University Business - February 2011 - (Page 23)

internet technology Location, Location, Location Should institutions dive into Foursquare and other location-based services? By Karine Joly B ASED ON TWITTER, BLOGS, and web conferences, it looks like everybody in higher education is talking about check-ins, Facebook Places, Foursquare, Gowalla, and SCVNGR. No matter where they work, from liberal arts colleges to big state universities, many web communication and online marketing professionals have already adopted location-based services (LBS). More and more have been busy claiming the Facebook Place for their institution, creating a Gowalla tour, applying for the Foursquare University Program, or setting up their first SCVNGR trek. Looking at this buzzing activity, it would be fair to assume the higher ed LBS gold rush has officially started. But, has it? While it’s true that local has become the new black on the web, this growing interest in LBS among higher education communicators surprisingly precedes— more than it follows—noticeable usage among college students. According to a mobile phone survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project in September 2010, only 8 percent of the young adults aged 18 to 29 reported using an LBS service such as Foursquare or Gowalla. Younger mobile phone users are definitely ahead of the others with only 4 percent of adults older than 29, on average, reporting they’re using LBS. If scores of students haven’t been expecting, pushing, or demanding that their respective institution join the check-in bonanza, the main players of the geosocial media scene, namely Foursquare, Gowalla and SCVNGR, have. Through special university programs and public relations campaigns since last Although some of the buzz around LBS in higher education has cleverly been engineered, the possibilities offered by these services are real. NOT JUST a Fad In a report written in November 2010 for the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Kathryn Zickuhr, a web coordinator, and Aaron Smith, a senior research specialist, hinted the growth in LBS usage could follow the same rate of status updating services offered by Twitter, Facebook, and others. “These status updating services have grown in popularity over the past two years, from 6 percent of online adults saying they had used such a service in August 2008 to 24 percent in September 2010,” note Zickukr and Smith. It’s not a fad, but it’s probably a bit too early to spend too much time or too many resources on LBS. At Concordia College (Minn.), Communications Specialist Gia Rassier was trying, in late November 2010, to get a branded Foursquare presence to entice more of the institution’s 2,800 students to use the service. “We have about 20-30 users—with varying levels of activeness —who regularly check in on campus, add tips, and compete for various mayorships,” says Rassier. With less than 1 percent of the student body engaged on Foursquare at Concordia College, calling it a major push might be a bit far-fetched. Karine Joly is the web editor behind www .collegewebeditor.com, a blog about higher ed web marketing, public relations, and technologies. She is also the founder of the professional development online community at www.higheredexperts.com. February 2011 | 23 The geosocial media scene’s main players seem to be responsible in part for a sudden interest among campus offices. September, they seem to be responsible for part of this sudden interest among campus offices. Following the launch of the native check-in application Facebook Places over the summer, these companies have all intensified their efforts to engage college students in what looks like an attempt to build stronger momentum around their respective service. It’s a tactic taken right from the Facebook playbook. And this race is far from over, with Facebook adding the new feature Facebook Deals in November 2010, offering similar options for users and institutions. Brad J. Ward, CEO of BlueFuego, a firm that helps universities with web marketing efforts, sees Facebook Places and Deals, and LBS in the broader sense, as the newest shiny objects. “I’ve seen many rushing towards these services and trying to figure out how to use them, and it’s unfortunate because they haven’t even grasped and leveraged the rest of the Facebook platform yet,” he explains. universitybusiness.com http://www.collegewebeditor.com http://www.collegewebeditor.com http://www.higheredexperts.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - February 2011

University Business - February 2011
Table of Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Internet Technology
Say it With Signage
A Bursar’s Best Friend
The Lease Piece
Don’t Stop Thinking About the Future
Say it With Signage
Independent Outlook
What’s New
End Note

University Business - February 2011