October 27, 2009
Purdue updates are a click away on Twitter, Facebook
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Jones is the mind behind the LifeAtPurdue Twitter page and the Purdue University Facebook page.
"I love the Internet and the possibilities it offers to communicate with just about anyone at any time," she says. "It's cool to be able to post stories and photos and get almost instantaneous feedback on them, or to be able to help someone get an answer to a question they have. I think the platforms give a unique way that people can get news, information and photos from campus while at home, at work or on the go."
Started in September 2008, the LifeAtPurdue Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/LifeAtPurdue has more than 2,600 followers. Followers are people who subscribe to receive LifeAtPurdue updates, also called tweets, on their own Twitter home page or mobile device.
Jones has posted more than 1,000 tweets focusing on campus events and news, photos, Purdue stories in the media and other interesting tidbits about campus.
Ideas for tweets come from the Purdue home page and other University sites, news releases and publications, events calendars, and other people on Twitter.
"Another thing I do is keep my eyes open when I'm out around campus," Jones says. "I'll get information from bulletin boards or sidewalk postings or just take pictures of interesting stuff as I run into it. I pretty much carry around a small digital camera and my iPhone everywhere I go!"
Sometimes it's the quirky news that gets the most attention from LifeAtPurdue followers. Popular tweets included one about Life.com naming Purdue Pete as one of the nation's creepiest college mascots and another about the appearance of the Purdue "Compliment Guys" on "NBC Nightly News."
"And any mentions of free food are popular with students," she adds.
LifeAtPurdue has received a rating of 99.5 out of 100 through Twitter Grader, which uses an algorithm to rank Twitter users.
"The site is interesting because it lets you graph how the number of followers you have changes over time, who is most popular in certain locations and your overall rank among all Twitter users," Jones says.
Jones also shares news, photos, event information and more through the Purdue University Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PurdueUniversity. Anyone with a Facebook account can sign up as a fan and receive Purdue updates in their news feed when they log in to Facebook. In addition, users can share their own fan photos, announce events and comment on Purdue happenings, news stories and photos.
The page has more than 10,000 fans from 20 countries. Jones says photo galleries and sports posts are popular among the Purdue fans.
"The Purdue football win over Ohio State was huge," Jones says. "Fans have been super excited about that. Another popular post was when 'Purdue' and 'Boilermaker' showed up as answers in the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. One of my favorite posts asked people to submit their favorite Purdue memory; that was really interesting to read."
Jones says the most challenging part of maintaining the LifeAtPurdue and Purdue Facebook pages is deciding how much to share and how often to post.
"Purdue is active 24 hours a day, and that makes it difficult to pare down the possibilities," she says. "I want the feeds to stay interesting and informative without becoming so frequent that it annoys people. That's a really fine line to walk, I think. Some people may think I post too much and others may think it's not enough."
Jones see opportunities to expand Purdue's online presence through Twitter, Facebook and other social media offerings. Work is under way on a project that will showcase all of the University's Twitter accounts online so people can find and then follow the ones that interest them the most. Purdue has a wide range of Twitter accounts, including PurduePhoto, PurdueTechNews, PurdueSports, PurdueToday and PurdueAlumni.
For LifeAtPurdue, Jones would like to share more photos of student life and add fun, interactive elements like trivia contests. On the Purdue Facebook page, she is considering the addition of Purdue wallpapers and screen savers, more videos, a music player, a link to other Purdue Facebook pages and a variety of contests.
"More input from fans would be great as well, especially more fan photos," she says.
In addition, Jones would like to increase Purdue's presence on YouTube and in blogging. The creation of a centralized location where faculty, staff and students could find Purdue bloggers or have their own blogs has been discussed.
"I'd like to continue to see the pages and other social media options provide chances for fans, students and prospective students to interact," Jones says. "I hope that these communication outlets will grow to be even more informative and entertaining and show off the best of Purdue people and campus."