The rewards and risks of Web2.0

Q: Is this Social Media stuff Risky Business?

A: No way. What could possibly go wrong?

It’s really just a tool

• Respect the fundamentals• One voice, one message

– The dialogue must be written

• Use data to establish direction• Remember, not everyone is equally ready

Overview: Social Media

•The tools– The Web– Really Simple Syndication (RSS)– Blogs & Video blogs– Social Networks

The Tools (continued)

– Social Networks•Facebook•Twitter•MySpace (but not so much anymore)•Sharing (Share This)

Overview

•The Tools (continued)– Tracking tools

•Technorati•Google Search•Google Analytics

The Web

• Everyone we deal with uses the web– The Electronic Newsroom

• Print• Broadcast• Online Outlets

– Your University Homepage– Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN

• 140+ million visitors a month• 16 million to ABC, NBC, CBS & FOX• 30 million to CNN (online)

The Web and NC State

• Approx. 70,000 people a day visit either– www.ncsu.edu– news.ncsu.edu

• More than 25 million a year are making the choice to visit one of our sites and seek out news & information about North Carolina State University

Web-based Media Kitnews.ncsu.edu• Web version of traditional materials

– Links to online sources & resources referenced in releases

– More than 2,000 followers on Twitter (NC State News)

– “Share our good news” page solicits friends to spread the word through their own Twitter and Facebook accounts

Web-based Media Kitnews.ncsu.edu

• News visibility on NC State Home Page– Bottom half of the home page is

dedicated to news content– News page is one of the 10 most-visited

sites at ncsu.edu

RSS• Syndicating your content directly

to subscribers – Newsfeeds to reporters– News area of your site and syndicates

• Platform for other media• Others can share your feeds

Blogs and higher education• They’re everywhere• Admission, alumni, students, faculty

all have blogs on sites out there• Millions of “citizen journalists”

– Blogs (189 million around the world)

www.HiceSchool.com

Your school is being blogged

• Students talking with prospective students, faculty talking with parents – it’s happening

• Do you embrace the madness?

Blogs as commodity

• Colleges and universities have jumped all over blogs, so where is the differentiation?

• Trendy and cheap, but sustainability is the key

Twitter• Do I really need to know what

you’re doing every waking moment?

Twitter Is Growing•twitter.com had about 5 million site visits in December 2008

•23 million in December 2009•75 million users (17% twittered last month)

Twitter Can Be Useful

• Share links, news, feedback, answers, insights, even real-time coverage of news and events.

• Listen to the social media conversation surrounding your brand, participate in it and affect it.

Twitter News Coverage

Blogs & Twitter are about influence• Influence is directly related to your following

– Your following is your audience

• Massive influence online translates to massive influence off-line

• If you do them well, you become your own media channel– Today’s student/institution has started building his

or her online network– Where will you/they be in 5 – 10 – 20 years

Web Video• Viral/shared video is the new “it” technology

– November 2009: 30 billion videos viewed online on the US

• Video and flash are far more prevalent now– 63% of adult Americans have broadband– Flash is on 99% of internet-enabled desktops

• The “Trickle Up” effect– 60% of Internet users consume user-generated

content

The cast of players• YouTube/Google• Fox Interactive Media• Yahoo Video• Viacom Digital• Microsoft• HuLu• AOL

YouTube/Google• About 40% share of the market• 12.2 billion videos in November 2009

– YouTube accounts for more than 12 bill– 94.7 videos per viewer (per month)– The others – 19 billion downloads/views

in November 2009 from the competitors

» Source: comScore

Social networking• 82% increase in time spent on social

networking sites over the past year. • Sites like MySpace, Facebook and

others are where prospective and current students, alumni, etc. gather

• 206.9 million unique visitors to Facebook in Dec. 2009

Facebook • 90% of full-time U.S. college

students are members• Two-thirds visit daily• 300 million active users

The great debate• Do we follow them?

• Do we monitor them?

• Is leadership important?

Keep the web in your toolkit

• Develop your strategies and goals first– There is no magic bullet

• Know the technologies– Where is a blog or Facebook

appropriate?

• Apply, measure, move on

Questions to ask yourself• Are you ready to make the commitment?

– It does take some work to make it happen

• Do you really want interaction and more transparency?– And does your boss?

• The entry costs are low – but the cost of not following through can be great.– Sustainability