Colleges are ramping up efforts to connect with prospective students through Twitter—but students aren’t interested, a new study says.
Evidence has shown that teenagers rely on college visits and Web sites to learn about colleges, rather than social-media outlets. When it comes to Twitter, students are barely on the site at all, let alone for college research purposes.
Abe Gruber, director of marketing at Bloomfield College, found in a recent study that while 40 percent of college admissions offices are active on Twitter, only 15 percent of prospective students expressed interest using in Twitter to learn about colleges.
Mr. Gruber surveyed 200 prospective freshmen and 70 admissions offices in his study. He presented his findings at the Hobsons Connect U conference this week in Minneapolis.
“Twitter scores high for the admissions officers, but not for students,” said Mr. Gruber.
He calls this disparity “the Twitter anomaly.” Most high-school students are not active on Twitter, he says, but college admissions officers typically fall into the 30-to-40 age demographic that Twitter attracts.
“They just hear this as a buzz word,” said Mr. Gruber. “They keep hearing more and more and thinking it’s the next big thing, when their prospective students aren’t really as involved as they think they are.”
According to the study, Twitter is the second most popular form of social media used by college admissions offices (trailing Facebook by 28 percentage points). Twitter is the most up-and-coming form of social media used by colleges, with 35 percent of admissions officials planning to start accounts in the next year.
Rebecca Whitehead, assistant director of campus visits and engagements at Winthrop University, maintains the admissions office’s Twitter account, which currently has 373 followers. She says she uses it largely to connect with other higher-education professionals, to find out about upcoming events or research.
Ms. Whitehead anticipates that high-school students will eventually become more active on Twitter. For now, however, she agrees with Mr. Gruber’s findings, characterizing the account’s impact on students as “very low.”
“Right now, it’s a little difficult to engage with students,” she said. “So right now, we’re just trying to build a presence.”
25 Responses to Admission Officials’ Tweets Fall on Deaf Ears
billhandy - July 1, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I don’t doubt the research but I think the research points to the general misunderstanding of twitter and all social media as it relates to recruiting. The greatest value is not using it as an information portal but the ability to listen and engage. In most cases recruiting (marketing, etc.) simply try to use these tools just like they used their website and email. You can’t repackage old content/ideas/communication methods/etc. in new platforms – it just doesn’t work that way. As an aside, twitter and facebook aren’t the only places future students are hanging out in the social media world. We are seeing some major shifts with regard to millennial and gen we media consumption habits and preferences.
22206458 - July 1, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Ditto to the first comment. Well stated. I encourage readers to check out Brian Solis’ new book, Engage, and to follow him on a variety of social media channels. It will help in gaining a better understanding of Twitter and other social/new media.
joneseagle - July 1, 2010 at 6:35 pm
This high school counselor does use the tweets to keep his students informed though – and the students do read his posts and announcements.Please keep up the connections as myself and lots of my students’ parents also follow university admisisons offices via twitter.
lulu123 - July 2, 2010 at 12:57 am
As an educational consultant and college planner, I think that social media and college admissions are entering new territory.Whether it is good or not will be determined down the road. I still believe that students are smart enough to rely on some of the tried and true methods of communication from colleges rather than a tweet.
richrobles - July 2, 2010 at 8:25 am
One thing to consider is the proliferation of smartphones. One of the reasons why Twitter is so successful is partly tied to the smartphone market and the ability to access the tweets.
agator89 - July 2, 2010 at 8:51 am
I would agree that you can’t use old content in a new (in the admissions world) media platform. It doesn’t work. Which speaks to the fact that many do not do their homework before engaging in something like this. My dissertation was all about the use of social media and other various online media that students from the New York City area are using to make their college decisions. It is critical to understand who is using it, for what and when. If you don’t understand the value added to the student when you put this out there, then you are missing the point and spinning your wheels. I recently attended the conference sponsored by the Center for Integrative Marketing at DePaul Univ and found what the experts in the tech marketing world to be very interesting. There are MANY new things happening out there which are well beyond simple tweets that people and more importantly student are migrating toward. If you want to be on the edge of that, you need to follow the overall market and not try to play catch up with your HEd neighbors.
