Category Archives: Social Media & Technology

Smart Social Media Protocols for Student Leaders

Student leaders are given a great deal of responsibility and are expected to model professional behavior and conduct. Whether you are a club president, resident advisor, or student government member, your use of social media must be thought out and well planned. While many college students will post every thought or complaint that comes to mind, student leaders must consciously monitor what they post via Facebook, Twitter, and other social media avenues. Student leaders must also be cognizant that any information they post is public so supervisors, university administrators, potential employers, and many others can now view what has been posted.

With that being said, here are five smart protocols to help guide student leaders in their use of social media:

Do not post something publicly that you would not discuss with your members – As a student leader, you represent a whole host of varied and diverse interests of those individuals that you serve. Your personal opinions may not represent the opinions of the entire group. Posting something that you would not discuss with you group could turn members against you.
Do not use social media to undermine your advisor or university administrators – While it may not be uncommon for you to disagree with the decisions and / or opinions of your advisors or university administrators, how you handle your personal opinions is going to set you apart from others. Posting an underhanded and negative comment will most likely anger your advisor, definitely won’t win you any favors, and it could cost you the respect of those that look to you for leadership. Online cheapshots will only make you look foolish; don’t create an online crusade. Likewise, do not create a “fake” account to complain and whine anonymously. If you have something to say, do so privately or as a discussion topic during a regularly scheduled meeting. Good leaders have integrity and courage to be proactive with difficult and uncomfortable circumstances.
Avoid posting personal and “inside jokes” – The easiest way to alienate others is by not including them in the fun. A good leader is inclusive and makes everyone feel a part of the group. Posting jokes that only a select few individuals can appreciate and understand on organization-related pages undermines your ability to create and maintain team cohesion.
Respect confidentiality – As a student leader, you will most certainly be trusted with information related to finances, upcoming decisions and announcements, and personal data. Other students are not privy to this information, and it is important that you keep it to yourself and not post it using social media. You should also use special care when chatting online or through text when it relates to sensitive information, because you may not always be communicating with the person you think you are. One mistake can have far-reaching consequences. And as a general rule of thumb, do not discuss confidential information online.
When in doubt, ask your advisor – If you have a question or concern related to posting information online, have a discussion with your advisor or supervisor. Seek clarification and understanding before proceeding forward because it is always better to be safe than sorry.

What are some other protocols and / or practices that you utilize on your campus related to student leaders using social media? Please share your comments below.

5 Ways to Give on Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day is that one special day each year to express love and friendship with the people in your life. This is also a perfect opportunity for your campus organization to spread love and friendship in your community through volunteering, donating, and participating in charity work.

1. Organize or attend a V-Day Event. V-Day is a world-wide movement created to end violence against all women and girls. Click here to read more about V-Day. See how the University of Cincinnati has organized their V-Day Event this year.

2. Collect new and / or unopened perfume, bubble bath, lotions, and make-up. Any kind of feminine luxury item that a person in crisis could find comforting will do. Donate these items to a women’s shelter. “College Feminist Connect” posted an article describing their call to Action: Break-up to Make-up.

3. Maybe your closet is overflowing with Valentine Teddy Bears or other stuffed animals given to you by all of your admirers. Organize a “Teddy Bear and Friends” stuffed animal drive. Donate the assortment to a homeless or women’s shelter where there are bound to be children that can take comfort in a cuddly toy during a time of need. Here is how Connecticut College and Amherst joined forces in their Teddy Bear Drive to benefit a local Children’s Hospital.

4. If you have creative flare, you can make Valentine cards and centerpieces to take to a senior care facility. Here are several links with great craft ideas: Family Fun, Kaboose, Martha Stewart, All Free Crafts, Origami, Candy Free Cards, Valentine’s Day Messages. Talk to coordinators at the senior care facility to work out specific needs at the facility. For instance, candy may be off limits do to dietary regulations.

5. Many hall councils and other campus organizations sell some kind of flowers, candy-grams, or Valentine wishes. Here is a social media take on a traditional idea: Sell Facebook-grams or Twitter-grams on your organizations page or account. For a nominal fee (like $1.00) students can place orders prior to the holiday. Post or tweet the Valentine wishes and donate the money raised to an animal shelter like the ASPCA. Here are some examples of Valentine SMS.

What are some ways your campus organization gives back to the community on Valentine’s Day or any day during the year? Our readers want to know. Please share your comments below!

Happy Valentine’s Day 2012 from StudentLifeGuru.com.
We LOVE our readers!
@studentlifeguru @reslifesynergy @mhelfrich98

Social Media as a Programming Strategy (free resource handout)

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My Assistant Director, Justin Schiefelbein, (@ResLifeSynergy) and I have decided to use social media as component of our new community programming model with our community assistant staff. While most student affairs departments use Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and the like as a means to simply market or communicate departmental announcements, social media can be used as a platform for facilitating and assessing student learning outcomes.

We have decided to think “outside of the box” and incorporate the use of social media as a programming requirement with our community assistants. While the “traditional” programming model still has merit (which will we will continue to use), the opportunity to engage students online to educate and encourage dialogue is ripe with opportunity. This is even more so particularly because we are in charge of a large student apartment community, in which traditional programming can be a challenge.

Our community assistants are each required to develop two social media programs per semester. Each is given access to the community’s WordPress.com account (http://vulcanvillage.wordpress.com) so they can easily write blog posts related to their program. We provide them training so they know how to public using WordPress. Their submissions are first approved by us prior to us actually submitting them (i.e., they do not have direct access to publish). Access to other social media account are coordinated through all of our full-time staff so the CA’s have access.

Here are the guidelines / requirements that we are using for developing a social media program:

Utilize social media as a vehicle for the program (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogging, LinkedIn, etc.)
Thoughtful, focused, and developed
Primarily educational in nature
Must include interaction in some form
Must be planned at least two weeks in advance, including sumission of program proposal
Cost = Maximum of $50 for any materials and / or prizes to induce participation and interaction (with prior approval); will be specific to your institution’s budgetary arrangements
Marketing: Use all avenues, including social media, email announcements, invitations, signage, etc.

Social media program examples:

Participating in Green Practices
Online Harassment & Bullying
Sex Ed: Are You Being Smart & Safe?
Alcohol Use & Abuse: When Enough is Too Much
How to Develop a Resume

Suggested tips:

Social media programs can be either one time or part of a semester-wide campaign. Example: our “Green Education” programming will continue over the course of the semester with multiple blog posts, Facebook and Twitter advice, YouTube videos, and educational webinars.
You can do polling and simple surveying to see what students want to learn at your college or university (“What do you hope to learn while here?” could be a simple Tweet or Facebook comment.)
Tie your social media programming to student learning outcomes based upon CAS and Learning Reconsidered Outcomes.
Assessment efforts can be utilized by using SurveyMonkey.com or another survey tool to pre-test and / or post-test participants. You can also simply use comments from Facebook and Twitter as qualitative and quantitative assessment data.

Here is a free Social Media Programming handout, which illustrates guidelines, programming examples, modes of interaction, how to encourage participation, and ways to assess.

Please feel free to share this resource with your student affairs colleagues.