solidarity, but a scope we didn’t entirely anticipate. We should have.

When I first saw Michael’s design it spoke to exactly what so many are feeling: some of us are from Boston. Others, of Boston. This past week has shown that our state, the country, and even the world – for a time at least – we were all “For Boston.”

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Posted in Social Media

Tagged Boston College, Boston Marathon Bombing, emergency response

Click on This: SM tools and ROI

Posted on April 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

The number one question coming in from social media managers across campus is how to quantify what we do. Especially with annual reviews coming up, many bosses and administrators want to know – what is the return on investment (ROI) for our social media presence?

Before you read the answer, watch this. Gary Vaynerchuk is co-founder and CEO of a social media brand consulting agency, VaynerMedia. In his provocative keynote at the Inc. 500|5000 Conference Vaynerchuk turns the question on its head. “What is the ROI of your mom?” he asks. (A clip of that presentation is here but be warned, he uses foul language that may be NSFW.) Those who use traditional media are seldom asked to quantify, but print materials, tv/radio spots and websites continue to be produced. Social is, in some ways, being held to a new standard. The good news is that many of the sites we use are rich with data, as long as you know where to look.

My advice when faced with the ROI question: combine anecdotal evidence with data. Throughout the year, keep a running list of successful interactions you have had on social. Actual examples of human interactions are meaningful. Has social helped your office communicate with students, staff, faculty, alumni? Prove it. Tell that story. (i.e. – one of my favorite examples from our Boston College Facebook page, is when a wall post from a BC alumna helped to fill the library shelves in a New York City school thanks to the donations from BC Eagles around the country.)

Stories are nice, but most managers also want to see proof. If you have had your social channel for more than a year, it is helpful to provide the year-over-year numbers – comparing not only fan count, but user engagement. Find a peer school or department and compare yourself through self audit. (Here is a great piece that explains some of the key social metrics to seek out: Social Metrics 101.)

Although Google Analytics is arguably the king of analytical tools, here are a few other resources that can fit all our budgets (read: free) and provide rich data points.

Tool #1: Simply Measured provides beautiful free reports for social channels on some of the platforms where analytical data might not be obvious (read: Instagram, Twitter, Google+ or Pinterest).

Tool #2: Tweetreach is a good resource to quantify a Twitter campaign. If you have a hashtag, this might be well worth the time to check out.

Tool #3: Want to experiment with posts outside the work day? Try using the Facebook Pages App. Here are a few of the easy steps to schedule posts (and don’t require the monthly charges from social media software companies.) The app comes complete with Facebook’s insights.

What tools do you find most helpful as a social media administrator?

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Posted in ROI, Social Media

SMC 3/6: #WeAreBCBrandRepresentatives

Posted on March 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

Feelin’ the Love for #BCSocial

Happy anniversary, SMC! Before the meeting summary for last week, we just wanted to offer a quick word of thanks to all who have participated in the SMC over the past year. We are each covering new territory in our respective offices, departments or schools and it has been refreshing and energizing to hear from the different corners of the University about ways social is being utilized. These meetings wouldn’t be so informative without each one of you. So, very simply, thank you.

Director of the Office of News & Public Affairs and University Spokesman Jack Dunn kicked off the March 6 meeting with a brief talk about the importance of social media and the role we all play as brand ambassadors. “Be creative. Be interesting and engage,” said Dunn. “But always keep in mind that we each have a responsibility to the wider organization when representing BC in an official capacity.”

The 2013 State of Social Media at BC was next (For the complete PowerPoint, click here). In short, we are hoping to continue to build upon our success of the past year through increased collaboration and a set of shared goals. Our primary objectives for the next year include: launching the social media mashup site; establishing University policy; increasing collaboration between departments on contests or videos; advancing in the rankings; and soliciting feedback. We also hope to continue the SMC’s work of promoting best practices across the University. (For more on that, below you will find the infographic from visual.ly that was referenced in the presentation, “Reasons for unfollowing people on Twitter.”)

Next, ITS Training & Communication Specialist Jonathan McGrath led a discussion on how to decide which social platforms to use. A number of SMC members shared their stories about why they selected various channels – some yielded to pressure to get involved, others informally polled students about how to best reach them. The chief takeaway from the discussion was to try not to overextend on channels, but rather, focus on the quality of the platforms you do employ.

BC Social Spotlight: Senior Reference Librarian for Burns Library Justine Sundaram gave us an interesting look into the evolution of the Burns Library blog, Facebook and Flickr pages. (The Burns’ Flickr page enjoys over 500,000 views – a wildly impressive number by any measure!) Justine shared the Burns’ quiet success story – the library has utilized graduate student researchers, networking with other libraries and a heavy photographic component on their channels. Justine believes their popularity was due to the social channels’ launch coinciding with a push to digitize library holdings – data that all of us can use.

Finally, we decided that establishing a social branding tool – #BCSocial – would be a meaningful way to communicate among one another publicly or promote a given University effort on campus.

What should we focus on at the next SMC? Email us at social@bc.edu

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Posted in Social Media, Social Media Council

SMC Preview 3/6: Birthdays and Big Ideas

Posted on March 1, 2013 | 2 Comments

…but who’s counting?

The Boston College Social Media Council is scheduled to meet Mar. 6, 2 p.m. in McGuinn 334. And you know what that means. No? Well, it means that the SMC is celebrating our one year anniversary! (insert gratuitous, yet celebratory meme of the minute here)

Leading off our meeting will be Director of News & Public Affairs, University Spokesman Jack Dunn. Jack will talk about individual responsibility when representing the University. Jack oversees all Boston College’s public and media relations efforts and teaches undergraduate courses in Advanced Public Relations at BC.

Piggybacking off Jack’s remarks, we will hold a brief “State of Social Media” to focus on where we are and where we’re going. The last year brought significant changes to the way we communicate at BC. With the ever shifting social media landscape, the upcoming year presents its own challenges.

Two SMC members have brought forward interesting discussion items. As the previous blog post stated, ITS Training & Communication Specialist Jonathan McGrath has asked us to focus about our social strategies: why did you decide to start a Facebook vs. Twitter account? Have you dropped one channel? Started another? Why?

BC Athletics Web and Marketing Specialist Katie Foley, has come up with an idea we’d like to float with Council members. Kate has suggested that we identify a hashtag (such as #BCSocial) that we can use on various channels – Twitter primarily – to talk SMC among one another. We brand our departments, what are your thoughts on branding ourselves?

Stepping into the “BC Spotlight” this month will be Burns Library Senior Reference Librarian Justine Sundaram. No pressure, Justine, but we’re hoping that you can give a master class on Flickr, blogging and Facebook. If you haven’t checked out these channels, please do so (and remember them when you are looking for something interesting to post – they are very rich resources!)

Sharing the spotlight is LSOE Associate Director Mentoring and Induction, Practicum Amy Ryan will also fill us in on a social media project she’s working on with grant support from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation. This project is a resource for students and alumni to upload, share, download, and discuss lesson plans and teaching resources.

Looks like a full agenda. Don’t forget to RSVP to social@bc.edu so we have enough chairs (and cupcakes! YES. There.will.be.cupcakes.)

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Posted in Social Media, Social Media Council

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

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