Most Engaged Social Media College Communities

Use of hashtags is essential to disseminating information on 4 out of 5 of the social media platforms examined in this study: Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram. Hashtags are used to identify messages on a specific topic or category. To use a hashtag appropriately, schools should highlight the most relevant aspect of a particular post in an abbreviated manner that is either catchy in its own right or capitalizes on a larger trend within the network. Schools like the University of Phoenix know how to unify their various social media accounts through hashtags. At the same time, other successful schools capitalize on more universal trends, for example, Texas A&M uses hashtags to highlight their posts on holidays and other national occasions.

Another aspect of creating an engaged social media community is through tagging individual engager profiles or entity pages throughout social media posts, shares or comments. Schools that create high levels of engagement see interactions on their social media accounts as interactions with individuals. One of the best ways to engage individuals is through personalized call-outs, messages of appreciation and flattery, or attribution through tagging. Spreading their university’s message requires a large network of engaged individuals, acting as a community of school advocates.

Perhaps most importantly, engaging with social media means putting a personal touch on content. High-performing schools know how to create curated content that is focused on the needs and desires of their followers. This makes their pages a place where community members can interact with each other and feel a part of the daily life of the university, whether they are current students or alumni. Platforms like Instagram are particularly useful for this. Stanford University and Indiana University make their page a beautiful collage of current images from their school. This allows their followers to get a visceral experience of campus life, even if it is mediated through their hand-held digital device.