How Social Media Saved My Niece From Sponge Bob

In recent memory, there have been several shows in the children's television milieu that have been very disturbing to me, Barney & the Teletubbies come to mind. Thankfully, our first child didn't come along until after these fads had passed out of popular consciousness. But my nine-year old niece, Rachel, had her sights set on convincing my now 18-month old son, Charlie, about the inherent value of Sponge Bob Square Pants. Somebody had to put a stop to this madness!

While you're thinking how on earth can you tie social media & Mr. SquarePants together, rest assured I'll get there. About two weeks ago, while on my commuter bus ride home, I read a story on one of my news apps on my iPhone about a study that proclaimed Watching Sponge Bob is Bad For Kids. This was the evidence I needed to make my move. That night, I posted the following on Facebook, and see how the conversation unfolded:

Obviously, my last comment was only half serious. But a short two weeks later my sister-in-law confided that after she shared my post with my niece, and the accompanying news story about the effects of SBSP on kids, Rachel decided to give up on SpongeBob. Why? As a nine-year old, she is beginning to come to grips with herself as a student, and is incredibly self-aware. She stepped back to think about some issues she was having in school, thought about what the study was saying about attention issues, and realized that she did not need to watch SpongeBob any more. What a relief! My son is safe, at least for the moment. So what does this all mean? Other than Rachel having to get rid of a lot of SBSP clothing and toys (Christmas is coming, I hear her saying), I must say I'm very proud of her for making such a life-altering decision. 

Moreover, this interaction demonstrates how social media can influence your intended audiences. As admissions reps know, guidance counselors and advisers say how important it is to have the "experts" speak to their students when we visit their schools and centers. In the end, we reinforce the messages that counselors/advisers have been hammering home for months, but, for whatever reason, our message has a greater impact because we're the "experts." 

In social media land, while I firmly believe there are very few true experts, and even fewer (if any, myself included) who are successfully using social media in international education, our goal is to achieve the same things we have done in print, in person, and email recruiting in the past, but with different, yet more immediately impactful tools. 

Other than this blog forum, I encourage you to join in a more regular conversation at Marty B on Social Media & Intl Ed Facebook page or if you prefer LinkedIn, a group of the same name.

                                     

Where Does Your Audience Live?

From AllFacebook.com

The world of social media moves incredibly fast. No news there, but just how fast may shock you. Facebook continued growth overseas should continue to raise the profile of this platform in U.S. international admissions circles. For example, in December 2010, Brazil was beginning to see some dramatic growth in Facebook users and stood at about 8.8 million users. a short six months later at the end of June, over 21 million Brazilians were on FB, many of which have moved over from their Orkut accounts to Facebook.

In terms of other social networks, the AllFacebook.com graphic here shows those countries where Facebook is not yet the #1 social media platform in the world. Interestingly,  the GlobalWebIndex Social Networking Map 2011 shows the penetration rates of social media in various countries. Guess what the top 3 most connected countries are with regards to social media usage as a percentage of their online users? The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia each with between 67-76% penetration. 

For U.S. colleagues looking to explore Facebook as a main platform to reach international students, you would be very much barking up the right tree. Using the semi-annual format produced by Nick Burcher out of the UK of the Top 30 countries on Facebook, here is that top 30 list with some additional data related to the college age demographic (16-25 years old) for users in each country.

for EducationUSA July 2011

Pay particular attention to the highlighted countries (India, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Egypt, Poland, Peru, Pakistan, and Russia) which enjoyed triple digit growth in the last 12 months in terms of Facebook users. Not including the U.S. you'll find that of the top 29 countries, 254 million are in the 16-25 year old demo. Happy hunting!

Get Connected, Stay Involved, Be Relevant: Part II of International Student Recruitment through Social Media

Any commitment in life should be taken seriously, and, to be done well, should involve a willingness to invest in that relationship, project, or strategy over a period of time. More importantly, to succeed you need to be relevant and appealing whether that be to a significant other, business partner, or institution.


The greatest professional frustration I hear from colleagues in international student enrollment management circles comes when a college/university administration pays only lip service to how much value they place on international students and/or refuses to commit over a period of time to allow a particular change in strategy or the opening of new markets to have a chance of success. Too often administrations that don't understand international markets well (or know the implications of expanded international enrollments on campus life) see full fee-paying students from overseas as quick fixes for enrollment and/or budgetary shortfalls.  That's a topic for another day, but the same commitment to these kinds of strategies as a institution should also apply to outreach conducted through social media.