mongooseresearch - July 2, 2010 at 9:54 am
My research from 2009 also confirms – Prospective Students Do Not Tweethttp://blog.mongooseresearch.com/2009/03/prospective-students-do-not-tweet.html
cshunt312 - July 2, 2010 at 10:25 am
Though not directly intended, this article reflects three other issues related to the use of social media by higher ed institutions: the siloed approach to communications, increasing fragmentation of the channels and messages, and the underlying assumption that the main audience for certain (most?) communication channels is students, primarily undergraduate, both current and prospective. As a result, in an effort to enhance their communication efforts, all too many schools are actually making them less effective (not to mention less efficient).Now more than ever, institutions need to take a strategic, holistic, unified approach to communicating with ALL of their stakeholders. That’s not to say communications should be centralized, but they could be much better coordinated. This is a challenge, certainly, but it’s also a great opportunity to leverage new technologies to achieve organizational goals and objectives.Courtney HuntFounder, Social Media in Organizations (SMinOrgs) Community
ksledge - July 2, 2010 at 11:51 am
It’s hard to say because I applied to college 12 or so years ago, but considering the type of information that comes over twitter, I don’t think I’d use it for deciding where to apply if I were going through the process again today. I would use it once I have decided to matriculate somewhere, or perhaps to weigh a few top choices after being admitted. I suppose I agree with the other posters that admissions officers will have to adapt the material to be appropriate for that medium.
saltwaterhill - July 2, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I echo Courtney’s comments. Communications across an institution should be coordinated; not cookie-cutter, but consistent. Just because teens are not big users of Twitter and aren’t making college application decisions based on Twitter, that doesn’t mean colleges and universities shouldn’t be communicating the student experience using this tool. Just as internal departments need to break down their communication silos (development, alumni, marketing/pr), they also need to realize that audiences aren’t compartmentalized. An alumna is not just a potential/current donor. Alums are ambassadors for your institution, so they need to know about the on-campus experience, what’s happening in the classroom, in residence halls, on athletic fields. They talk to friends, neighbors, family who are parents of prospective students.
seekeroftruth - July 2, 2010 at 12:43 pm
My soon-to-be-senior in high school told me over a year ago: “Twitter is dumb.”His finger is on the pulse (or is the new phrase, “his thumbs are on the phone”)…of most trends.I told him that I was advised to learn to use it to stay public relations’ savvy in my own work.It is a good venue for haiku.
ldorland - July 2, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Maybe some Admissions officers miss the point of twitter, but the article misses the point too. Twitter is great for professional networking across sectors. Admissions officers AND high school counselors should definitely be there. It may not be great for engaging with high school prospects, but it’s essential as a way to keep up with a rapidly changing online communications environment. The high school counselors and admissions officers are the ones who can benefit, not the students. Professional networking didn’t seem to be on the author’s radar, and it should be.
bitlisa - July 2, 2010 at 1:32 pm
I think Courtney said it best. The key to effectively using any channel is understanding the characteristics of the channel ( synchronous vs. asynchronous, one-way communication vs. two-way, cost/speed of broadcasting ) and tie it appropriately to the message you want to communicate. Thinking about it this way results in an integrated (not siloed ) communication approach that will complement the message from one channel to the other. And students will respond. agator89: I would be interested in reviewing your dissertation. Let me know if/where it’s available.
jaygaspar - July 2, 2010 at 2:11 pm
I taught an Honors Program seminar last semester that addressed (in part) social media. These freshman and sophomore students disliked being tweeted by Admissions and others at school. It created a negative, not a neutral, impression. I didn’t check with my regular section students but this article raises the question. As I sidebar, I will use my google search (on my desktop) to check our son-in-law’s tweets–great pics of the grandkids.
cdorso - July 2, 2010 at 2:29 pm
I agree with a lot of the sentiments here. Twitter is more than just communication with prospective students, just as our jobs in enrollment management comprise more than just working with prospective students.agator89′s point is good about using old methods with new media; there’s no “right” way to use Twitter, but there are certainly some wrong ways. And Courtney’s points are excellent.
urspider - July 2, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I enjoy using Twitter to update colleagues about aspects of my teaching with technology, posts to my blog, etc. Otherwise I don’t use social networking.My students consider Twitter to be silly, however. They don’t seem to “get it,” preferring FaceBook status updates and texting to stay in touch with the rest of their hive.I don’t like popping colleagues’ bubbles, but the Millennials I encounter are generally lousy with technology. I attribute this to their lack of critical-thinking skills, honed by teach-to-the-test learning and overinvoled parenting.Except for those in technical fields, most of my students stay in the shallow end of the Internet and don’t venture out far. They can learn quickly, which is a blessing. Perhaps when they learn to back up their projects and figure out new user interfaces, they’ll make stronger use of new media.I’m not holding my breath.
