Universities use social media just as much as their students

Recruiting students for the writing club he started as a student at the University of Oregon was a labor-intensive job for Kevin Prentiss. The only option was to pass out fliers around campus.

Now the CEO of Red Rover, a human capital organization for universities and businesses, Prentiss is jealous of today's students, who can connect with other like-minded students with the click of a button.

"My own experience was never quite connecting with what I was passionate about," Prentiss said. "Now we live in this world where people are publishing everywhere."

A full 100 percent of universities now engage in at least one form of social media, according to a recent study by the University of Massachusetts.

Prentiss has dedicated his life to social media by putting students or employees in contact with each other and making those common-interest connections through Red Rover. Colleges purchase Red Rover for students and faculty to use, and they set up a Red Rover profile, which aggregates information from other social media sites and makes connections and suggestions to other people who are talking about the same things. At Georgia Highlands College, Prentiss said the program helped one transfer student drummer find a band to play in and helped ease him into the Georgia Highlands environment.

"Social integration is a key component of keeping students in school and excited," Prentiss said. "It's really neat to see something like that, to see a student embraced and involved right away. It can start out as a band and move on to academics."

He said one benefit of social media is it provides college students a venue to get their name and interests out there for other students and future employers.

Social media can also help universities receive nationwide recognition that otherwise would seem impossible. When Utah State's football team almost defeated reigning national champions Auburn University earlier this year, Utah State was the top trending topic in the nation throughout the game.

"I think it's beneficial to be where the audience is and the audience is on social media," said USU social media coordinate and marketer Trent Hunsaker. "Right now, everyone is involved in social media. We want to be there along with everyone else to be a source for information."

He said in the past two years, Utah State's traffic on its Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channel has increased significantly, and the staff has used the sites to provide information to perspective students.