Brain Waves Blog

Higher education social media managers operated in crisis mode for at least half of this year. It was—yes, I'm going to say it—unprecedented. It also highlighted, for better or worse, the essential role of social media in campus communications. 

As a social media manager, understanding copyright is a critical component of your content creation process. And it can definitely be confusing, especially if you have multiple accounts to manage in addition to all of the other aspects of your job.

Community College Remains Top of Mind

Today’s Briefing analyzes publicly available online conversation in the U.S. and on Reddit and YouTube (which span beyond the U.S.) about the coronavirus and higher education from May 11–17. In this analysis of volume, topics, sentiment, and key audiences, we highlight conversation about community colleges (again!) and summarize trends from our ten weeks of Briefings.

If you’re reading along in my series, you’ve staffed your social media team and determined the equipment you need to keep it going. In my final post, I’ll cover the core components needed for a sustainable program. Given the ever-changing nature of social media, this category of resources is just as essential as the other two; prioritizing them is an exercise in futility. This category encompasses everything that continues to build on a strong foundation for a social media program so it grows and innovates over time.

Community College Convo Stays Viral

Today’s Briefing analyzes publicly available online conversation in the U.S. and on Reddit and YouTube (which span beyond the U.S.) about the coronavirus and higher education from May 4–10. In this analysis of volume, topics, sentiment, and key audiences, we highlight the impact of another viral tweet recommending community college, conversations relevant to recruitment and retention, how students (now alumni) and their friends and family talked about graduation, and the continuing conversation about online classes.

Recently I wrote about the common illusion that a campus social media presence doesn't cost anything. If you’re in higher ed social media, you know how untrue that is. My first post covered staffing a campus social media team—the required positions and skills your team needs. This week I’m covering everything physical you need for your team, from equipment to campus props. It hasn’t slipped past me that I’m preaching to the choir, but some of what I’m covering may be new to you. I also try to add real world examples from campuses I’ve worked on and anecdotal examples I’ve heard from colleagues. I think you’ll find some new nuggets in here and definitely some justification you can use to request resources you may not have.