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To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds, and many colleges have jumped on the trend. But should you? Twitter is a great tool, just make sure you don’t get caught in the hype and unrealistic expectations.

To Tweet:

1. Reach a Fast-Growing Market
   As a greater number of high school students begin tweeting, Twitter will become an increasingly effective tool for making and maintaining connections.
2. Maintain Connections
   Twitter is built around the idea of “followers”. By following your tweets, students interested in your school can maintain a connection over a long period of time.
3. Promote Things Fast
   The speed with which Twitter can disseminate your latest news or announcement is one of its greatest strengths. Your information goes out, instantly, for your followers to read.
4. Build Your Brand
   With a stylish twitter background, your tweets can fit right in with your school’s brand image.

Not To Tweet:

1. Can Take A Lot of Time
   Although it doesn’t cost anything to join, it will take a significant time commitment in order to see returns. Posting your latest news and events is fine, but finding and connecting with other people takes persistent effort.
2. Is It Just a Fad?
   Some new reports say that over half of people who start twitter accounts end up quitting in the first month (mostly due to the time commitment issue). While Twitter’s not likely to see a drop off in activity any time soon, continue to monitor your account and make sure you are receiving returns on the time you invest.

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5 Ideas to Spice Up Your Facebook Page

More and more colleges are creating branded Facebook Pages for their school. As many have already found out, when you want to go beyond the basics it is not the easiest platform to work with. Additional features for youru page require additional “applications”. Below, we’ve found five great ways for colleges and universities to make their FB page stand out from the rest.

1. Static FBML
   Normally, custom HTML code is difficult to add, but with the Static FBML app you can render FBML (Facebook Markup Language) or HTML in a customizable box. This gives you the freedom to add pictures, videos, and any other stylized content. Facebook created this app, so it’s entirely reliable.
2. Flash Player
   The Flash Player app allows you to add a box that plays any kind of Flash video. Many, if not all, of college and university virtual tours are Flash-based so this is a perfect solution.
3. Posted Items Pro
   Posted Items Pro enables you to embed multiple YouTube, Yahoo, and Google videos. It’s a great way to beef-up your media section.
4. Facebook Notes
   This application will automatically pull in the RSS feed from your blog plus share with your entire network when you’ve added something new!
5. Twitter App
   Assuming you have a Twitter account, this app will automatically stream your tweets into your Facebook status. This automation will help keep your profile info fresh.