Get Connected


As I outlined in my previous post, step one is identifying where key student audiences are in target countries/regions, next is establishing a presence on those platforms. Who does that at each institution will vary dramatically depending on the size of the college as well as the marketing and communication/IT office's role on campus. Let's say for argument's sake we say that the admissions or international office that is responsible for recruitment abroad takes on this role. Speaking with one voice is key in this process, which can involve multiple individuals contributing, but certainly makes training an absolute must. One blogger that speaks to the importance of character & commitment in social media is Tony Teegarden. If you are becoming more immersed in this world, give Tony a quick follow.

In social media world, however, it is essential that going in, everyone understands, institutions no longer control the message.  If there are any doubters out there, please have them watch Social Media Revolution 2 (refresh) put out by Socialnomics last year. It really explains the fundamental shift from traditional marketing approaches to a listen first, sell second attitude.


Stay Involved

If there ever was an antithesis formula for success to the Field of Dreams approach, social media is it. Throwing up a page or group on Facebook, simply having a Twitter feed or YouTube channel simply is not good enough. Messaging on a regular basis, responding to comments (especially negative ones),  re-tweeting, sharing, and managing what kind of content gets posted are bedrock essentials that will require continual care to see growth and eventually to bear fruit. Think about a school like MIT, where the admissions office's homepage for at least the last two years, has been driven, content-wise, by student bloggers hired to share their experiences. Similarly, over recent years, the admitted freshmen cohort at MIT have on their own created a Facebook group to which over 85% of their future classmates have become members. Without an office wide commitment to embracing social media from that initial impression of MIT online, several members of the admissions team also regular post on Twitter.


Be Relevant


Interpreting relevancy of messages can often be a moving target, but in admissions circles there are some very core take-aways prospective students should receive: opportunities to interact with current students/staff/alumni, admission requirements/deadlines, aid available, services on-campus, and the all-important "Can I picture myself as a student there?" Internationally, when budgets and travel don't allow admissions staff to get everywhere the students are, social media represents an opportunity, used correctly, to paint these pictures for future students.

• Involve current international students in online chats or virtual events like CollegeWeekLive  
• Post student/alumni testimonial videos on YouTube
• Tweet news on deadlines or upcoming events
• Engage in conversations on Facebook and blogs on topics that matter
• Explore ways to better present your campus via video, e.g.
• Why I Chose Yale?
• Grand Valley State U.'s Lip Dub
• Oregon's Call Me a Duck

One institution that I've seen recently that really gets it when it comes to international admissions is Roger Williams University. Every traveling staff member in their office is required to tweet at least three times a day. Too much? Actually, the simplest things from tweeting interesting articles from the student newspaper, to Twitpic'ing a photo as they stroll across campus, to announcing when a rep will be visiting a country or school, have all produced very positive and engaging content from which international students, who rarely get a chance to visit campus before enrolling, truly benefit. These efforts allow these students to begin to paint their own picture of what their lives might be like at RWU.

What is clear with the rise of social media is that U.S. higher education institutions have new opportunities to better reach their audiences.  The approach, which I'll discuss more in Part III, must have as the end goal to Keep Them Coming Back For More.  Stay tuned after NAFSA for more.

How Marco Met Sharifa: The Value of Relationships Between EducationUSA Advisers and U.S. College Reps

The Ohio State University Sends Representative to Uzbekistan 


This was the headline last month, after Marco Chavez from Ohio State University's Undergraduate Admissions office visited Uzbekistan, and specifically, our EducationUSA Advising Center in Tashkent.  Sharifa, our senior adviser in Uzbekistan, helped set-up visits for Marco during his visit.  But this relationship began a year ago, when Sharifa had the opportunity to connect with Marco when she participated in a post-NAFSA campus visit to Ohio State.  


Let's explore what happened as these two had the opportunity to work together.


Sharifa shares her experiences on this connection between her advising work and her visit to Ohio State.

What are the value of campus visits for EducationUSA advisers?

Advisers are able to see the university with their own eyes to tell students about it, to see each school at university, get to know the faculty member and admission officers. Meeting with international students studying there can give us an idea as to whether our students from Uzbekistan can do well at this university. Also getting to know the culture of the university, diversity, prices, possibilities of programs, climate and others is very useful. All of these opportunities help the adviser see the whole picture and you never forget about it.  

