The increased use of social media networking sites in recent years has changed the way young people communicate with one another. As a result, colleges are now starting to adopt these practices more and more in order to reach these students in the virtual sphere.

For those of you who have not caught on to this social networking sensation, Twitter is a website that allows people to ‘follow’ one another, have conversations online and update their page using a maximum of 140 characters. According to a report by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, the utilization of social networking sites and blogs for colleges more than doubled from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, 85% of all colleges were using social media to connect with their students. This number continues to grow yearly.

The reason that Twitter is so popular is its speed and simplicity in accessing people and information. For colleges, this means they are able to notify students about a number of topics, such as snow delays, campus events, website and blog updates, student successes and potential concerns about activities on campus. The mass shooting at Virginia Tech in April 2007 brought campus security to the forefront and highlighted the need to minimize the time it takes to alert students about dangerous activity.

Universities are now looking towards implementing social media technologies within their admissions process. A quarter of schools who were studied browse the internet for prospective students and use social networking sites to research applicants who have applied to the admissions department. Prospective students should therefore be wary about the type of information they display online.

It is not simply enough, though, for universities to post blogs and updates online – there needs to be engagement with the students. Using a Tweetdeck, professors able to respond to academic queries from students around the world.

This seems to be the direction that colleges will head towards in years to come. Posting updates is one thing, but if you really want to connect with students then human interaction is a must.