The (R)Evolution of Social Media: Staying Current and

Creative

Joel F. W. Price | @jfwpFriends’ Central School

Webmaster & Information Management

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/waynel78/2654134330/in/set-72157606073076984/

Relevant and Creative

Source: http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/epic-fail-helmet-fail.jpg

Still Relevant, Still Creative

Source: http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/fail-owned-safety-glasses-fail.jpg

Also Relevant and Creative

Source: http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/fail-owned-ladder-on-truck-fail.jpg

But Entirely Irresponsible!

Source: http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/epic-fail-parenting-fail.jpg

Hawaii, May 1985

Photo Credit: Gary Glen Price

http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/gallery/highres/Jake_Shimabukuro_Credit_Hisashi_Uchida_09.jpg

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgordon/992957779

A 1985 Instrument Mashup

Know Your Constituents!

• Where do they live online?

• Where do you live online?

(Did you just answer the same thing twice?)

Two Things You Should Be Using

• Google Alerts– Easy-to-use, daily emails about any/every

topic regarding you or people at your school

• Facebook– Probably the place most of your

constituents are (even the older ones). Try entering your school name in the search box!

Network Commonalities

• They all bring people together

• Social networks are designed for for-profit use, but powerful educational uses emerge

(Not) Fortune-Telling

Source: http://twitter.com/jfwp/status/6271759204

Open Your Mind

• You probably do not want to just copy what other schools do (you are unique)!

• Applying a new mindset to media (including social media) will benefit you and your constituents.

Try It Out

• See what happens, but keep your expectations reasonable • remember that paper/telephones haven’t solved all of our

problems!

• Create a new social media experiment– Track it (Google Analytics)– Assess whether it is worthwhile

Google Analytics

spikes/troughs based on “hotness” of topic

“stickiness” of visit to photo gallery

how did they find you – searches, other sites, email?

What About the Time?!

• You wouldn’t use a chainsaw without reading the directions…would you?

• Instead of jumping into the pool with no plan, flailing, and FAILing: It is now part of our job.

Make A Small Change

http://www.d3stores.com/perfectface/img/productImages/bumper_jpg.jpg

Learn, Shape, Innovate

• 1. Use the tools first – plork* (pronounced “plurk” = play + learn + work)* a great way to learn privacy/security settings

• 2. Adapt tools to fit your school

• 3. What will you build for your constituents?

Fan Pages: 3 Ways for <$25

• Use Facebook Apps to syndicate content

• Apps I recommend: SocialRSS (well worth the $25), My Flickr (free), FBML (free)

HTML (FBML)

RSS Feed (SocialRSS)

flickr pix (MyFlickr)

http://bit.ly/fcsgmap

Your Expectations

• You have expectations when using Google, Amazon, or Netflix

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Google.png

Most School Websites

• Have more than enough info about you

• Are not set up to change rapidly

• Are not where your parents/constituents willingly go because it is FUN

Constituent Expectations?

Desire vs. Desire

• You want them to learn a new “way” – it takes people longer to get used to it

• They want to do something – their patience exponentially grows

(P)reactions

• Social media can be used both proactively and reactively.

• Do you know what gets reactions from your constituents?

• Tailor future media to past reactions!

Our First Official Foray

Social Media Time Allocation

• Consider your current strategy, your team size, and your skill set

• In which places could you experiment?

Your Website’s Value

• Offers information parents cannot find elsewhere

• Your site will contain more information (perhaps behind-the-password content)

Grasping for…

• Who controls your web presence? • Is it open for discussion?

• What privacy concerns should you have?• Remember plorking! Break it yourself

first!

Set Goals, Metrics

• Ideally: you’ll set concrete goals and measurements in order to accurately measure and report successes and failures

• Often: you’ll just put it out there and see what happens, then learn!

Be Flexible

• Due to workflow, you may need to temporarily change the way you communicate (it’s okay!):

– Facebook posts to twitter– flickr posts to a blog and to Facebook– News posts to homepage and Facebook

School Mashups

• Some schools are putting together single pages containing their social media content

• Key benefits: Use new tools, show content in one place under your own brand/skin.

School Mashup Examples

• http://wamash.worcesteracademy.org/

• http://www.bcdsmashup.org/

• http://www.nmhschool.org/nmhbook

Recent Inspiration

A Clever Higher Ed App

http://www.cornellcompass.com/home.cfm

My Idea, Steal It!

• What if you used geolocation to check in to a school app (similar to foursquare)?

• What if you knew where your alums were all over the world, and had them checking in from as far away as possible?– Add elevation into the mix?

Valuable Resources

• Inside Facebook• Mashable• Stanford University’s Fan Page• Alumni Futures• Adaptivate

Mahalo, A Hui Hou!

Thanks to Jane Heimerdinger, Judy Kurokawa, Cyrus Won, and the rest of the CASE VII/HAIS team!

This slide deck is available on slideshare.Joel F. W. Price | Webmaster & Information Managementjprice@friendscentral.org | jprice1@gmail.comhttp://friendscentral.orghttp://facebook.com/friendscentral | http://twitter.com/friendscentral

http://bit.ly/fcsgmap