Internet Technology

USING SOCIAL MEDIA IS JUST not optional anymore for many marketing, communications, PR, and web professionals working at colleges and universities. While Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and LinkedIn as well as other social networking websites were only used by a small group of institutions just two years ago, they have now become default communication platforms for the majority in trying to reach and engage students, alums, and other constituents on their terms and at a minimum cost.

WHILE ONLY 19 PERCENT OF Americans aged 12 to 17 have ever listened to a podcast, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, many institutions have invested in academic or marketing initiatives to offer content and updates via podcasting. At the other end of the line, the possibilities for reaching and engaging the 75 percent of teens glued to their mobile phones are still mainly ignored by the majority of marketing strategists in higher education.

JULY 1 WILL MARK THE START of the new budget year in most institutions across the country. Nothing new, as that’s the regular budget cycle of higher education. But new this year are the deep cuts some budgets have undergone due to the economic situation.

AT A TIME WHEN HIGHER ED institutions are facing deep budget cuts, delayed projects, hiring freezes, or even worse, it has never been as important to have a website up to par as it is now.

IF LOVE IS IN THE AIR IN FEBRUARY, IT SURE HAS SOUR company this year. More and more campus administrators are contemplating—or already living with—budget cuts, hiring freezes, and other tough financial decisions.

AS I’M FINALLY SITTING IN front of my computer to write this column, I’m frantically following real-time developments at one of the major conferences for web professionals working in higher education: HighEdWeb in Springfield, Mo.

BLOGS, WIKIS, PODCASTS, videocasts, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and more have made their way into the world of higher education.

IN 1980, THE MEDIA BARON Rupert Murdoch made the bold prediction that all news-and advertising-would someday be delivered digitally and that there would really be no need for paper or ink.