Social media at WOU
Several years ago, most people would have argued that MySpace was a fad, blogging lacked credibility and Wikipedia was riddled with factual errors. We say, welcome to the 21st century! These fads have cemented themselves as a permanent change to how people communicate and get their news. As technology evolves, so do our expectations. It used to be that people would seek out their news by visiting the website of each news source or checking individual blogs. Now, many people use Really Simple Syndication, or RSS feeds, to feed in their favorite news sources to one location. A fundamental shift has occurred in how people want to get their news – they want it to come to them.
Social media (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, podcasts, wikis, etc.) have developed an environment of news on demand, both sharing and receiving. If there’s an accident, the local news has it on their website immediately, or drivers can check traffic reports from their cell phones. If someone has a bad customer service experience, they can Tweet about it or post it on Facebook for the world to see. There is a well-known situation of a Comcast customer technician who fell asleep in the customer’s chair; the customer recorded it and posted it on YouTube. Needless to say, the video went viral in a matter of days.
Western Oregon has been working hard to stay ahead of the curve with social media. Various departments and entities within campus are using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and more to communicate. The university has even launched an iPhone application to quickly and easily get the latest news, athletics information, immediate access to a campus map and a campus directory.
If you haven’t found these groups already, please “follow”, “like”, “join”, or “favorite” them! Keep an eye on wou.edu as the university’s social media developments will be posted there, in addition to lists of other WOU groups you can connect with online.
Facebook
A social networking site allowing users to create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with others.
Profiles:
Western Oregon, WOU Wolves
Pages: Western Oregon Wolves, WOU Alumni, WOUnews
Twitter
A social broadcasting service allows users to communicate through short posts capped at 140 characters.
WOUnews | WOUWolves
YouTube
A site for viewing, uploading and sharing videos.
WOUAnnualFund | WOUAthletics
WordPress
A blogging site allows users to post their own articles, short writings, news, photos and videos, and comments on others’ posts.
WOUnews.wordpress.com | WOUclips.wordpress.com
LinkedIn
A networking site that targets career and professional networking.
WOUalumni