Rochester Institute of Technology 15 April 2008

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE Facebook 101 Jennifer Freer & Joan Naturale Rochester Institute of Technology 15 April 2008 Abstract This poster describes how the RIT Librarians use Facebook to increase outreach to their colleges. “Friending” students and faculty on Facebook creates a network of people who can then find contact information (IM email or videophone) and be informed about library services. Promotion occurs by advertising events, offering access to the RIT Library Catalog, creating and joining groups and “friending” students & faculty who then receive status updates. All of this is an inexpensive marketing tool to increase visibility. TECHNOLOGY USE  97 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE What is Facebook? Facebook is a social networking tool that can be used to improve outreach and marketing efforts. Facebook Today: Facts and Statistics • Over 2,000 colleges and universities (85%) and more than 25,000 high schools • More than 11 million college student accounts already exist and it is projected that 20,000 profiles are added each day • 85% of college students have a profile • 69 million active users world wide as of January 2008 with more than 250,000 registrations daily • 5th most visited site; #1 for photo-sharing (ahead of Flickr) • 20,057 members in the RIT network TECHNOLOGY USE  98 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE Facts and Statistics • Over 55,000 regional, work-related, collegiate and high school networks • More than ½ FB users are outside of college • Fastest growing demographic is those 25 years and older • 45% of Facebook users log on everyday for 25 mins daily which adds up to about 2 hrs a week • 85% log in once a week • 65 billion page views per month Terms of Use • Facebook is a third party service provider and you should honor their terms of use • They can change those Terms at any time. Do not make this your only means of communicating and promoting your services or getting to know your students. • This service may change over time but get to know it now so you understand how high school and college students are communicating TECHNOLOGY USE  99 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE Why Join? People join Facebook because it is: – used as a website – a directory – an online community – an expression of self – share interests and hobbies – a social calendar – tap into and create networks – join and create groups Organizations’ Use – Post info about events-track guest list, updates if place, date/time changes – Join and create groups – Make announcements and communicate with members – Post discussion of topics – Promote your organization – Recruit new members TECHNOLOGY USE  100 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE Marketing  Reach campus community about upcoming programs and services on or off campus (boost event attendance)  Inexpensive marketing tool  Add to existing outreach efforts  Create a group for your department with all or some members contributing  Support learning communities  Support professional development  Post pictures and videos of events Anatomy of Facebook  Profiles  Status Updates  Groups  Discussion Boards  Events  Photo Albums  Applications aka APPS  Poke TECHNOLOGY USE  101 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE Status Updates • Status Updates-See what everyone is up to as they update their STATUS. This is a key way to stay in student’s minds. • Can see if you are online, for IM • Students will post personal items here about their lives. In using this tool for work post things about availability, job tasks, generalized updates. Groups  Organize a group of people with like interests  Represent an entity or department on campus  Group examples from the more than 500 at RIT: “Orange and Brown Coalition” “NTID Alumni” “NTID Students” “Interpreting Students Association” “Asian Deaf Students” “Ebony Club” “Dove” TECHNOLOGY USE  102 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE EVENTS  Create EVENTS in Facebook. You can send invites to friends. If you keep the events “open” friends can invite friends. By doing this you know have some possibilities of “viral marketing” as friends tell friends to go  You market the event and you see how many people are interested in attending.  EVENTS get added to the RIT Facebook calendar for others to see when you leave it Open. Real Life Examples http://rit.facebook.com/home.php? • Former students at Austine School in VT found me and are on my friends list • Interpreter who is in England for the year found me and commented on library resources • Students see I am online and can contact me via email or IM or videophone • Keep up with campus events, ie NTID Alumni Reunion TECHNOLOGY USE  103 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE TECHNOLOGY USE  104 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE TECHNOLOGY USE  105 PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER | PROCEEDINGS OF THE PEPNET 2008 CONFERENCE References • 7 things you should know about Facebook. (2006, September). Educause Learning Initiative. Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://connect.educause.edu/library/abstract/7ThingsYouShouldKnow/39394? time=1191111885 • Bugeja, M. (2006, January 27). Facing the facebook. Chronicle of higher education, 42(21), C1-C4. Retrieved September 30, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database: http://ezproxy.rit.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=afh&AN=19543500&site=ehost-live • Facebook. (2007). Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://rit.facebook.com/home.php? • Facebook. (2007, September 30). Wikipedia. Retrieved September 30, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook • Grossman, L. (2007, September 3). Why Facebook is the future. Time, 170(10), 54. Retrieved September 30, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database: http://ezproxy.rit.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=t rue&db=afh&AN=26351139&site=ehost-live • Yadav, S. (2006, August 25). Facebook: The complete biography. In Mashable social networking news. Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile TECHNOLOGY USE  106