Brain Waves Blog

As higher ed insiders, we have a vested interest in understanding the individual and collective beliefs, attitudes, and relationships that alumni have with their alma maters. This knowledge provides valuable insight into their future actions and behaviors. As social media data analysts, we decided to conduct social listening analysis of alumni conversations to evaluate how they discuss their alma maters across various social platforms. We examined alumni conversation as a whole, then used multiple ways to segment the conversation to see how different characteristics revealed distinct types of conversation among alumni. 

There’s something about a good goal that really helps focus your behavior over a period of time—both consciously and unconsciously. In fact, studies on behavioral priming, (which is defined as “the incidental activation of knowledge structures … by the current situational context”), indicate that attitudes and other affective reactions can be triggered automatically by the mere presence of relevant objects and events (Bargh, Chen, Burrows, 1996). Set goals for the new year and keep your list handy, allowing the goals to seep into your day-to-day decision making. But on to the main act—how do you set goals anyway?

Gratitude was not a word that I used as a child. But writing thank you notes was a common practice in our household. And always saying “thank you.” From a young age, the importance of expressing appreciation for the kind gestures of others was instilled in me. In turn, I've always had a fear of people not knowing how truly grateful I am for their kindness.

We know students' methods for communication evolve regularly. The higher education industry needs to evolve along with those methods so we remain relevant in the minds of students.

Influencer marketing is an innovative strategy that has developed as individuals become more influenced by their peers than by businesses or organizations. Student influencer marketing strategically reaches students through their peer networks. Corporations and big brands have used effective peer marketing campaigns since 2010, but few higher education institutions, especially in student affairs, are taking advantage of this new strategy. In 2017, the Division of Student Affairs at Illinois State University launched one of the only formal student influencer teams in student affairs divisions nationwide.*

Before you jump into Reddit, get familiar with these rules of engagement.

As soon as we decided to start Campus Sonar, I committed to providing social listening benchmarks for the higher education industry. This was a direct response to what I heard from campus-based professionals at conferences and during research conversations. While the concept of social listening was intriguing, administrators weren’t sure how much conversation they should expect to find about their campus. Once they looked and knew how much conversation there was, the first question they had was “is that normal?” This is why we released our 2019 Online Conversation Benchmarks study—I wanted every college and university to be able to measure their online conversation and know how it compared to their peers.