Staying Connected
By Rachel Johnson
Communication used to be direct and formulated. It consisted of one individual communicating to another or many others. Sometimes the message was written; other times it was spoken — even broadcast on radio or TV waves. But it was almost always clear where the message originated from and even who sent it. Each person’s role was clear — one to speak and one to listen.
It seems simple, but all that has changed. New media, social networking, and the Internet have changed the way people communicate. Today, many individuals can communicate to one or many — at the same time — without leaving their home or picking up the phone. E-mail messages transmit instantly, and online chat features allow immediate and ongoing interaction between two or more individuals. Anyone who has an Internet connection can have their own "press" by self-publishing Web logs (or blogs), creating profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, or by posting comments to online bulletin boards.
"Most of today’s students probably don’t fully realize what a radically different context they’re living in because they don’t have anything to compare it to," says Dr. David Baird, professor of communication. "But if they had to go back to the academic and social environment of even the early 1990s, they’d think they were in the Stone Age. In fact, it seems to me that things have changed dramatically just within the past few years as Facebook and text-messaging have become popular."
Today’s information world is much more cluttered, noisy, and sometimes confusing. When the Internet first began, it embodied what technology experts call Web 1.0 applications. Essentially, individuals could post information. Others could read the information. Web 1.0 was a time of information gathering. Today’s Internet is called Web 2.0 (although this term is already a bit out-of-date in the tech world), which builds on Web 1.0 principles by allowing individuals to interact with each other online, often in real time. Social media is the term for the technology or media that uses Web 2.0 principles.
"We’re blessed — or perhaps cursed, depending on how you look at it — to have access to the new technologies that have come online in recent years," says Baird. "Of course, the personal computer, Internet, and cell phone have had profound effects on the way that students, as well as faculty, do their work and live their lives — that’s very clear. But the whole social and communication context is changing rapidly, and I don’t think we completely understand the effects of these new ways of communicating and learning and relating."
Anderson University is one of thousands of higher-education institutions to embrace social media. However, AU has to play catch-up in learning and using social media compared to its students and alumni, who have used online tools and new media for several years. Social media is currently being introduced and used across campus by Admissions, Alumni Relations, University Communications, student organizations, faculty, staff, and students. Primarily, social networking sites such as Facebook and the AU-accepted student network are used to connect students and alumni to each other, in conjunction with new media such as video, photos, and podcasts on the university’s Web site.
"Social media adds a new dimension to recruiting efforts that really increase the ability to build relationships and provide customer service to prospective and incoming students," says Joe Davis, associate director of admissions. "The strategy is still the same — to provide as much information about AU as possible and to help a student determine a 'best fit' for their college decision. But these new avenues of communication increase our opportunities to reach each student in their preferred 'language.’'"
Admissions began using interactive media about six years ago with chat applications on the recruitment Web site, allowing prospective students to speak to an admissions counselor in real time. Since then, photos, video, and student blogs have been added to a new recruitment site that launched in early 2008. The new site was designed to be visually driven to appeal to high school students. Embedded video, photo albums, and bulleted text hold attention while directing students to the information they need. Photos and text are updated seasonally to match where students are in the admissions process throughout the year.
Counselors also engage prospective and incoming students on social networking sites, including Facebook and the AU accepted student network. As Davis explains, every traditional communication effort such as phone calls and mailings are paired with an online strategy. On Facebook, counselors are able to message applicants without inviting them to join an AU group or “friending” them. This follow up allows counselors another avenue to answer questions and remind prospective students of campus visits and SOAR Weekends.
"We really try not to be intrusive by sending messages without being friends," says Davis. "Some institutions even log onto kids’ MySpace and Facebook profiles to see if they want to accept them or not. We’re not really sure where this will go. We have attended conferences about the future of social networking, but we don’t know exactly where college admissions fits in."
The AU-accepted student network, another lesser-known social networking site, is being used by Admissions to connect incoming students. On the AU-accepted student network, AU can create the look and feel of the group page to match that of the university Web site. Admissions counselors also approve users who request to join AU groups on the site, which keeps the group private to users outside the AU community. This helps ease parents’ worries about online privacy and safety since AU manages the groups. Admissions counselors report that incoming students use the groups to meet fellow classmates, find roommates, and support each other as they prepare for their arrival on campus.
While Davis asserts that social media would remain a large part of the admissions strategy in the future, he also acknowledges the challenges that come with it. Many students find AU through Web searches and recommendations from friends. However, AU still has to seek out prospective students through traditional mailings and college fairs since many students tune out online advertising. Many parents are also wary of social networking sites and permitting their students to spend large amounts of time online. Furthermore, virtual campus visits just aren’t good enough.
