Most Influential Colleges on Facebook 2014

Facebook, the grandfather of all social networks, got its start 10 years ago in the dorms of Harvard University, spearheaded by Mark Zuckerberg and his friends. So it is hardly a surprise that Harvard University tops the rankings of schools with… the most influence on Facebook. With nearly 3.3 million likes, Harvard’s Facebook page has garnered over 26,000 Facebook reviews from students to visitors alike.

The number of likes was just one criteria used to rank universities’ performance on Facebook. Data such as “talking about this,” a Facebook measure to determine school page mentions, were considered in this list. For example, the number two school, Texas A&M University, has around 450,000 likes, and its “talking about this” measure is almost 38,000. This ratio of “talking about this” to likes is one of the highest of the schools that made the top 30.

It seems that even as methods of communication have changed dramatically, there is still nothing quite like a rivalry to stir up conversation in and around a university. Schools from two of the largest rivalries in college sports, University of Michigan and Michigan State, and Auburn University and University of Alabama, each rank in the top 20 of the Facebook influencer list.

As one of the largest and most diverse platforms in social media, Facebook offers page managers the ability to plan events, share articles and photos, make detailed profiles, and much more. Universities that conquer this platform have personal, direct access to millions of users, and perhaps most importantly, to alumni and potential students. This gives them the ability to stay on top of – and in some cases even start – the online conversation about their schools.