Robert Pearl Starks

Susan, What type of accounts do you have on Facebook? Do each of you have profiles and are the accounts in your personal name or your career center? If they are in your personal names, have you considered the sustainability of your strategy? What would happen to the audience (friends) you have built over time if one of you left the company? Would the next person have to start over? If you are using profile accounts, have you considered your long-term strategy? Facebook profile accounts limit you to having 5,000 friends. It may see as if you'll never reach this… >>>

Susan, I do believe many share your same struggle. I don't believe you can motivate anyone - you can only remind them of what motivates themselves. This usually comes down to having honest conversations and getting to the bottom of why certain individuals may be displaying behaviors that demonstrate a lack of motivation. This is an example of why relationships with students are the first goal for any advisor and critical. We, as career professionals, must establish rapport and trust with those we serve. This allows for open and honest discussion with students, even when we must challenge them and… >>>

Susan, When you share snippets of information to move grads forward with their careers, can you share how you measure if this tactic is effective? How are you able to determine if your tactics are producing the desired result? What is the result you are seeking? The ultimate objective is to use social media as a tool to drive desired outcomes. Sharing your response can help others who participate in this forum discussion understand how others are doing in this area. I have found that many career services professionals struggle in this regard. What has been your experience? Robert Starks… >>>

Susan, Your approach of using memes as a playful reminder of a very important issue to manage one's digital footprint is a great example of catering to your audience to engage them while educating them. Regarding your question if it is too passive, I would imagine that you use a variety of approaches. For instance, do you conduct workshops on the topic or webinars? Do you share blog articles about the topic or write your own blog articles for your audience to read? The best way is usually a mix of ways - not just one tactic. You can also… >>>

Susan, Keep in mind that if you have multiple goals, your group may not be the best means to accomplishing all. It sounds like you established the group to create a supportive community to address the feelings of "isolation" as you mentioned in a previous post. Additionally, the community can act as a resource for students/alumni to help each other. With a group, you must take the role of community builder - facilitate and guide discussion and ask for community support. There are no magic bullets with how to respond to all posts but as an example, if an individual… >>>

Susan, This is a great example to share a few things. One, you'll notice in the course, that it is recommended to monitor what is published on social media by creating listening posts. It isn't full proof but if you create listening posts, you can be notified of when you (or your school) is mentioned on the internet so that you can appropriately respond. This is one instance in which a listening post may have helped to keep you informed. A listening post is simply a means to monitor what is published on the internet and there are various tools… >>>

Susan, Your purpose for using social media as a means to build a sense of community and support among alumni and current students is a great intervention strategy to overcome the challenge of isolation. This purpose will guide how you use social tools. For instance, it makes sense that you form a Facebook Group vs. a Facebook page if your idea is to build an active community where members feel connected through their alma mater affinity. You'll find that you will have to lead by example and instruct members on the purpose of the group. For example, when I would… >>>