"There is absolutely nothing that can replace a college visit," says Davis. "I believe it is the single most important part of the college search. But, when prospective students engage admissions counselors through new media and have access to them in this convenient way, a whole new dynamic opportunity for interaction exists."
The AU Alumni Office has also embraced social media in reaching out to alumni. Currently, AU alumni have created groups on Facebook, but the university is just starting to reach out to the networks. Ben Davis, director of alumni relations, says the main social media project the Alumni Office has launched is a customized AndersonAlums.com site for alumni to network with each other, www.AndersonAlums.com.
"[The site] is in beta now, and we will launch it to all alumni," says Davis. "Our vision is for it to be not just for social networking, but we also plan to move our alumni mentor network onto the site. We’re hoping to connect more seasoned alums with graduating seniors and young alums to assist with career development and job placement. Because www.AndersonAlums.com is our own site, it may be viewed as safer or more controlled than a public site."
An alumni eNewsletter, that has three different versions in an effort to target alumni age groups with relevant information, also is sent monthly. Davis says the most challenging part of electronic communication is keeping e-mail addresses up-to-date for alumni. He reports at least 20 percent bounce back on every message sent. However, e-mail is the primary method of communication with young alumni, so Davis constantly reminds alumni to update their contact information on the AU Web site.
As for social media in AU alumni relations, Davis isn’t sure what the future holds. He says that social networking sites will be important in outreach to young alumni. He recognizes that his office is operating in a new communication paradigm and that traditional means of communication aren’t enough.
"[Social media] is high on our radar screen," he says. "We’re learning as we go. We’re being strategic — we don’t do it just because people think we need to be online."
Chris Williams, director of university communications, has also launched AU into many new online applications. He has also been instrumental in launching the alumni social network on AndersonAlums.com, as well as the redesign of the admissions Web site. Over the past few years, he has improved the AU Web site by adding more interactive features such as podcasts, video, photo albums, and other interactive features. These new features allow him to keep university news up-to-date and allow the university community to take an active role in receiving the news by subscribing to RSS feeds.
"We upgraded the recruitment site on the Anderson University Web site, and the percentage of new visitors has increased," says Williams.
He uses Facebook to promote AU events to the university network and alumni groups. He also maintains a large number of friends on the site and uses the alumni groups (which are operated by alumni) to stay up-to-date with news and buzz among alumni. Most recently, he promoted a screening of the Covenant Productions film A Ripple of Hope, which is a documentary that retells the story of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassination and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy’s reaction and response to the events on April 4, 1968.
However, as with all communication tools, Williams has some reservations about using social media as a primary communication medium for the university. Right now, he’s sticking to being active on Facebook as an alumnus and promoting university events. Similar to the concerns of Joe Davis with contacting prospective students, Williams acknowledges that people view social media and online communication differently than they do traditional means such as direct mail and phone calls.
"We’re trying to be very careful," says Williams. "We’re trying to incorporate [social media] as tools. It’s about what information is delivered and the timing it’s delivered. There’s a decorum of the medium."
While he’s not sure what the future of social media holds in university communication, he is confident that it will be a strategic part of the university’s communication plan.
Social media is also becoming prevalent in the classroom as much as it is on other parts of campus. Many professors use video from sites such as YouTube to illustrate their point during lectures. Others hold online discussion forums for students to further their interactions and discussion outside the classroom. Some have even replaced traditional printed textbooks with ebooks, online articles, and Web sites for class reading assignments.
"I use a variety of media in teaching, including video, in many ways," says Dr. Lee Griffith, professor of psychology. "I do some approximations of podcasting. I don’t syndicate, but I have a variety of audio and video files available to the students to use in conjunction with my courses and these are available for download on a Web site. I have a presence on Facebook and MySpace, and we occasionally use that in contacting students."
That kind of learning and communication environment, according to Baird, is taken for granted by today’s students.
"It’s probably almost incomprehensible to students on campus today that if you wanted to do some research a relatively few years ago, you had no choice but to go to the library," he says. "If you wanted to talk to your parents or make plans with a friend, you had to place a call from a telephone that was bolted to a wall or at least tethered by a cord."
With all of its praises, bells, and whistles, social media comes with a bit of controversy too. Even social media experts who use the technology every day in their professional lives claim to feel overwhelmed by the fast pace and information overload of social media applications and online communication. It is difficult to keep up with the new systems while keeping up with communication when there are expectations of instant responses and high-quality interactive experiences.
