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Facebook: changing the Face of campus communication methods
The Pointer
ajuhn217@uwsp.edu
Three hundred million users are on Facebook worldwide and it is only getting bigger said an article published by Facebook creators on Sept. 15.
The University of Wisconsin Stevens Point is taking part in this continual growth in its very own way. Departments, student organizations and on-campus offices are developing Facebook fan pages to get their messages to students and even parents of students.
After searching “UWSP” in the Facebook search engine, there are more than 600 fan pages and groups to be found. This does not include the UWSP affiliated groups that do not have the search criteria in their Facebook name.
Bob Tomlinson, the vice chancellor of student affairs, said he is hearing students are not checking their e-mails as frequently as they check their Facebook.
“The majority of students have Facebook, so it is a common ground to get to everybody. Its something that most people look at every day,” said Molly Van Hoorn, a UWSP student. She is also a public relations intern in the College of Fine Arts and Communication who uses Facebook to promote events such as the Performing Arts Series. She said this is a good way to keep up with what every group is doing.
Parents are getting on Facebook as well. Brittany Rossman is a recent UWSP graduate who works in University Relations and Communications. She created the Pointer Parents page.
Rossman said the parents of UWSP students are starting to get on Facebook. “How do I get this information to that generation who is just now loving Facebook and wants to be on it just as much as students?”
She plans on acquiring parent e-mails and using another technology, e-vites, to invite them to get on Facebook and join the page.
Rossman said she thinks it’s OK that parents join. Students are going to realize that some of the questionable content must come down anyway. Employers are looking at their pages, too. Some students may feel this is invasive, but Rossman asks how different this is from parents calling or texting all the time.
Rossman is also a key part in connecting the tech savvy student body to people of the university who are new to the concepts of social networking.
“We had marketing communication sessions with other departments on campus to teach how Facebook can be utilized,” said Rossman. “We are trying to teach everything to everyone.”
“I think it’s intimidating at first to them. It’s new; its scary. It’s just like any other kind of technology that is created. It’s something new and different,” said Rossman.
“But once they get on there, they are going to love it. I think they are going to realize how easy it is. How much better it is as a marketing tool.”