After your visit to OSU, what kind of communication did you have with the people you met?

We were e-mailing each other and established a skype communications, which helped us to communicate faster. I could communicate not only from work, but from home as well, since the time differences are difficult to make the communication faster via Skype.

What were you able to set up for Marco during his visit to your country?

Participation at our college fair. I posted at the www.educationusa.state.gov site, then sent him the link, so that he could participate. I set up two school visits, one to Tashkent International School and one to Academic Lyceum No. 2.

Specifically related to Marco's visit, what were the benefits for you and your students?

For me it was that I learned more about this university and learned more about U.S. Higher Education. Students were able to learn about the programs ... and learned about the options available.

Do you have any advice for U.S. institutions who are looking for ways to explore relationships with EducationUSA Advisers?

I would say that EducationUSA advisers are experts on what is going on in the country and they know really well the local systems. They have huge network of schools, language centers, students, teachers and professors, and other contacts. This expertise gives the U.S. university representatives more options to explore in reaching a broader pool of candidates to recruit to their schools. I advise the U.S. universities to contact first the EducationUSA adviser to learn about the country and options. 

Marco's shares his responses.

What are the value to US institutions of campus visits by EducationUSA advisers?

Having advisers who speak to students day in and day out provides an opportunity to learn about the trends and issues facing certain regions. The advisors provide an insight into their areas about how to best outreach to their students and make the most of our resources in targeting their students. By having them on campus they are able to see first-hand what our university is like and can then speak to their students about life on our campus in a concrete way using real examples. However, the personal connections and friendships facilitated by the visits are what make the visits truly worthwhile. J Its very nice to be able to call them and let them know you will be visiting them and having that bond already there.

While Sharifa was at OSU, what did you arrange for her to see?

Sharifa visited Ohio for an entire week. During her time here she was able to tour 9 universities and discover some parts of Columbus. We held a cookout on one of the evenings and for one half day we held a seminar. During the seminar the advisors were given the opportunity to present their centers and countries to other universities who did not participate in the hosting. We hosted Sharifa on the Ohio State campus for an entire day. During her visit to campus she was able to meet representatives from Undergraduate Admissions, Graduate Admissions, Law, MBA, American Language Program (intensive English), and the Office of International Affairs. We also had her go on a campus tour led by a current student and meet with other current students.

After her visit to OSU, what kind of communication did you have with Sharifa?

After Sharifa’s visit we mailed the material that we hoped she would disseminate at her center and sent a thank you email and survey. It wasn’t until I was thinking about traveling to Uzbekistan that we communicated again.

Specifically related to your Uzbekistan visit, what will be the benefits for you and your future students?

My visit to Uzbekistan was valuable on many fronts. Seeing the country and the facilities that Sharifa has will allow me to plan more effective outreach efforts in Tashkent. I gained a better sense of the issues and concerns that students face, better than if I had just read about it. Students were able to learn more about Ohio State and education in the US in general. And I was able to explain to students the complexities and issues revolving around applying to US universities from the viewpoint of a university.

Do you have any advice for US institutions who are looking for ways to explore relationships with EducationUSA Advisers?

Its important to get to know advisors, even if the budget doesn’t allow for hosting or traveling, there are other options such as Skype, DVCs, email, and telephone. From my experience advisors want to help universities and students connect and find the right fit for each other. It’s also important to ask questions. Each region is different and even cities within the same country may have different mobility trends or issues. Its important to know what issues are affecting your prospective students. 

Marco's and Sharifa's experiences are by no means unique.  This year, close to 100 EducationUSA Advisers will visit the U.S. for various conferences and training opportunities.  Many of them will be actively hoping to include college and university visits as part of their travel.  Likewise, we encourage our U.S. colleagues who are traveling overseas to make EducationUSA a key stop, much like the 475+ representatives who just this calendar year alone (January 1 through March 11) who have interacted with our advisers abroad.

To express your interest in hosting advisers for possible visits to your campus or your state/region if your part of an existing international education consortium of accredited institutions, we invite you to contact our new Professional Development Manager, Robin Helms.  

Double Digit Growth in Two Years, Okay; How About Quadruple Digit Growth? Roll on Facebook

Continued kudos to Nick Burcher, out of the UK, who has done the heavy lifting on the data mining every six months for the last three or four years on Facebook numbers by country (and willingly shares it).  His blog post today revealed the most recent Top 30 countries on Facebook in terms of members.  Interesting to note that in this year-end top 30 - four new countries have entered.  Compared to the numbers from Dec. 2009, the minimum totals required for entry into this top 30 club rose from 1.9 million (Thailand 12/09) to 3.27 million (Saudi Arabia).