"With all these new technologies, our lives have become more complicated when they’re supposed to make it easier," says Amanda Steiner, a mass communication major who graduated from AU in May. "I definitely feel bombarded by the technology."
Along with simply feeling overwhelmed by technology, students are also becoming more distracted by it both in and out of the classroom. Baird has noticed that students often struggle to complete their work because they find it difficult to escape technology such as texting, Facebook, and e-mail.
"It’s hard to overstate the ways that our lives are enriched by the new technologies that we enjoy," he says. "But I’ve also had students tell me that the constant communication becomes a distraction. It’s hard to unplug."
For example, Baird explains that students may be writing a paper while texting friends, chatting online, updating their Facebook page, and sending e-mails. Others wake up to text message alerts during the night, and some expect to be able to access the Internet and send text messages during class.
Beyond the potential for distraction and constant connection, students are changing how they think and relate to others in general because of social media. Griffith explains that social media is image-orientated, as opposed to thinking- or language-oriented communication — which may impact relationships. While the sheer amount of information that is available online doesn’t concern Griffith, he says that some students are having trouble managing their time online.
"I think there is very little information that you have to deal with daily on the Internet,"he says. "One needs to choose which particular media one is going to attend. For example, one doesn’t need to read the newspaper, listen to the radio, and watch the news on TV, and stay up-to-date with the news at Microsoft or Yahoo. Similarly, one needs to choose one approach to communication, whether that be e-mail, Facebook, MySpace, or instant messaging or cell phones and use that. People who try to be competent in all approaches to communication are likely to be overwhelmed."
Another concern of both Griffith and Baird is seeing students spending more time on the computer and less time interacting with each other in person. Griffith also cautions that the nature of online communication allows users anonymity and the ability to create a persona that may not be reflective of reality. However, Griffith has an encouraged perspective, noting that he doesn’t believe social media is a direct link to anti-social behavior, depression, eating disorders, or other mental illness on campus.
"I think students are spending more time in isolation because of Facebook, Myspace, and cell phones," says Griffith. "For some students that’s isolation, and for some students that’s connect. So, the mere use of those particular technologies doesn’t necessarily mean that a student is isolated. It may mean that they are students who might otherwise be unconnected and may be more connected because of them."
Baird says that students have discussed their feelings of being isolated and expressed fear that interpersonal relationships are being replaced by Facebook "pokes" and text messages.
"I think a few are concerned that their generation may be losing the ability to relate to people on a face-to-face basis since so much of their communication is mediated," says Baird. "But concerns have always accompanied the introduction of new technologies, and we’ll probably figure out a way to limit the negatives and make the new communication landscape work for us — at least I hope we will."
Griffith agrees that social media and new technologies present many advantages in education and communication in general. He says that the technologies seem well-received on campus and have greatly contributed to the learning process when used properly. He concludes that the success of social media and new technology on campus depends on the university supporting its students.
"What we need to do as educators is to teach the students how to use and evaluate these new media so they learn how to make good judgments about the reliability of the information they encounter and how to balance their lives in terms of information intake and face-to-face interactions."
A Student's Perspective
Amanda Steiner, a May 2008 graduate from Anderson, Ind., who majored in mass communication with an emphasis in journalism, admits that while she’s not as active as most of her friends on social media and networking sites, this technology still has a large impact on her daily life. During her four years on campus, she watched technology change how the AU community functions and interacts.
"I’ve seen a huge change just relating to people through e-mail, Facebook, and texting," says Steiner. "I remember one time the Internet went down on campus, and everyone was flipping out. It’s a little scary that we depend on it so much."
Facebook is the social networking site of choice. She said that many students check Facebook several times a day — some spend hours on it. Several AU clubs have Facebook groups to tell people about their organizations and invite them to events. She estimates that half of the students in the computer lab are on Facebook every time she visits.
Several professors are also taking their classes online. Steiner’s communication ethics class taught by Dr. David Baird didn’t use a printed textbook — instead, articles and other materials were posted on the professor’s Web site. Her speech class, taught by Virginia Chapman, used YouTube to watch clips of famous speeches.
However, Steiner says that technology is problematic in class. Cell phones ring during class, and students send text messages freely. She also mentions that most students who use laptops during class aren’t taking notes — they are reading the news, checking the forecast, or "Facebooking." Blackberries and phones that have Internet and television further complicate the issue.
While new technology and social media have changed the way students communicate, students such as Steiner haven’t decided if it’s made a negative or positive impact overall. For now, she’s just trying to balance all the media and transition from campus life to starting a post-graduation job.
