Higher education institutions use social networking to attract new students. Colleges and universities often create professional profiles on popular social media and network websites. After all, the majority of users on such websites are people that are in their early teenager years or young adulthood. An effective social network page for a college or university needs to have some very important features. First of all, it is important that the location of the school be displayed prominently. Prospective students need to know where the campuses are located. Colorful high quality photographs should be displayed on the main web page of a university or college that establishes a presence on social networks.
An entire collage of great images can be compiled for a college’s profile. Such a presentation should include the major buildings and landmarks of a higher education institution. If athletics play a big role in a school’s reputation, then pictures of specific sports teams should be included on the main image collage. Social networks also allow colleges or universities to create photo albums that can store thousands of images. These virtual albums can be used to show off some of the diverse features of a school.
Social networks make it easy for higher education schools to post updates and other news about major events on campus. For example, a special guest speaker that’s giving a seminar at a college may be advertised on the school’s main profile page. Actual social network users should have a chance to approve the profile of a college or university. For example, people could give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to a school that has a social network presence. Alumni and enrolled students are encouraged to virtually approve their beloved school on social networks. In fact, the main profile page of a college may have a list of all the people that have joined the virtual network of school supporters. A timeline can also be posted on a social network website. Such information can be used to display the major milestones in the history of college or university. University of Denver is an example of a higher education institution that effectively uses social media and networking to advertise to a broad audience.
Social media profiles of schools are usually updated by fellow students that work in administrative positions. Some of the editors may be studying degrees like marketing, public relations and visual communications.
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