The chart below shows in the top 30 only those countries who have seen quadruple digit growth over the last two years. These ten countries represent with few exceptions countries in the developing world that are markets with tremendous potential.

Rank	Country	Number of Facebook users Dec 31st 2008	Number of Facebook users Dec 31st 2009	Number of Facebook users Dec 31st 2010	12 month growth %	24 month growth %
2	Indonesia	897,040	14,681,580	32,129,460	118.8%	3481.7%
6	Philippines	390,700	8,387,560	18,901,900	125.4%	4738%
7	Mexico	1,440,640	6,505,040	18,488,700	184.2%	1183.4%
9	India	1,071,280	5,397,480	17,288,900	220.3%	1513.9%
16	Malaysia	850,420	3,975,640	9,544,580	140.1%	1022.3%
17	Brazil	209,460	2,413,900	8,821,880	265.5%	4111.7%
18	Taiwan	112,900	5,490,300	8,752,640	59.4%	7652.6%
21	Thailand	168,720	1,963,560	6,732,780	242.9%	3890.5%
23	Poland	194,820	1,609,100	4,540,320	182.2%	2230.5%
25	Peru	296,200	1,510,480	3,888,560	157.4%	1212.8%

What is even more telling about where this growth is coming from as it relates to international admissions needs, for these same 10 countries check out my own bit of number crunching below that reveals how significant the potential college age markets are in these growing nations.  With the exception of Brazil, in each of these countries, anywhere from near 63-76% of all Facebook users are in the college-age demographic.

Rank	Country	Number of Facebook users Dec 31st 2010	Number of FB users between 16-25 years old	% users 16-25 yrs. old
2	Indonesia	32,129,460	22,725,220	71%
6	Philippines	18,901,900	12,978,340	69%
7	Mexico	18,488,700	11,626,540	63%
9	India	17,288,900	13,132,400	76%
16	Malaysia	9,544,580	6,097,680	64%
17	Brazil	8,821,880	4,733,260	54%
18	Taiwan	8,752,640	5,578,520	64%
21	Thailand	6,732,780	4,523,980	67%
23	Poland	4,540,320	2,885,360	64%
25	Peru	3,888,560	2,500,000	64%

All this data from Nick Burcher and from my further drilling down, comes directly from Facebook's advertising module.  To paint a bit broader picture, if you were to take the top 25 countries on Facebook outside the U.S. and do a banner ad that displayed only on the profiles & pages of that same college age cohort (16-25 yr. olds) you would reach over 194 million potential students.

Still think Facebook is only a U.S. phenomenon?  I've realized in working with U.S. institutions that precious few have really embraced social media in their international student recruitment efforts.  In times when budgets are being tightened everywhere, the relatively cost-effective world of social media is wide open to the institution that knows how to best approach it.

Social Media in Africa a Pipe Dream? Think Again.

Africa Renewal Magazine | A social media boom begins in Africa

In the course of the last 20 years in the United States, we have gone from using land-line phones to computers to mobile/smart phones as our primary means of communicating.  In much of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as many parts of Central Asia (and other regions), just within the last five to ten years, a significant number of Africans have made the jump from no phone at all, to mobile phones, skipping the land-line and desktop computer stages entirely, as their chosen mode of communications. With over 400 million mobile phone subscribers now in Africa, it is the mobile social web that is now becoming increasingly a source of focus.   


For colleagues at U.S. institutions exploring the myriad of ways to reach students, and for those who have long wondered how to connect in Africa, here's an opportunity. From the article below: "In recent months Facebook — the major social media platform worldwide and currently the most visited website in most of Africa — has seen massive growth on the continent. The number of African Facebook users now stands at over 17 million, up from 10 million in 2009. More than 15 per cent of people online in Africa are currently using the platform, compared to 11 per cent in Asia."  


Time to have a second look at Africa...

A social media boom begins in Africa

Using mobile phones, Africans join the global conversation

By André-Michel Essoungou

More and more Africans are using mobile technologies to access social media tools on the Internet.

