MobilityTechzone

Latest News

TMCNet: U. Alabama: U. Alabama has YouTube and Facebook sites

[March 26, 2009]

U. Alabama: U. Alabama has YouTube and Facebook sites

(U-Wire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) By Josh Veazey, The Crimson White (U. Alabama) TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Last October, University of Alabama administrators created YouTube and Facebook accounts for the University. Their role, said web communications director Andy Rainey, will be much more than obligatory.

"I don't think anyone sees this as a stodgy, institutional thing where all we're going to do is have a picture of Denny Chimes and put our news releases on there," Rainey said.

"The nature of social media is that it's all about establishing and cultivating relationships and conversations. And that's what we want to do." Facebook was chosen specifically over candidates like MySpace and Twitter because of its wide range of users, the fact that it claims to have 85 percent of all college students signed up, and the personal feel of one person talking to another. In keeping with this, so far, Rainey has been cautious of how many and what kind of Facebook messages are sent, wanting to conserve the centralized, one-on-one conversational feel of the sight.

"MySpace blew up so fast and became so spammy it seems, that I think it became something that people distrusted in terms of getting information. That's something we're careful about - we don't want to overdo it," Rainey said. "We don't want to appear that we're spamming people, or make people say, ‘Okay, we get it - you've got something to tell us.'" Features on Facebook allow messages to be sent only to certain subscribers based on specificities like age and location, and in the future, Rainey said, fans could fill out information that would allow them to only receive messages likely to interest them. So far, he said, they have received very positive feedback from alumni who use the site to stay connected, both with University activity and with each other.

"One thing that we always hear from alumni that they have a tremendous sense of pride about the University and a connection to the campus," Raney said. "One thing that is neat about social networking is that it allows us to communicate with those audiences that may have moved on to another city or another state." So far, the YouTube account has been used to add extra content and dimension to other UA publications, such as Research Magazine.

"The circulation of some of these publications and Web sites that we put together may be limited to a certain group of people - but that's really good material," Rainey said. "With this method, we're able to show it to potential students, researchers at other institutions and other audiences that might not be predisposed to coming to the University Web site and looking for content." It is a potent chance to get information to people who were not looking for it at all, especially with YouTube's "Related Videos" algorithm, which Rainey describes as unpredictable. He laughs when he mentions that their research video titled "Like a Shark Through Water" might get grouped in with shark attack videos, but he also cites it as evidence that putting information on a third-party site is always accompanied by risks. UA videos could become juxtaposed with videos that are less than desirable, or, for example, people could write derisive comments under them.

"We take our content, our message, and put it somewhere else and let people run with that. But that's sort of the reality of what happens with information anyway," Rainey said.

"Certainly, no one at UA is in the business of trying to control what people are saying about us. We sort of embrace what people will say about the University by becoming involved in these networks to begin with. In general, we trust our users - we trust the people that are going to have a high level of interest or commitment to UA to be appropriate in terms of how we relate here." The next stage, Rainey said, is getting more UA students involved, which could include letting student groups submit their own videos, or even sponsoring contests.

"Obviously, because this is the university's official YouTube channel, [a possible submission] has to meet standards both from a quality standpoint and the content of it. It would have to be something we would want to represent the University," Rainey said. "But if there's work out there that would be a positive reflection upon UA, that others would be interested in, we're certainly open to that." ##30## ((Distributed on bahalf of U-Wire via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com)) ((U-Wire - http://www.uwire.com)) Copyright ? 2009 U-Wire

[ Back To MobilityTechzone Homepage's Homepage ]
FOLLOW MobilityTechzone

Subscribe to MobilityTechzone eNews

MobilityTechzone eNews delivers the latest news impacting technology in the Wireless industry each week. Sign up to receive FREE breaking news today!
FREE eNewsletter
Interview with VPI Systems
TMC's Rich Tehrani speaks with Russ Green, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Management for VPI Systems
Interview with Thrupoint
TMC's Paula Bernier speaks with David Jodoin, Chief Strategy Officer for Thrupoint
Interview with Nuance
TMC's Erik Linask speaks with Christy Clark Murfitt, Sr Manager of Solutions Mktg, Enterprise Division for Nuance
Interview with Abukai
TMC's Erik Linask speaks with Philipp Schloter, President & CEO of Abukai
Interview with DragonWave
TMC’s Stefanie Mosca speaks with Greg Friesen, VP, Product Management of DragonWave