"Like Us on Facebook ": The impact of Social Networking on the Financial Aid office

1. "Like Us on Facebook": The impact of Social Networking on theFinancial Aid office DE-DC-MD ASFAA November 8, 2011

2. Agenda • Why use social networking? • How to use social networking • Introduction to Facebook and Twitter • Watching for trends • Proper sharing for financial aid professionals

3. Why use Social Networking? • Make connections • Students • Schools and/or departments at your university • Financial aid offices at other universities • Financial aid groups (i.e. NASFAA)

4. Why use Social Networking? • Be proactive to combat confusion • Deadlines • FAFSA • Scholarships • Timing • What are the most confusing times of year? • Post tweets that could help in advance • Faster than updating a web site!

5. Why use Social Networking? • Watch trends • What are financial aid professionals discussing? • What are common themes among posts from students? • What information is coming from DOE?

6. Introduction to Facebook and Twitter • People “like” your page • Your updates appear on their “news feed” • Provide updates which can • Vary in length • Contain readily visible photos and link previews • People “follow” you • Your tweets appear in their “timeline” • Provide short, timely updates • 140 characters or less • Usually link to longer external content FACEBOOK TWITTER

7. Using Twitter • Visit twitter.com • Set up a new profile for your office • Make it public • If you make it private, no one will be able to see your tweets unless you allow them to follow you • No sensitive info should be posted via Twitter, so a private profile should not be necessary

8. Using Facebook • Visit Facebook.com • Create a profile for your office • Use your profile to create a “Page” • The profile is the “administrator” of the page • Once the page is created, place a link to it on your office’s web site

9. Watching Trends: Twitter • Topics • A topic is “trending” if enough people tweet about it at the same time • Search financial aid topics to see what groups are tweeting about • Hashtags • Users can label a tweet with a hashtag • Use the # sign and the word you want to label your tweet with

10. Trends from Popular HashtagsA Sampling of Real Tweets • #finaid • Note to Students: Take the earphones off before approaching the customer service counter. We should not have to ask 3x if you have #finaid • #pell • 10,000,000 Pell Grant recipients in US today; 24% are African-Americans, 21% are Latino, says John Wison, Director of WH HBCU initiative • #financialaid • So the new dir of financialaid at my seminary just sent everyone a link to sign the petition for student loan forgiveness... HE ROCKS!!

11. Watching Trends: Facebook • Facebook is less about popularity and more about sharing • View reactions to your posts and comments • People can leave comments all in one place • NOTE: Do not worry if only a few people “like” your page • Few may like it, but far more may view it • Some people may not want their friends to know they “like” a financial aid office!

12. Feedback on FacebookA Sampling of Financial Aid Comments • “Help me plz” • “Why is tuition so high? How much is credit per hour? this seems kinda ridiculous!” • “The state needs to get with it! Classes two weeks away and they still don't know how much they are going to be? Good grief!” – regarding yet to be released tuition rates

13. Proper sharing Rule #1: Information only • Social networking is for informational purposes only • Nothing can replace the guidance of a financial aid counselor. • Every student’s need and financial aid package may be different • Audience must know the difference between an online post and the actual advice of a financial aid professional.

14. Proper sharing Rule #2: Maintain accuracy • Before you share any information from the pages of other users read the content! • Twitter: Copy a tweet by “retweeting” • Facebook: Copy a post by “share” • Just because you know a person or a group does not mean that you can automatically ensure the quality or accuracy of the content they share. • Always check the links before you share them.

15. Proper sharing Rule #3: Keep it professional • Separate personal from professional! • The office page is not a place for one staff member to post their personal opinions. • A Twitter or Facebook page is an online professional presence scripted by a person within the office.

16. Proper sharing Rule #4: Select the right staff member • Pick someone who: • is NOT impulsive • pays great attention to details • has solid communication skills • Do not have too many account users. • Several people may have ideas or content to contribute but you want to send a consistent message.

17. Facebook Reminders • Interaction - Wall provides more real estate than Twitter for communicating with others. • Privacy – If you want people to “like” your organization or group, you will have to create a public page so that people can find it. • Content control – You control who can post on your wall. • Depth of information –Keep it generic for the sake of privacy and compliance.

18. Twitter Reminders • Keep it short: Timely, short updates (140 characters or less with links included). • Make an introduction: Tweets can be used to introduce a topic and then lead readers to a page which has its content hosted elsewhere. • Identifying trends: You can perform a real-time search to view what people are talking about. • Dissemination: Quick way to share, less space for interaction.