Photograph: Africa Media Online / Anthony Kaminju

In the mid-1990s, as the use of mobile phones started its rapid spread in much of the developed world, few thought of Africa as a potential market. Now, with more than 400 million subscribers, its market is larger than North America's. Africa took the lead in the global shift from fixed to mobile telephones, notes a report by the UN International Telecommunications Union.* Rarely has anyone adopted mobile phones faster and with greater innovation (see A bank in every African pocket?, Better health at the click of a button).

A similar story now seems again to be unfolding. Africans are coupling their already extensive use of cell phones with a more recent and massive interest in social media — Internet-based tools and platforms that allow people to interact with each other much more than in the past. In the process, Africans are leading what may be the next global trend: a major shift to mobile Internet use, with social media as its main drivers. According to Mary Meeker, an influential Internet analyst, mobile Internet and social media are the fastest-growing areas of the technology industry worldwide, and she predicts that mobile Internet use will soon overtake fixed Internet use.

Studies suggest that when Africans go online (predominantly with their mobile phones) they spend much of their time on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and so on). Sending and reading e-mails, reading news and posting research queries have become less important activities for Africans.

In recent months Facebook — the major social media platform worldwide and currently the most visited website in most of Africa — has seen massive growth on the continent. The number of African Facebook users now stands at over 17 million, up from 10 million in 2009. More than 15 per cent of people online in Africa are currently using the platform, compared to 11 per cent in Asia. Two other social networking websites, Twitter and YouTube, rank among the most visited websites in most African countries.

Along with regular citizens, African stars, thinkers, political leaders and companies have rapidly joined the global conversation. The Facebook fan base of Côte d'Ivoire's football star and UN goodwill ambassador Didier Drogba is more than 1 million people. Zambian best-selling author and economist Dambisa Moyo has more than 26,000 followers on Twitter. Media organizations in South Africa and companies such as Kenya Airways are using various social media platforms to interact better with customers and readers. During recent elections in Côte d'Ivoire candidates did not only tour cities and villages; they also moved the contest online, feverishly posting campaign updates on Twitter and Facebook.

High costs and poor connections still limit Africans' use of computers to gain access to the Internet.

Photograph: Alamy Images / Peter Treanor

Constraints and opportunities

Africa's upward trend in the use of social media is even more striking given the low number of Africans connected to the Internet and the many hurdles Africans face in trying to go online.

Africa's Internet users (more than 100 million at the end of 2010) represent just a small percentage of the 2 billion people online around the world. In the US alone, more than 220 million people use the Internet. Within Africa, one person out of every 10 is estimated to be an Internet user (up from one in 5,000 back in 1998), making the continent the region in the world with the lowest penetration rate.

Among the many reasons for this poor showing are the scarcity and prohibitive costs of broadband connections (the fastest means of accessing the Internet), and the limited number of personal computers in use.

But these challenges simultaneously contribute to Africa's impressive growth rate in the use of mobile Internet, which in recent years has been the highest in the world. "Triple-digit growth rates are routine across the continent," notes Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera, the world's most popular Internet browser for mobile phones. "The widespread availability of mobile phones means that the mobile Web can reach tens of millions more than the wired Web." Mr. Tetzchner believes that like mobile phones, whose use has grown rapidly in Africa in recent years, the "mobile Web is beginning to reshape the economic, political and social development of the continent."

‘Seismic shift’ coming

Erik Hersman, a prominent African social media blogger and entrepreneur who helped drive development of the ground-breaking platform Ushahidi (see Young Africans put technology to new uses), is equally enthusiastic. In an e-mail to Africa Renewal he notes that "with mobile phone penetration already high across the continent, and as we get to critical mass with Internet usage in some of Africa's leading countries (Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt) … a seismic shift will happen with services, products and information."

The sense that the future holds more promise is inducing major companies to show special interest in Africa's expanding pool of Internet users. Facebook, after launching versions in some of the major African languages (including Swahili, Hausa and Zulu) in May, has announced it will offer free access to its platform to mobile phone users in various countries around the world, including many in Africa. In October Google started testing a new service for Swahili speakers in East and Central Africa. Tentatively called Baraza ("meeting place" in Swahili), it will allow people to interact and share knowledge by asking and answering questions, many of them of only very local or regional interest.

Africans are also getting ready to benefit from the fast-growing mobile Internet sector. In South Africa, MXit, a free instant messaging application with an estimated 7 million users, is the most popular local social networking platform. From Abidjan and Accra to Lusaka and Nairobi, African programmers are designing, testing and launching new homegrown platforms and tools to keep the African online conversation going.

* Measuring the Information Society: The ICT Development Index, 2009.