Students Are Choosing Colleges With Social Media Clout [STUDY]

Efforts by higher education institutes to gain Twitter followers, Facebook likes and YouTube views, while connecting with students on blogs and message boards, are paying off.

A recent survey of 7,000 high school students by Zinch, an online college resource, reveals university social media accounts are influential to students who are deciding between colleges and universities.

Admissions counselors are actively recruiting students on the popular social networks. The survey reveals schools that are smart with social media — engaging students in video chats, Facebook contests and Twitter conversations — are most influential online. About two-thirds of survey participants said they actively scoped out prospective colleges on popular social networks including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and Tumblr.

The institution’s level of engagement on social media bears a lot of weight with prospective students. Being able to connect with counselors quickly about the admissions process is hugely important, according to the study.

“Students want to be connected with other students,” Gil Rogers, director of College Outreach for Zinch told Inside Higher Ed. “You can post a picture of an athletic event, but you also want to be able to connect students to ways that they can be part of that event or be part of that campus.”

According to social media consulting company Sociagility, the top social media-savvy schools are Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The schools share sports team highlights, impressive research developments and large photos of campus events to engage online users on social networks.

Do you think its important for universities and colleges to connect with perspective students online? Tell us in the comments. 

Source : mashable.com