Colleges may not be leveraging social media sufficiently in crises, a study suggests.
Mike Lesczinski, the public relations manager at Excelsior College in Albany, N.Y., also thinks things are improving.
Although he was also surprised by the survey findings on crisis management, Lesczinski has a hunch that a large percentage of institutions are either developing or planning to increase their crisis communications on social media for the future.
"Because students tend to tune out single streams of information, it is vital that institutions use a variety of channels such as E-mail, social [media], and text [messages]," he says. "Institutions have to ensure they are participating in the conversation both to correct inaccuracies and because students are more prone to seeking out trustworthy sources."
[Learn why some students care more about social media than salary.]
Alicia Westberry, a senior at Macon State College in Georgia, is concerned that such a high percentage of colleges don't use social media for crisis management.
"Checking my Facebook is usually the very first thing I do in the morning. If there is any breaking news, I can quickly check my college's Facebook page," she says. "Nothing will replace a college website or student E-mail, but social media is so prevalent that it just doesn't make any sense not to make use of it."
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