urspider - July 2, 2010 at 3:25 pm
And my students certainly are not following Drunkhulk on Twitter. Pity, that :)
mariemrafa - July 3, 2010 at 6:10 pm
I don’t understand the fascination with Twitter. It is a glorifed Facebook status with a separate account to remember. I don’t own a smart phone to constantly update either. Supposedly, I’m in the target generation for this stuff. Aside from e-mail, maybe a personal blog, and a Facebook or similar account, I don’t need more ways to annoy my friends, family, and co-workers. I understand the high school students’ views. They most likely see it as “uncool” to be so involved in their futures (aka college search). I see Twitter as the mother’s mini van which she drives her student to high school every day and drops off right infront of the popular kids outside the school. So crimpling uncool and reason (maybe not a decent one, but a reason nonetheless) for ridicule from peers. Twitter, I believe, will be a fad. It’s not even a reliable source of information because you can never truly know who’s posting those 160 character messages.
gseverett1 - July 4, 2010 at 2:34 am
I dunno–I think I see the Man trying to coopt the cool kids toys for business putposes. Does this work?
wkawakami - July 4, 2010 at 3:15 am
It is refreshing to know that prospective students would rather visit the colleges or view the colleges’ website in their decision making. Making decisions on the limitations of Twitter would be questionable. WKawakami
quetzalcoatl - July 5, 2010 at 9:42 am
20. Being cynical about the use of Twitter for business purposes is a natural reaction for many, but a rather limiting one.Twitter, as pointed out by several posters here, is an excellent way of keeping professionals connected to each other. Once these networks are established, people start sharing useful information and anecdotes which can only make them better connect with their target market (whether on or offline). I would also like to shift the conversation somewhat, and say that one area Twitter manifestly succeeds in the Uni context is for PR purposes (particularly for news and live tweeting from events).
katidavis - July 6, 2010 at 12:49 pm
It takes creativity to understand how to use the tool best for different audiences.Twitter serves two purposes:1. Build relationships2. Disseminate and share information quicklyIt’s the latter that can be best used for high school students and their parents.I strongly encourage you to read Mike Richwalsky’s Using Twitter Without Knowing You’re Using Twitter (http://highedwebtech.com/2009/05/06/twitter-week-using-twitter-without-knowing-youre-using-twitter/). The same concept could be applied to dates & deadlines for parents and high school students. If more institutions had someone like Mike from Allegheny, I believe we’d see many ways Twitter could be used outside of its traditional use.
emmadw - July 6, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I agree that for many marketing & admissions teams, they need to learn how to best use twitter – not just replicate what they already have. One important thing, of course would be to ensure they post regularly, include ‘interesting’ RTs (e.g. events the Student Union has done, research news that might particularly appeal to the target audience; etc. Not just admissions.
arrive2__net - July 17, 2010 at 5:44 pm
The posts on this story are interesting and reveal something important about the idea of using Twitter for this pupose. Parents and school officials are likely to be an important factor in deciding on a college, and many prospective students may not like or use Twitter. It seems to me that those prospective students who like Twitter may associated it with getting away from “adult” influence, so indeed receiving some tweets from an institution may not be taken seriously or welcomed. Students are likely to find visiting campus, and seeing images and information on its website, to be more fun and exciting than tweets. Where students are making the decision, the influence of peers may be as or more important than the input of adults. So they may be more interested in tweets from peers than from adult recruiters. Maybe recruitment could be helped by helping recruits find students or student organizations to follow on Twitter, if the students or groups are having a good time in the college. (That could be the risk factor.) Bernard SchusterArrive2.net
dian7127 - July 30, 2010 at 12:05 am
Twitter is most valuable when leveraged as stream of data people, including students, care about. Whether it’s following Justin Beiber or discount offers from Dell Computer, there are innumerable ways to tweet content that resonates with your audience. You just have to know what your audience is passionate about. Instead of a direct feed featuring their office news, an admissions staff might consider asking a freshman to tweet his/her impressions of their first semester at school. Or orientation. Or you name it. The tweets can then link back to campus digital properties that support or contextualize the tweeter’s thoughts. That kind of twitter feed, with a smart and insightful student at the healm, could be very relevant to prospective students seeking to gain an authentic understanding of what college a, b or c is like. Ultimately, this is just another form of storytelling and done well, stories are what people remember. – dian7127