I have been thinking about when it will be time to put social media on the home page for Roanoke College. This is a big change for me, since for a long time it was “if,” now it is “when.” I have followed University of Richmond’s and Washington & Lee’s use of Twitter and Facebook on their home page. We haven’t hurt ourselves by not having those links (see chart below). However, I am beginning to wonder if those links would increase our social media presence.
| Facebook Fans | Twitter Followers | |
| Roanoke | 2,674 | 4,225 |
| Richmond | 4,525 | 1,573 |
| W&L | 2,450 | 861 |
Below is my list of what other Virginia schools are doing. It looks like many of the privates are already on board with social media links on the home page, while many of the publics are still catching up.
I would like Roanoke’s approach to be unique and focus on Facebook status, Tweets and friends/followers, rather than just links. We are currently in the early design process, but keep your eyes here to see what our plans are.
Other Virginia Colleges and Universities Social Media Links
conducted February 16, 2010
- Averett University – Nothing
- Bridgewater – Nothing
- Christopher Newport University – Nothing
- College of William and Mary – Twitter, YouTube, Flickr
- Eastern Mennonite University – Nothing
- Ferrum College – Nothing
- George Mason University – Update — Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo
- Hampden-Sydney College – Facebook
- Hampton University – Nothing
- Hollins University – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
- James Madison University – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
- Liberty University- Nothing
- Longwood – Update – Twitter home page feature
- Lynchburg College – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, MySpace
- Mary Baldwin College – Nothing
- Marymount University
- Norfolk State University – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
- Old Dominion University – Nothing
- Radford – Nothing
- Randolph College – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
- Regent University – Nothing
- Shenandoah University – Nothing
- Sweet Briar – In the Homepage Flash
- University of Mary Washington – Nothing
- University of Richmond – Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning
- University of Virginia – Nothing
- Virginia Commonwealth University – Nothing
- Virginia Military Institute – Nothing
- Virginia State University – Twitter
- Virginia Tech – Nothing
- Virginia Wesleyan College – YouTube, Facebook
- Washington & Lee – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
{ 1 trackback }
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Michael,
I’m kind of the “social media guy” here at Marymount, and you might be interested to know what we’re in the middle of a grand website redesign that will feature some social network callouts on at least the admissions homepage, if not the .edu home itself. This is a really great post!
-Jake Earl
Thanks for the comment Jake, I was having trouble getting to your site earlier today, that is why I didn’t list you. I’d love to hear more about what you guys have planned.
Hi Michael,
You list George Mason University as having nothing in regards to social media on our site. However, the very first link at the top of our home page, “Connect,” has links to our Facebook account (which has the third largest amount of fans for universities in VA), our various Twitter accounts, video and iTunes U.
Thanks,
Tara
Tara, sorry I missed it. I was doing a super quick scan. What other ways do you promote your social media links?
Hi Michael:
You also have Longwood University listed as having nothing for social media on our website. We have a rotating news item area on our front page and one of those items is devoted to our Twitter feed. Our Facebook Fan Page was only launched in December but we have talked about adding it to the home page.
That said, I think the majority of the Twitter followers and Facebook fans are coming “word of mouth” through the social media outlets themselves
Mary Jo –
Thanks, sorry I missed that, and I already updated it. Thanks for your feedback. I am amazed at how much everyone is doing!! I feel like we have been slackers.
Hey Michael, great blog on the social media callouts on home pages. I think they do do wonders for attracting audiences to social media websites. This tactics picked up steam toward the end of last year and is going to keep increasing this year.
Also, I checked a couple of the websites listed. Old Dominion does have social media call outs for Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and MySpace on its homepage (bottom right of the page).
You may want to have a look at @annmwhite’s blog (if you haven’t already. She just discussed some of the data she is seeing at Oklahoma Christian University. http://annmwhite.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/six-months-of-social-media-buttons/
Travis — Thanks for the info!