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The rap on research for the arts, museums, and education

August 06, 2010 by Bill

NPR has been no slouch when it comes to social networking and now has more than a million Facebook fans. It recently surveyed that population, and the findings raise a question that has me and my colleagues wondering: how segmented is the social media audience by platform?

Social networking is on our minds quite a bit these days at Slover Linett, and not just in my own domain, higher ed. As many of you know, our collaborative study with CASE and mStoner looked at how colleges and universities are using social media for fundraising and alumni relations. Cheryl presented initial findings in New York and the research was written up in the Huffington Post, Inside Higher Ed, and elsewhere. And we’re conducting several surveys to help performing arts organizations understand how their audiences are using interactive technologies to connect with the institution and engage with the art form.

So the new NPR study caught my eye, and based on the 9 slides that their in-house research group has shared publicly, it looks like wonderful work. Some of the findings were a little surprising to me (which I always enjoy — surprises in research reports are like plot twists in a mystery novel). Perhaps the most interesting surprise was the apparent lack of overlap between NPR’s Facebook fans and its Twitter followers.

Only about 8% of the Facebook fans who participated in the survey say they also follow NPR on Twitter. Yet NPR has well over two million Twitter followers (the numbers are complicated because different departments and on-air personalities have their own Twitter accounts; NPR Politics has 1.8 million followers, and Weekend Edition host Scott Simon has 1.3 million).

So clearly there are plenty of NPR Facebook fans who aren’t following the organization on Twitter, and vice versa. NPR researchers Andy Carvin and Noel Cody, who posted the results I just linked to in NPR's research blog, were also surprised by this and note that the two communities appear to be more mutually exclusive than they thought. ...

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Categories: College admissions & marketing, Higher ed, Museums, Other nonprofits, Performing arts, Research findings, Social media, Survey research
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July 23, 2010 by Bill

Our recent study on social media usage by colleges and universities has been generating conversation, predictably enough given the hot topic. But what’s the real revolution that’s occurring? It has to do with who’s communicating with whom.

Our study for the Council on Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which we undertook in partnership with mStoner, was designed to give university development, alumni relations, and marketing professionals insights into what their peers are doing with social media, and why. We found that the biggest reason schools are investing time and money in social media is because their alumni (and other constituents) want them to. It’s expected, and it’s how an increasing proportion of alumni want to communicate with their alma mater.

No surprise there. And another recent piece of research amplifies this point. The U.S. News commissioned the Engagement Strategies Group to survey alumni around the country and learned that 47% of young alumni don’t feel their colleges do enough to connect with them, other than soliciting donations. So alumni want their schools to take a more active role in forging those relationships. That doesn’t mean more communication, of course. It means better communication.

Which brings us right back to social media, because Facebook, Twitter, and other network-driven communication platforms aren’t just new channels to carry the university’s message to alumni (or prospective or current students). They’re not even merely two-way streets: they’re whole neighborhoods of “streets,” new communities of information and exchange.

A slide from our presentation at the CASE Summit for Advancement Leaders, 2010. ...

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Categories: Higher ed, Social media
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January 15, 2010 by Bill

Social media is playing an increasing role in all kinds of decisions, from tonight’s movie to tomorrow’s career switch. How will it change the college choice game?

We largely understand the decision about what college to attend as a matter of finding the right “fit.” Which college represents the best alignment between the student’s values, interests, and personality and the university’s academic programs, reputation, student life, cost, and other factors? In the end, a prospect must “feel right” about the college they choose. Some have even suggested that the process is similar to choosing a romantic partner. We say that young people “fall in love” with the college of their choice.

Well, social media is certainly playing a role in romantic matchmaking. What about finding that special college?

Let’s put this into context. How prospective students gather information to find that “good fit” has changed dramatically since I was a prospect more than thirty years ago. In those days the information and advice came from a narrow range of experts: the guidance counselors in your school and whatever catalogues and directories happened to be on hand at the resource center. There were a few books on college admissions, but not many. No national rankings yet. Conversations with peers and perhaps other friends and family members were important, and noting where those others were going, or had gone, to college had an impact. But overall, the people who had an impact on your choice came from within a small, geographically-defined circle.

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Categories: College admissions & marketing, Consumer decision-making, Higher ed, Social media
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December 30, 2009 by Bill

I was recently asked by a colleague of mine to guest lecture at a seminar in higher education administration that he teaches. I’ve done this before and always enjoyed it, and I like to think I have something worth sharing after all those years in institutional research (including my recent experience on the consulting side). His students are refreshingly idealistic: they really aspire to have an impact on the way higher education works and how it benefits society.

But they often also have a big impact on me. That was the case in my most recent experience.

During the seminar, we discussed the various accountability efforts that are currently underway in higher ed, such as the College Portrait component of the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA) effort at land-grant colleges and universities, and the University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN) among independent colleges and universities.

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Categories: Assessment, Higher ed, Learning, Student research
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