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Why colleges and educators should build their own online communities


Self-built online communities are critical, especially now that Microsoft bought LinkedIn. Here are 7 steps toward that goal.

Over the past decade, many college administrators (and other related campus groups) have relied on LinkedIn groups to build community among their peers, professors, student groups and more. LinkedIn groups have been an important way for members to stay in touch and share data with peers around the country. They have also been helpful in gathering data important for improving processes, communication and more. Today there are hundreds of these groups among LinkedIn’s 400 million users, but with Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn this past spring, the signs are here: LinkedIn’s focus will no longer be on helping their communities to thrive.

College administrators can, and should, look to build their own online communities now that the technology makes it easy and the benefits of owning a community are many. But they should learn from the mistakes of LinkedIn and do it right the first time to create a thriving, active and engaged community. Here are the seven most important things colleges and other academic institutions should keep in mind when launching their online communities:

1. A dedicated community platform and community manager means secure sharing for students and faculty. It doesn’t matter if you want a tricked-out system with great features or a simple forum for daily discussions, here’s the bottom line: a private online community offers security and a host of features that help students, alumni and staff connect and collaborate.

2. Part of running a successful community also means dedicating a person to managing it. Together you can think through the environment you want to create and the “personality” with which the manager will want to run it. Make sure the face of your community is a human face and not a robotic presence. The most successful communities have a clear personality and culture.

(Next page: Steps 3-6 for building online communities)

3. Data! Data is of course important for short-term goals like club participation, course completion and school pride/spirit, but it’s also immensely useful in the long-term for any college or university. Think of goals like donor relations, growing the alumni community, and expanding sports/club programs beyond in-person events. Owning your own data will allow you to leverage, analyze, learn and grow from it.

4. Of course, online communities can also support an institution’s continually growing network, and can greatly increase alumni outreach effectiveness. A private online community not only integrates with donor and alumni management systems to improve relations and outreach, but also opens the door for stronger engagement and advocacy.

5. Clean user experience (UX). Public platforms are often riddled with advertising and promotions that aren’t targeted to what your members are looking for on the community. A dedicated platform and a better user experience can go hand-in-hand if you have the right features. Design also helps drive results. When you’re designing the layout of your community site, think about the number one action you want your users to take, and design the community to push them toward that action. Don’t be tempted to add too many bells and whistles. They can overwhelm and distract first-time visitors. Simplicity is a good thing, and you can attain effective simplicity when you keep the user in mind. If necessary, survey customers to get specific feedback—chances are you’ll learn a lot.

6. Focus on members, not marketing. Start building your private community by targeting your pre-existing social media and outreach channels to drive students and alumni to your private community, where you can leverage your integrations. Once you build your membership, the key to success will be knowing your network and what they need. Make sure your community incorporates things like 24/7 access to the school’s news, events and staff; searchable directory of networks for career advice, mentoring and volunteering programs; and a platform to promote and grow donations

7. This is the way your students and faculty want to interact. Perhaps most important, when thinking about communities that will attract and engage both staff and students, consider how they operate and the tools they use today. In the age of collaborative tools like Trello and Slack, students are gravitating away from the old behemoths anyway. There’s a better way to integrate pre-existing activities/students’ needs with a streamlined way to collaborate with everyone, and that’s an online community. They already trust the institution, so why not harness that community power with tools they already use?

Following this advice with an online community, colleges can nurture essential relationships and redefine new ways of communicating, collaborating and staying in touch.

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