Regarding the Pope

Before I start, I would just like to say that I love Emerson College. I am having the time of my life, and I look forward to practicing the secret Emerson handshake at business meetings and networking events. Already, I have had so many opportunities to do great things, like start performing stand-up. However, I, along with every other Emerson student I know, think our school's online presence "sucks."

Emerson has a terrific marketing program, but it is in danger of becoming outdated. Whether you think social media is a fad or not, it is successful, and if Emerson wants to get students jobs now, it needs to embrace social media. Sending students out into the job market unprepared will make Emerson look bad and eventually hurt enrollment.

It is easy to simply complain though, so I will try to help Emerson out.

No Centralized Presence

Emerson has a Twitter account with over 500 followers! However, it doesn't have a single tweet.



There is also an account for Alumni, another for Journalism, and yet another for Marketing Communication. I have no problem with multiple Twitter accounts, but they all seem so independent from each other. The existing Emerson College account should be a hub to direct current and potential students to these pages. The pages themselves are impressive, but no one really knows to check if @EmersonMarComm has an account. These are helpful tools, but only if they are put in people's hands.

Facebook?



While working on this post, I discovered that Emerson College has a Facebook page, and in fact it has quite a bit of content. That is pretty nice, but I have been here almost 2 and a half years, and I did not know about it. I have never been invited to the page, I have never heard students talk about the page, and I haven't found links to the page. Like the Twitter accounts, there are also pages for departments and specific projects, but they too will fly under the radar unless they are publicized.

Integration Frustration

On the Twitter pages, the websites lead back to Emerson's Web site.



The same is true for Facebook. Normally, this is a pretty good method. Companies should lead you back to them in some way. Social media can be very different though. It's all about communication and discussion now. Emerson should follow Boston University's example and have their Twitter lead to their Facebook. This allows the conversation to continue and seems more genuine. Emerson is not a corporation, it is a home to thousands of young adults. Not only should it let them play, but it should encourage them to do it.



Emerson has so many students who care about the school and would love to help out. Unofficially, Emerson has a great Social Media Presence. RAs start Facebook groups for their floors. Clubs and Organizations have their own pages and Twitters. Emerson Should tap into these students to help make the official presence higher. Emerson should have a Web site for students to upload and show off their films. Instead,this is how Emerson is represented on the Web: